Breakdown of Mindere oturmadan önce rahatla.
oturmak
to sit
önce
before / first / firstly
rahatlamak
to relax
minder
mat / cushion
Questions & Answers about Mindere oturmadan önce rahatla.
How does oturmadan önce translate to 'before sitting'?
To say 'before doing something' in Turkish, you take the verb stem (otur-), add the ending -madan (or -meden, depending on vowel harmony), and follow it with the word önce. So, otur- + -madan + önce gives us 'before sitting'.
We translate this as 'sitting on the mat'. Shouldn't we use the locative ending -de instead of the dative -e in mindere?
In English, we say 'sit on something', but in Turkish, the action of sitting down is treated as a motion towards a destination. Therefore, oturmak takes the dative case (-e or -a) when you are talking about the act of taking a seat (mindere otur = sit onto the mat). If you want to say you are already sitting there, you would use the locative (minderde oturuyorum = I am sitting on the mat).
Could we drop the word önce from this sentence?
Yes, you often can! The suffix -madan / -meden already carries a meaning like 'without doing'. So Mindere oturmadan rahatla can mean 'Relax without sitting on the mat', which implies doing it beforehand. However, adding önce makes it specifically and clearly mean 'before'.
What form is the verb rahatla in?
It is an order or command (the imperative form) directed at a single person. The verb stem is rahatla-, which is created by adding the verb-making suffix -la to the adjective rahat (comfortable or relaxed). Using just the bare stem makes it a command: 'Relax!'.
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