İlkbahar şenliği başlayınca herkes parkta toplandı.

the park

Breakdown of İlkbahar şenliği başlayınca herkes parkta toplandı.

• herkes: everyone
• başlamak: to start
• -ta: in

Questions & Answers about İlkbahar şenliği başlayınca herkes parkta toplandı.

What does başlayınca mean here?

It means when it began/started. In context, it can also carry a slight once/as soon as feeling.

So:

• İlkbahar şenliği başlayınca = when the spring festival began
• herkes parkta toplandı = everyone gathered in the park

The ending -(y)ınca / -(y)ince is a very common way to make a time clause in Turkish.

How is başlayınca formed, and why is there a y in it?

It is formed from the verb başlamak (to begin/start).

Step by step:

• dictionary form: başlamak
• remove -mak → başla-
• add the suffix -(y)ınca
• because başla- ends in a vowel, Turkish inserts a buffer y
• result: başlayınca

So:

• başla + yınca → başlayınca

The suffix appears as -ınca here because of vowel harmony. With front vowels, you would often see -ince instead.

Why doesn’t başlayınca have a past tense ending, even though English says when it began?