Ablam akşam çay hazırlarken ben de sofrayı kuruyorum.

While my big sister is preparing tea in the evening, I am also setting the table.

Breakdown of Ablam akşam çay hazırlarken ben de sofrayı kuruyorum.

• ben: I
• çay: the tea
• benim: my
• de: also

Questions & Answers about Ablam akşam çay hazırlarken ben de sofrayı kuruyorum.

Why is it ablam instead of just abla?

Because ablam means my older sister.

• abla = older sister
• ablam = my older sister

The -m ending is a possessive suffix meaning my. With family words in Turkish, it is very common to use the possessed form:

• annem = my mother
• babam = my father
• ablam = my older sister

You usually do not need to add benim here, because the -m already shows possession.

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What does hazırlarken mean grammatically?

Hazırlarken contains the ending -ken, which means while or when.

So:

• hazırlamak = to prepare
• hazırlarken = while preparing

In this sentence, ablam akşam çay hazırlarken means while my older sister is preparing tea in the evening.

This -ken form creates a time/background clause. It tells you what is happening at the same time as the main action.

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How is hazırlarken formed?