Breakdown of Parti başlayınca benden başka kimse veganları düşünmüyordu.
ben
I
başlamak
to begin, to start
düşünmek
to think
parti
party
Questions & Answers about Parti başlayınca benden başka kimse veganları düşünmüyordu.
Why is it benden başka instead of just ben başka?
The postposition başka (other/different) requires the ablative case (-DAn) when it means "except for" or "other than". So, the pronoun ben (I/me) takes the ablative ending -den to become benden başka (except for me).
English uses "about" for "thinking about the vegans," but veganları has an accusative ending. Why?
In English, we "think about" someone, but the Turkish verb düşünmek (to think) directly acts on its object without needing an extra preposition. Because "the vegans" are the specific direct object of the thinking, veganlar gets the accusative suffix -ı, becoming veganları.
How does başlayınca translate to "when the party started"?
It uses the suffix -(y)ınca / -(y)ince, which attaches to a verb stem to mean "when" or "as soon as". Başla (start) + -y- (buffer) + -ınca creates başlayınca. It doesn't have its own past tense marker; it simply takes its time frame from the main verb (düşünmüyordu).
If kimse means "no one", why is the verb negative (düşünmüyordu)?