Breakdown of Kaybolmadan önce çite doğru koşsun.
koşmak
to run
önce
before / first / firstly
kaybolmak
to get lost
doğru
towards
Questions & Answers about Kaybolmadan önce çite doğru koşsun.
Why does çit have an -e attached to it before doğru?
The word doğru means "towards" when it follows a noun in the dative case (the "to/for" direction). The dative suffix is -a or -e depending on vowel harmony. Here, çit takes -e to become çite, making çite doğru "towards the fence".
Why didn't the "t" in çit change to a "d" when adding the vowel suffix -e?
Normally, words ending in p, ç, t, or k change to b, c, d, or ğ when a vowel is added. However, single-syllable words like çit (fence) are often exceptions to this consonant mutation rule. So it stays çite, rather than becoming çide.
I learned that -madan means "without". Why does kaybolmadan önce mean "before getting lost" instead of "without getting lost before"?
You are right that the suffix -madan by itself means "without doing". But when -madan or -meden is paired with the word önce, they form a fixed grammar pattern meaning "before doing [verb]". You don't translate them separately here; together, kaybolmadan önce simply translates to "before getting lost".
What grammar structure makes koşsun mean "let him run"?