Abla, şu ayranı masaya koysana; börek biraz kuru kaldı.

Not necessarily.

Abla literally means older sister, but in everyday Turkish it is also a very common way to address a woman who is slightly older than you, or someone you want to speak to in a warm, familiar way.

So here it could mean:

• the speaker’s real older sister
• a female friend or acquaintance
• a woman serving food
• any slightly older woman in an informal setting

In English, depending on tone and context, it can feel a bit like sis, big sis, or just a friendly form of address with no exact natural English equivalent.

Şu is a demonstrative, like this/that, but it has a special feel.

A very rough comparison is:

• bu = this (near me)
• şu = that / this one there / the one I’m indicating
• o = that (farther away, or already known)

In real speech, şu is often used when the speaker is pointing something out or directing attention to a specific thing that both people can identify.

So şu ayranı means something like:

• that ayran there
• that specific ayran
• the ayran I’m indicating

It sounds very natural in a situation where both people can see the drink.

Because ayranı has the accusative ending.

Here the drink is a specific direct object: not just any ayran, but that ayran. In Turkish, specific direct objects usually take the accusative ending.

Breakdown:

• ayran = ayran
• ayranı = the ayran / that specific ayran (as the object)

So:

• Ayran koy. = Put some ayran. / Put ayran.
• Şu ayranı koy. = Put that ayran.

The ending here is -ı, and because ayran ends in a consonant, it attaches directly:

• ayran + ı → ayranı

Because masa takes the dative case, which often means to or onto something.

Breakdown:

• masa = table
• masa + ya → masaya = to the table / onto the table

The extra y is a buffer consonant. Turkish often inserts y between two vowels.

Here the verb koymak means to put/place, and it commonly goes with a destination in the dative:

• masaya koymak = to put on the table / to place onto the table

Compare:

• masada = on the table / at the table
• masaya = to the table / onto the table

So masaya is correct because the action involves movement toward the table.

Koysana is a very common conversational form that makes a request sound more natural, insistent, or encouraging.

Base verb:

• koymak = to put/place

Here:

• koy = put! (plain singular imperative)
• koysana = come on, put it / just put it, will you

A good way to understand -sana / -sene is as a spoken ending that adds a feeling like:

• come on
• go ahead and
• why don’t you
• just ... please

So şu ayranı masaya koysana is more like:

• Put that ayran on the table, will you?
• Come on, put that ayran on the table.

It is not a tense marker. It is a conversational request form.

It depends a lot on tone and relationship.

Usually, -sana / -sene sounds:

• informal
• friendly
• conversational
• a little urging

It can make a request sound warmer than a bare command, but it is not formal politeness.

Compare:

• Koy. = Put it. (plain command; can sound blunt)
• Koysana. = Come on, put it. / Put it, will you. (softer, more natural in casual speech)
• Koyar mısın? = Would you put it? (more neutral/polite)
• Koyabilir misin? = Could you put it? (polite request)

So in a family or casual setting, koysana is very natural. In a formal situation, you would usually choose something else.

This is a very useful Turkish pattern.

Breakdown:

• börek = börek
• biraz = a little / somewhat
• kuru = dry
• kaldı = stayed / remained / ended up

So kuru kaldı literally means stayed dry or remained dry, but in natural English it often means:

• turned out a little dry
• ended up a bit dry
• was left a little dry

This use of kalmak is common when something is left in a certain state.

Examples:

• Aç kaldım. = I stayed hungry / I was left hungry.
• Evde kaldı. = He/she stayed at home.
• Yarım kaldı. = It remained unfinished / it was left half-done.

So börek biraz kuru kaldı suggests the börek is not ideally moist; that is the reason for bringing the ayran.

You could, but the meaning changes slightly.

• Börek biraz kuru. = The börek is a little dry.
• Börek biraz kuru kaldı. = The börek ended up a little dry / came out a little dry / remained a little dry.

Adding kaldı gives a stronger sense of resulting state. It often sounds like:

• it turned out that way
• it was left that way
• it ended up that way, maybe unintentionally

So kuru kaldı is a bit more expressive than simply kuru.

Because Turkish does not have a separate word exactly like the English definite article the.

Whether something is definite or not is usually understood from:

• context
• word order
• demonstratives like bu / şu / o
• case marking

So börek here can naturally mean:

• the börek
• this börek
• the pastry

depending on context.

In this sentence, listeners already know which börek is meant, so Turkish does not need a separate word for the.

Yes. Turkish word order is flexible, although verbs usually come at the end.

The sentence as given is:

• Abla, şu ayranı masaya koysana; börek biraz kuru kaldı.

This is very natural. But other orders are also possible, for example:

• Abla, masaya şu ayranı koysana.
• Şu ayranı masaya koysana, abla.

These versions can shift emphasis slightly:

• what is being moved
• where it should go
• who is being addressed

Still, the original order sounds very normal in everyday speech.

The semicolon links two closely related ideas:

• put the ayran on the table
• because the börek is a bit dry

So the second clause explains the reason for the first.

In speech, this would usually just be a pause in intonation. In writing, you might also see:

• a comma
• a dash
• two separate sentences

For example, these are similar in meaning:

• Abla, şu ayranı masaya koysana. Börek biraz kuru kaldı.
• Abla, şu ayranı masaya koysana, börek biraz kuru kaldı.

The semicolon simply makes the connection clear in writing.