Breakdown of Ha burada kaldın ha orada, benim için önemsiz.
ben
I
burada
here
orada
over there
kalmak
to stay / to be left / to remain (in a state)
Questions & Answers about Ha burada kaldın ha orada, benim için önemsiz.
How does the ha ... ha ... structure work in this sentence?
This structure expresses indifference between two alternatives, meaning "whether... or..." or "it makes no difference if... or...". By placing ha before burada and ha before orada, the speaker emphasizes that both locations yield the exact same result.
Why is the verb kaldın only used once if there are two options being compared?
When the same verb applies to both parts of a correlative conjunction like ha ... ha ..., you usually drop the second one to avoid repetition. The full thought is ha burada kaldın ha orada kaldın, but dropping the second kaldın sounds much more natural.
Why is kaldın in the past tense here?
While it can refer to a literal past event, Turkish frequently uses the definite past tense (-dı / -di) with ha ... ha ... to set up a hypothetical situation for the present or future. It acts a bit like a conditional, meaning "Let's assume you stayed here, or assume you stayed there."
Could I use fark etmez at the end instead of benim için önemsiz?
Absolutely. Fark etmez (it doesn't matter) is extremely common and natural to pair with ha ... ha ... sentences. The phrase benim için önemsiz just puts a bit more emphasis on the fact that it is specifically unimportant to you.