Breakdown of O hem kaset hem plak çalıyordu.
o
that / he / she / it
çalmak
to play (an instrument) / to play (a recording, music)
hem
both / and (used in pairs as both... and...)
kaset
cassette
Questions & Answers about O hem kaset hem plak çalıyordu.
How is çalıyordu built to mean "was playing"?
It combines two time suffixes to form the past continuous tense. You start with the verb root çal-, add the present continuous suffix -ıyor ("is playing"), and then attach the past tense suffix -du. Together, çal-ıyor-du means "was playing".
I thought çalmak meant "to steal". Why is it used here?
Çalmak is a versatile verb with several common meanings. Depending on the context, it can mean "to steal", "to ring" (like a doorbell or phone), or "to play" (an instrument or recorded media). Since this sentence involves a cassette (kaset) and a vinyl record (plak), it means "to play".
How does the hem ... hem ... structure work?
It translates to "both ... and ...". You just place the word hem directly in front of each item or action you want to link together. In this sentence, hem kaset hem plak literally means "both cassette and record".
The English translation says "cassettes and vinyl records". Why don't kaset and plak have plural suffixes?
In English, we usually use the plural when talking about things in general, like "playing records". In Turkish, when you are referring to a general category of things rather than specific objects, you usually just leave the noun in its singular form.