Kızım cetveli bulamayınca çizimi serbest elle tamamladı.

Kızım = kız + -ım.

• kız = girl or daughter
• -ım = my (1st person singular possessive suffix)

So kızım literally means my daughter or my girl. In this sentence, the natural meaning is my daughter.

Turkish usually expresses possession with a suffix instead of a separate word like my.

Here cetveli is the definite direct object of bulmak (to find), so it takes the accusative ending.

• cetvel = ruler
• cetvel-i = the ruler

This is very common in Turkish:

• cetvel buldu = she found a ruler / found ruler(s)
• cetveli buldu = she found the ruler

So in your sentence, cetveli bulamayınca means when she couldn’t find the ruler.

A learner may also notice that cetveli can sometimes be ambiguous in isolation, because it could also mean his/her ruler in another context. But here, because it is the object of bulamayınca, it is understood as the ruler.

Bulamayınca can be broken down like this:

• bul- = find
• -ama- = not be able to
• -yınca = when / since / upon

So:

• bulamak is not the issue here
• bulamayınca = when she couldn’t find / since she couldn’t find

A helpful way to think of it is:

• bulmadı = she didn’t find
• bulamadı = she couldn’t find

So bulamayınca specifically includes the idea of inability, not just simple negation.

-ınca / -ince is a common Turkish converb ending. It connects one action to another and often means:

• when
• once
• since / because

In this sentence, bulamayınca sets up the background action for the main clause:

• cetveli bulamayınca = when/since she couldn’t find the ruler
• çizimi serbest elle tamamladı = she completed the drawing freehand

So the first part explains the circumstance that led to the second part.

Yes, here çizimi means the drawing and it is the direct object of tamamladı.

• çizim = drawing
• çizim-i = the drawing

So:

• çizim tamamladı would not be correct here
• çizimi tamamladı = she completed the drawing

Just like cetveli, this -i marks a specific, definite object.

Also, çizim is a noun derived from çizmek (to draw), so here Turkish is literally saying she completed the drawing.

Because the sentence contains two verbs, and each verb has its own object:

1. cetveli bulamayınca

   • verb: bulamayınca
   • object: cetveli

2. çizimi serbest elle tamamladı

   • verb: tamamladı
   • object: çizimi

So even though it is one sentence in English, Turkish has:

• a subordinate clause: when she couldn’t find the ruler
• a main clause: she completed the drawing freehand

Each clause can have its own direct object.

Serbest elle means freehand or literally with a free hand.

Breakdown:

• serbest = free
• el = hand
• -le / -la = with, by means of

So:

• el + le = elle

The double l is just the result of adding the suffix to a word that already ends in l.

This phrase is used adverbially here, so çizimi serbest elle tamamladı means she completed the drawing freehand.

Turkish often leaves out subject pronouns when they are already clear from context.

In this sentence, kızım already tells you who the subject is:

• Kızım = my daughter

So Turkish does not need to add a separate word for she.

Also, the same subject is understood for both parts of the sentence:

• my daughter couldn’t find the ruler
• my daughter completed the drawing freehand

Repeating the subject would usually be unnecessary.

Because Turkish normally places the verb at the end, and subordinate clauses often come before the main verb.

The structure here is roughly:

• Kızım = subject
• cetveli bulamayınca = subordinate clause
• çizimi serbest elle = object + adverbial phrase
• tamamladı = main verb

A very literal ordering would be:

• My daughter, the ruler not-being-able-to-find-when, the drawing freehand completed.

That sounds strange in English, but it is normal in Turkish.

A more natural English translation is:

• When my daughter couldn’t find the ruler, she completed the drawing freehand.

Tamamladı is the main verb of the sentence.

• tamamla- = complete / finish
• -dı = past tense
• 3rd person singular has no extra ending here

So tamamladı means:

• she completed
• he completed
• it completed

Turkish verbs do not mark gender, so tamamladı by itself could mean he or she completed. In this sentence, kızım makes it clear that the subject is she.