Learn Turkish: Gözünü hiç kırpmadan, son paragrafı soluklanmaksızın bitirdi. - Without blinking his eye at all, he finished the last paragraph without catching his breath.

Gözünü hiç kırpmadan, son paragrafı soluklanmaksızın bitirdi.

Without blinking his eye at all, he finished the last paragraph without catching his breath.

Breakdown of Gözünü hiç kırpmadan, son paragrafı soluklanmaksızın bitirdi.

to finish (something)

Questions & Answers about Gözünü hiç kırpmadan, son paragrafı soluklanmaksızın bitirdi.

Why does this sentence use kırpmadan in the first half but soluklanmaksızın in the second half if they both mean 'without doing something'?

Both -mAdAn and -mAksIzIn are negative converbs meaning "without doing [action]". However, -mAksIzIn is more formal and literary. Writers often mix them in the same sentence to avoid repeating the -mAdAn sound twice (which would be kırpmadan and soluklanmadan), giving the sentence better flow and stylistic variety.

How exactly is the word soluklanmaksızın built?

It starts with the noun soluk (breath). The suffix -lan turns it into the verb soluklanmak (to catch one's breath / to rest). Finally, the formal negative converb suffix -maksızın is attached directly to the verb stem (soluklan-), creating the meaning "without catching his breath".

Why does göz (eye) take the suffixes -ünü at the beginning of the sentence?

It breaks down into göz (eye) + -ü (his) + -n- (buffer consonant) + -ü (accusative case). The accusative is required because his eye is the specific direct object being acted upon by the verb kırpmak (to blink). As a whole, gözünü kırpmadan is also a very common Turkish idiom meaning "without batting an eye" or "without hesitation".

Could the word (at all) be used right before as well?