Sıcak köfte kokusunu alınca yemeden edemiyorum.

hot

Breakdown of Sıcak köfte kokusunu alınca yemeden edemiyorum.

• -ınca: when
• koku almak: to smell
• köfte: the meatball

Questions & Answers about Sıcak köfte kokusunu alınca yemeden edemiyorum.

Why does almak mean to smell here? I thought almak meant to take or to buy.

Yes, almak very often means to take or to buy, but in Turkish it is also used in some fixed expressions.

Here, koku almak means:

• to smell
• to catch a smell
• to notice a scent

So Sıcak köfte kokusunu alınca is literally something like:

• when I get/catch the smell of hot meatballs

This is different from koklamak, which means to sniff something deliberately.

So:

• koku almak = to notice or catch a smell
• koklamak = to sniff

In this sentence, the idea is not that the speaker actively sniffs the meatballs, but that the smell reaches them.

What does alınca mean, and how is it formed?

Alınca comes from:

• al- = take / get / receive
• -ınca / -ince = when, once, upon

So alınca means:

• when (I) get
• when (I) catch
• once (I) smell

In this sentence, it is understood as:

• when I smell it
• when I catch the smell

This suffix creates a time clause. Some examples:

• Seni görünce mutlu oldum. = I became happy when I saw you.
• Eve gelince ara. = Call when you get home.

So Sıcak köfte kokusunu alınca... means When I smell the scent of hot meatballs...