Parkta otururken gözlüğümü düşürdüğümü fark ettim.

Parkta is park + -ta, the locative case, meaning in the park / at the park.

• park = park
• parkta = in the park, at the park

It is -ta rather than -da because the final consonant in park is k, which is voiceless, so the locative suffix becomes -ta by consonant harmony.

So Parkta otururken means while sitting in the park.

Otururken means while sitting.

It is built from:

• oturmak = to sit
• oturur = sits / is sitting / usually sits
• otururken = while sitting

The suffix -ken means while or when. It attaches to a verb form and creates a time clause.

So:

• yürürken = while walking
• okurken = while reading
• otururken = while sitting

In this sentence, it tells you what was happening at the time of the main action.

Gözlüğümü breaks down as:

• gözlük = glasses / eyeglasses
• gözlüğüm = my glasses
• gözlüğümü = my glasses (as a definite direct object)

So the parts are:

• -üm = my
• -ü = accusative ending

A useful point: in Turkish, gözlük is often grammatically singular even though English uses glasses. So gözlüğüm means my glasses or my pair of glasses.

The final k in gözlük changes to ğ before a vowel-initial suffix:

• gözlük
• gözlüğüm

This is a very common sound change in Turkish.

It takes the accusative because it is a specific direct object.

Here, the speaker is talking about their own glasses, a definite, known thing. In Turkish, definite/specific direct objects usually take the accusative.

Compare:

• gözlük düşürdüm = I dropped some glasses / a pair of glasses
• gözlüğümü düşürdüm = I dropped my glasses

In the sentence, the object is very specific, so -ü is used.

Düşürdüğümü is a noun-clause form meaning that I dropped.

It comes from düşürmek = to drop and is built like this:

• düşür- = drop
• -dük / -düğ- = a verbal noun / relative-clause type ending
• -üm = my / I marker in this structure
• -ü = accusative

So düşürdüğümü literally means something like:

• my having dropped
• or more naturally, that I dropped

In the full sentence:

• gözlüğümü düşürdüğümü fark ettim
• I noticed that I had dropped my glasses

This kind of structure is very common in Turkish after verbs like:

• bilmek = to know
• sanmak = to think
• görmek = to see
• fark etmek = to notice/realize

Because düşürmek and düşmek are different verbs.

• düşmek = to fall
• düşürmek = to drop, to cause to fall

So:

• gözlüğüm düştü = my glasses fell
• gözlüğümü düşürdüm = I dropped my glasses

In this sentence, the speaker is presenting themselves as the one who dropped the glasses, so düşürmek is the correct verb.

If you wanted to say I noticed that my glasses had fallen, you would use a different structure, such as:

• Gözlüğümün düştüğünü fark ettim.

That means the glasses are the thing that fell.

Fark etmek is a common Turkish expression meaning to notice or to realize.

• fark = difference, distinction
• etmek = to do/make
• together: fark etmek = to notice, realize

fark ettim means I noticed / I realized.

In this sentence, it takes a clause as its object:

• gözlüğümü düşürdüğümü fark ettim
• I noticed that I had dropped my glasses

This is a very natural and common way to express realization in Turkish.

It is not stated separately because Turkish often leaves out subject pronouns when the verb already makes the subject clear.

Here, the ending in ettim shows I:

• ettim = I did / I noticed

Also, düşürdüğümü contains a first-person marker, again showing I.

So Turkish does not need ben here. You could say Ben parkta otururken..., but it is usually unnecessary unless you want emphasis.

Because Turkish normally places the finite main verb at the end of the sentence.

The sentence structure is roughly:

• Parkta otururken = while sitting in the park
• gözlüğümü düşürdüğümü = that I dropped my glasses
• fark ettim = I noticed

Turkish often puts subordinate clauses before the main verb, so the final verb carries the main tense and person information.

This word order can feel backward to English speakers at first, but it is very typical in Turkish.

Not by itself in the same way English does.

-ken mainly gives the meaning while / when, and the overall time is understood from the main verb.

Since the main verb is fark ettim (I noticed, past), the whole sentence is understood in the past:

• while I was sitting in the park, I noticed...

So otururken does not need a separate past ending here.

This is due to vowel harmony and a consonant change.

The underlying pattern is often taught as -DIK, but it changes depending on the vowels:

• -dık
• -dik
• -duk
• -dük

With düşür-, the correct vowel is ü, so you get -dük.

Then, when another vowel-initial suffix is added, the final k often softens to ğ:

• düşürdük
• düşürdüğüm
• düşürdüğümü

So this is a normal Turkish spelling/sound change, not an irregular form you just have to memorize separately.

Yes. Both are good ways to understand the structure.

The -ken clause sets the background action:

• Parkta otururken = while I was sitting in the park

Then the main event is:

• gözlüğümü düşürdüğümü fark ettim = I realized/noticed that I had dropped my glasses

So a very natural English rendering is:

• While I was sitting in the park, I realized I had dropped my glasses.

That captures the Turkish structure very well.

Yes, very often.

In Turkish, gözlük is commonly used as a singular noun meaning glasses / eyeglasses. English uses a plural form, but Turkish does not have to match that.

So:

• gözlüğüm = my glasses
• gözlüğünü = your glasses
• gözlüğünü masada bıraktın = you left your glasses on the table

If you want to explicitly talk about multiple pairs, you can pluralize it, but for one pair of eyeglasses, singular gözlük is completely normal.

Yes, depending on context, oturmak can also mean to live/reside in a place. But in this sentence, Parkta otururken clearly means while sitting in the park, not while living in the park.

Why? Because the park is just the setting for the momentary action, and the rest of the sentence describes something that happened at that time. So the sitting meaning is the natural one here.