Yeni yumuşatıcı çok güzel kokuyor; çamaşırlar kurudu mu mandalları toplayacağım.

Here yumuşatıcı means fabric softener.

It comes from yumuşatmak = to soften, plus a noun-forming ending that gives the idea of something that softens. So it is quite close to English softener in structure.

In Turkish, adjectives normally come before the noun they describe.

So:

• yeni yumuşatıcı = new fabric softener
• güzel koku = nice smell
• büyük ev = big house

Also, Turkish adjectives do not change form for singular/plural or case. Yeni stays yeni in all of those situations.

Kokuyor is from kokmak = to smell.

The ending -yor is the present continuous form, but Turkish uses it more broadly than English uses am/is/are ... -ing. It often describes something being perceived right now or an ongoing current situation.

So çok güzel kokuyor means something like:

• it smells really nice
• it is smelling very nice

In natural English, we usually say it smells really nice, but Turkish commonly uses -yor here.

By contrast, kokar would sound more like a more general or habitual statement, depending on context.

Not necessarily. Güzel can mean:

• beautiful
• nice
• pleasant
• lovely
• good

With smells, güzel kokmak means to smell nice / pleasant. So this is a very normal use of güzel, not just beautiful in the visual sense.

This is one of the most common things learners ask.

Yes, taken literally, kurudu mu? can mean Did it dry? or Are they dry?

But in sentences like this, Verb + past + mı/mu can also mean:

• when
• once
• as soon as

So:

• Çamaşırlar kurudu mu mandalları toplayacağım.

means:

• Once the clothes are dry, I’ll collect the clothespins.
• When the laundry dries/is dry, I’ll gather the clothespins.

It is not a real question here; it is a very natural conversational structure in Turkish.

You may also see it written with a comma for clarity:

• Çamaşırlar kurudu mu, mandalları toplayacağım.

The particle is the Turkish question particle, but as mentioned above, in this pattern it helps create a meaning like when/once.

It appears in different vowel-harmony forms:

• mı
• mi
• mu
• mü

Here it is mu because the previous vowel in kurudu is u, so vowel harmony gives mu:

• kurudu mu

This is the normal harmonic form.

Because in Turkish, non-human plural subjects often take a singular verb.

So this is very normal:

• Çamaşırlar kurudu. = The clothes dried / The laundry is dry.

Turkish often treats things like clothes, books, apples, trees as a group, especially when they are not human.

So even though çamaşırlar is plural, kurudu is completely natural.

Çamaşır can mean different but related things depending on context, such as:

• laundry
• clothes being washed
• washing
• underwear (in some contexts)

Here çamaşırlar means the laundry / the clothes that have been hung up to dry.

So it refers to the washed items, not just clothes in general.

Mandalları has the accusative ending, marking it as a definite direct object.

• mandal = clothespin / peg
• mandallar = clothespins
• mandalları = the clothespins (as the object)

It is definite because the speaker means the specific clothespins already being used with the laundry.

So:

• mandalları toplayacağım = I’ll collect the clothespins

If you removed the accusative, the meaning would become less definite or more generic, which would sound less natural here.

Toplamak has a broad meaning:

• to collect
• to gather up
• to pick up
• to tidy up

Here mandalları toplamak means something like:

• collect the clothespins
• gather up the clothespins
• take the clothespins down and put them away

So the Turkish verb is quite general, while English might use a more specific phrase depending on the situation.

Toplayacağım breaks down like this:

• topla- = collect
• -y- = buffer consonant
• -acak = future
• -ım = I

So it means I will collect.

The speaker is talking about the next action they intend to do after the clothes are dry, so the future tense is the natural choice.

Because Turkish often drops subject pronouns when the verb ending already shows the person.

Here toplayacağım already means I will collect, because -ım marks first person singular.

So:

• (Ben) mandalları toplayacağım.

Both are possible, but ben is usually omitted unless you want emphasis.

Turkish word order is often described as Subject–Object–Verb.

So a very typical order is:

• mandalları toplayacağım
• clothespins + I will collect

This is why the verb usually comes near the end.

English speakers often expect the verb earlier, but Turkish strongly prefers the main verb at the end of the clause.

Yes. A few natural alternatives are:

• Çamaşırlar kuruyunca mandalları toplayacağım.
• Çamaşırlar kuruduğunda mandalları toplayacağım.

These also mean when/once the clothes are dry, I’ll collect the clothespins.

The version with kurudu mu is especially natural in everyday speech and sounds conversational.

A different form like kurursa would mean if they dry, which is not quite the same as the more expected when they dry idea here.