Breakdown of Çocuklar uyanmadan önce evimde huzur var.
ev
house
çocuk
child
var
there is / existent
önce
before / first / firstly
Questions & Answers about Çocuklar uyanmadan önce evimde huzur var.
How is "before... wake up" formed here?
We take the verb root uyan- (to wake up) and add the suffix -madan, followed by the separate word önce (before). Because uyan- has an 'a' (a back vowel) in its last syllable, A-type vowel harmony dictates that we use -madan instead of -meden.
In English, we say "before the children wake up". Why doesn't uyanmadan have a "they" ending?
Unlike some other grammar structures you will learn later, the -madan önce pattern does not take personal endings on the verb. You just state the subject in its plain, dictionary form right before the verb phrase. Here, çocuklar (the children) is simply placed in front of uyanmadan önce.
Why is it evimde and not evdeim for "in my house"?
In Turkish, suffixes always follow a specific order: possessive endings come before location endings. So it is built as ev (house) + -im (my) + -de (in/at), giving us evimde.
Why use var instead of a "to be" ending?
Var means "there is" or "exists". While you could translate the English idea as "my house is peaceful" (evim huzurlu), Turkish very commonly uses var to describe an atmosphere. Literally, this sentence says "In my house, peace exists."