Breakdown of Basınç yüksek kaldığı sürece mürettebat uyumayabilir.
uyumak
to sleep
kalmak
to stay / to be left / to remain (in a state)
yüksek
high
sürece
as long as
Questions & Answers about Basınç yüksek kaldığı sürece mürettebat uyumayabilir.
How does kaldığı sürece translate to "as long as it remains"?
The verb kalmak (to remain) takes the suffix -dık to turn it into a descriptive word. We then add the third-person possessive suffix -ı (which softens the k to ğ) because the subject basınç (pressure) is doing the action. Paired with sürece (for the duration of), it literally means "for the duration of its remaining" or "as long as it remains".
Why is the negative suffix -ma placed where it is in uyumayabilir?
This word order is how Turkish expresses "might not" instead of "cannot". By placing the negative -ma right after the verb root uyu and before the possibility suffix -yabil, you get the meaning "possibility of not sleeping". If you wanted to say "cannot sleep" (lack of ability), you would use the inability suffix -ama instead, forming uyuyamaz.
Mürettebat implies multiple crew members, so why doesn't the verb uyumayabilir have a plural ending?
Words like mürettebat (crew) or aile (family) are collective nouns. In Turkish, collective nouns are treated as grammatically singular unless you specifically add a plural suffix like -lar to them. Since mürettebat is singular here, the verb stays singular.
Is sürece a standalone word or a grammar suffix?