Kebap çok yağlı olursa ben az yerim, ama ağabeyim yine de çok sever.

Olursa means if it is / if it becomes.

It comes from olmak (to be, to become, to happen) and includes the conditional idea if.

A useful way to think of it is:

• ol- = be / become
• -ur- = a common present-future/aorist marker here
• -sa = if

So çok yağlı olursa means if it is very oily / if it becomes too oily.

With adjectives, olmak often sounds like become literally, but in English we often translate it more naturally as just be:

• Hava soğuk olursa = If the weather is cold
• Kebap yağlı olursa = If the kebab is oily

Because Turkish often uses the aorist (sometimes called the simple present) for:

• habits
• general tendencies
• what someone usually does in a situation
• the result part of if sentences

So ben az yerim means something like:

• I eat little
• I don't eat much
• I tend to eat only a little

It is not talking about one specific moment of eating right now. It is talking about what the speaker generally does if the kebab is oily.

Compare:

• Az yerim = I eat little / I would eat little
• Az yiyorum = I am eating little (right now / these days)

Yes, Turkish could absolutely say just az yerim.

The subject is already clear from the verb ending:

• yerim = I eat

So why include ben?

Usually for:

• emphasis
• contrast
• clarity

Here there is a contrast between:

• ben = I
• ağabeyim = my older brother

So ben is included to make the contrast stronger:

• I eat only a little,
• but my older brother still likes it a lot.

Here az means little / not much, and it works adverbially with the verb yerim.

So:

• az yerim = I eat little / I don't eat much

It is not describing a noun here. It is describing how much the speaker eats.

Compare:

• az yemek = to eat little
• az su = little water (here az describes a noun)

In this sentence, az is about the amount of eating.

Ağabeyim means my older brother.

Breakdown:

• ağabey = older brother
• -im = my

So:

• ağabey = older brother
• ağabeyim = my older brother

Turkish usually shows possession directly on the noun with a suffix, so where English says my older brother, Turkish says ağabey-im.

You may also hear:

• abi
• abim

These are very common, more informal forms in speech.

In this sentence, yine de is a fixed expression meaning:

• still
• even so
• nevertheless
• despite that

So:

• ama ağabeyim yine de çok sever = but my older brother still likes it a lot

It is important not to read yine de too literally as just again too. As a phrase, it means something concessive: in spite of what was just said.

Examples:

• Yağmurlu ama yine de gideceğim. = It’s rainy, but I’ll go anyway.
• Zor, yine de deneyeceğim. = It’s difficult, but I’ll still try.

Because the speaker is not saying the older brother eats a lot here. The sentence says he likes it a lot.

• sevmek = to like / to love
• çok sever = he likes it a lot

So the contrast is:

• I eat only a little if it’s too oily
• but my older brother still likes it a lot

Also, Turkish often leaves out an object if it is already understood from context. The understood object here is kebap.

So çok sever really means:

• (he) likes kebab a lot or
• (he) still likes it a lot

If you wanted to repeat the object, you could say:

• Ama ağabeyim yine de kebabı çok sever.

Because in Kebap çok yağlı olursa, kebap is the subject of the conditional clause, not the direct object.

Structure:

• Kebap = the kebab
• çok yağlı olursa = if it is/becomes very oily

So kebap is the thing being described as oily.

That is different from the second clause, where kebap is only understood, not repeated. If you did repeat it as the object of sever, then you would normally use the accusative:

• Ağabeyim kebabı çok sever. = My older brother likes the kebab / likes kebab a lot

So:

• first clause: kebap = subject
• second clause: kebabı would be object, if stated explicitly

Literally, çok yağlı means very oily.

However, depending on context, English may translate it as too oily if the speaker clearly means it negatively.

That is exactly what seems to be happening here, because the next part says:

• ben az yerim = I eat only a little

So the idea is:

• when the kebab is very oily — oily enough to bother me — I eat less

A few nuances:

• çok yağlı = very oily
• fazla yağlı = excessively oily / too oily
• aşırı yağlı = overly oily

So çok yağlı can sometimes be translated naturally as too oily, but literally it is very oily.

For the same reason as yerim: this sentence talks about a general tendency, not a one-time action.

• sever = he likes
• çok sever = he likes it a lot

This is the aorist/simple present form of sevmek.

It fits well with statements like:

• Ben kahve severim. = I like coffee.
• O et sever. = He likes meat.

In Turkish, the aorist is very common for likes, dislikes, habits, and repeated behavior.

The sentence uses a very natural Turkish word order:

• Kebap çok yağlı olursa = conditional clause first
• ben az yerim = main result clause
• ama ağabeyim yine de çok sever = contrast clause

This order is common because Turkish often puts the if part before the result.

Still, Turkish word order is fairly flexible, especially for emphasis. For example, you could say:

• Ben, kebap çok yağlı olursa, az yerim.
• Kebap çok yağlı olursa az yerim, ama ağabeyim yine de çok sever.

The original version sounds natural and clear.

Not with exactly the same meaning.

• olursa = if it is / if it becomes
• olunca = when it is / when it becomes

That is an important difference.

So:

• Kebap çok yağlı olursa ben az yerim. = If the kebab is oily, I eat only a little.

  • This sounds conditional.

• Kebap çok yağlı olunca ben az yiyorum / az yerim. = When the kebab is oily, I eat only a little.

  • This sounds more like something that happens whenever that condition occurs.

In many contexts they can be similar, but olursa is the clearer choice for a true if sentence.