Learn Turkish: Kimsesiz adamcağız ağlıyorken çok mahzun görünüyordu. - The poor lonely man looked very sad while crying.

The suffix -cağız (or -ceğiz) is a diminutive of compassion or endearment. Attached to adam (man), it forms adamcağız, which translates to "the poor man" or "the dear man." It expresses sympathy directly on the noun without needing to add a separate adjective like zavallı (poor/pitiful).

Is there a difference between saying ağlıyorken and ağlarken here?

Yes, there is a slight difference in nuance. Both mean "while crying." However, ağlarken uses the aorist tense and is the more standard, general way to say it. Ağlıyorken uses the present continuous (-ıyor) before -ken, which emphasizes the active, ongoing process of the crying at that exact moment.

Kimse usually means "nobody" or "anyone." How does kimsesiz translate to "lonely"?

While kimse is often used in negative sentences to mean "nobody," its base meaning is "person" or "someone." When you add the "without" suffix -siz, kimsesiz literally means "without anyone." It describes someone who is destitute or all alone in the world, having no family or support system.

Why is the verb görünüyordu used for "looked" instead of bakıyordu?