Tebeşir tozu yüzünden ellerim beyaz oldu.

Literally, it is:

• tebeşir tozu = chalk dust
• yüzünden = because of / due to
• ellerim = my hands
• beyaz = white
• oldu = became / turned

So the literal order is roughly:

Because of chalk dust, my hands white became.

That is very normal in Turkish. English usually says My hands became white because of chalk dust, but Turkish often places the cause earlier.

Turkish very often uses noun compounds where English might also use a noun as a modifier.

So:

• tebeşir = chalk
• toz = dust

Together, tebeşir tozu means chalk dust.

This is a standard Turkish pattern: noun + noun.

Other examples:

• kahve fincanı = coffee cup
• okul kapısı = school door
• masa lambası = table lamp

So tebeşir tozu is not strange or unusual; it is exactly how Turkish naturally builds this kind of expression.

Because this is an indefinite noun compound in Turkish.

In this pattern:

• the first noun stays bare
• the second noun takes a compound suffix, usually the 3rd person possessive-looking suffix

So:

• tebeşir
  • toz-u = tebeşir tozu

Even though that suffix looks like his/her/its, here it is just part of the compound structure.

Compare:

• tebeşir tozu = chalk dust
• ev kapısı = house door
• okul bahçesi = school garden

So the -u in tozu is required by the compound pattern.

Yüzünden means because of, due to, or as a result of.

It often carries a negative or undesirable nuance, like blaming the cause a little.

Examples:

• Yağmur yüzünden gelemedim. = I couldn’t come because of the rain.
• Senin yüzünden geç kaldım. = I was late because of you.

In your sentence, chalk dust made the hands white, which sounds a bit inconvenient or messy, so yüzünden fits well.

For a more positive cause, Turkish often uses sayesinde:

• Senin sayende bitirdim. = I finished it thanks to you.

Because Turkish usually shows possession with a suffix.

• el = hand
• eller = hands
• ellerim = my hands

The -im part means my.

So ellerim already includes the meaning of my, and you do not need a separate pronoun.

You could say benim ellerim, but that adds emphasis:

• ellerim = my hands
• benim ellerim = my hands, specifically mine

In most normal sentences, just ellerim is enough.

It breaks down like this:

• el = hand
• el-ler = hands
• el-ler-im = my hands

The parts are:

• -ler = plural suffix
• -im = first person singular possessive suffix (my)

Because of vowel harmony and consonant behavior, the form becomes ellerim.

So this is a very useful pattern to know:

• kitaplarım = my books
• arkadaşlarım = my friends
• gözlerim = my eyes

This is a very common Turkish feature.

With a plural subject, Turkish often still uses a singular verb, especially when the subject is:

• non-human
• a body part
• already clearly marked as plural

So:

• ellerim beyaz oldu = natural
• ellerim beyaz oldular = much less natural here

Turkish does sometimes use plural verb agreement with plural subjects, but it is far less necessary than in English. In this sentence, singular oldu is the normal choice.

Turkish often expresses become + adjective with:

adjective + olmak

So:

• beyaz oldu = became white
• hasta oldu = became ill / got sick
• mutlu oldu = became happy

This is a very common and natural structure.

There is also a verb like beyazlaşmak meaning to whiten / become white, but beyaz oldu is simpler and very everyday.

Oldu is the past tense of olmak here, and in this sentence it means became or turned.

So:

• ellerim beyaz oldu = my hands became white / turned white

It focuses on a change of state, not just a description.

Compare:

• Ellerim beyaz. = My hands are white.
• Ellerim beyazdı. = My hands were white.
• Ellerim beyaz oldu. = My hands became white / turned white.

So oldu is about the moment or result of change.

Yes, absolutely.

• Tebeşir tozu yüzünden ellerim beyaz oldu.
• Tebeşir tozundan ellerim beyaz oldu.

Both can mean My hands became white because of chalk dust.

The difference is mainly nuance:

• yüzünden more clearly means because of, often with a slightly negative tone
• -den/-dan can also express cause in a simpler, more compact way

So both are possible, but yüzünden emphasizes the cause more explicitly.

The word order is flexible.

These are all possible, depending on emphasis:

• Tebeşir tozu yüzünden ellerim beyaz oldu.
• Ellerim tebeşir tozu yüzünden beyaz oldu.
• Ellerim beyaz oldu tebeşir tozu yüzünden.

The most neutral version often places the most important background information before the verb, and the verb usually comes at the end.

So the given sentence is very natural, but Turkish allows reordering more freely than English.

Yes, Benim ellerim beyaz oldu is grammatically correct.

But Turkish usually does not include the pronoun unless there is a reason to emphasize it.

So:

• Ellerim beyaz oldu. = normal, natural
• Benim ellerim beyaz oldu. = my hands became white, with extra emphasis on my

For example, if you are contrasting with someone else:

• Senin ellerin temiz kaldı, benim ellerim beyaz oldu. = Your hands stayed clean, but my hands became white.

So the shorter version is normally preferred unless emphasis is needed.