Breakdown of Bu şehre gelmeyeli hem mahalle betonlaştı hem de aşina insanlar azaldı.
bu
this
şehir
city
insan
person
gelmek
to come
hem
both / and (used in pairs as both... and...)
mahalle
neighborhood
azalmak
to decrease
betonlaşmak
to become covered in concrete
aşina
familiar
Questions & Answers about Bu şehre gelmeyeli hem mahalle betonlaştı hem de aşina insanlar azaldı.
Why does the negative word gelmeyeli mean "since I last returned" rather than "since I didn't return"?
The suffix -(y)AlI means "since doing [action]". When combined with the negative marker -mA, as in gelmeyeli (gel-me-y-eli), it literally means "since the time of not coming to [this city]". In English, we naturally express this elapsed time as "since I last came" or "it has been a while since I came".
There is no personal suffix on gelmeyeli. How do we know it means "since I last returned"?
Temporal converbs with -(y)AlI don't take personal endings. Usually, the subject matches the main verb, but here the main verbs belong to "the neighborhood" and "familiar people". In cases like this, the subject of the converb is inferred from context. Since the speaker is making a personal observation based on their own absence, "I" is the natural implied subject.
How does the noun beton (concrete) become the verb betonlaştı?
This is done using the suffix -lAş, which turns nouns or adjectives into verbs meaning "to become [noun/adjective]". Beton (concrete) + -laş = betonlaşmak (to become concrete / to become heavily urbanized). The -tı at the end is just the simple past tense marker.
Is the verb azaldı related to the word az (little/few)?
Yes! The suffix -Al attaches to certain adjectives of quantity or state to mean "to become more [adjective]". Az (little) + -al = azalmak (to become less, to decrease). Another common example you might know is çoğalmak (to increase), from çok (much/many).
Why is there a de after the second hem in the phrase hem... hem de...?
The paired conjunction hem ... hem ... means "both ... and ...". Adding de to the second half (hem ... hem de ...) is extremely common in Turkish. It isn't strictly grammatically required, but it emphasizes the addition of the second point (similar to "and also") and makes the sentence flow more naturally.
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