Learn Turkish: Ekinler büyümedikçe seraya gitmiyoruz. - We are not going to the greenhouse unless the crops grow.

The suffix -mAdIkçA means "unless" or "as long as... not". It is attached to the verb root büyü- (to grow). So, büyümedikçe literally means "as long as they do not grow", which we naturally translate to English as "unless they grow".

Is -mAdIkçA just the negative version of the -dIkçA suffix?

Yes! You might remember that -dIkçA means "as long as" or "the more it happens". By adding the negative marker -mA right before it, it becomes -mAdIkçA, meaning "as long as it does not happen" or "unless".

Why is the main verb gitmiyoruz (we are not going) used here instead of the aorist or future tense?

In Turkish, the present continuous tense (-Iyor) is often used for near future plans or strong intentions, just like saying "we are not going to go" in English. Using the aorist (gitmeyiz) would sound more like a timeless, general rule, whereas this sentence sounds like a specific plan based on the crops' current progress.

What is the root word of seraya and why is there a y?