Word
Kıraathanenin önünden geçmeyeli aşina bir ses duymadım.
Meaning
Since I last passed in front of the coffeehouse, I haven't heard a familiar voice.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Kıraathanenin önünden geçmeyeli aşina bir ses duymadım.
bir
a / an
ses
voice / sound
ön
front
geçmek
to pass / to cross / to shift (into a gear)
Questions & Answers about Kıraathanenin önünden geçmeyeli aşina bir ses duymadım.
Wait, geçmeyeli has the negative suffix -me-. Why does the translation say "since I last passed"?
The suffix -(y)AlI means "since". When you combine it with the negative suffix -mA- to form -mAyAlI, it measures the elapsed time of not doing the action. It literally means "since the period of not passing began". In English, the most natural way to express this is "since I last passed".
Why is önünden in the ablative case (-den) here?
In Turkish, the verb geçmek (to pass) requires the ablative case for the place you are passing by or through. While in English you pass in front of a place, in Turkish you literally pass from the front of it (önünden).
Is kıraathane just another word for a cafe?
Historically, a kıraathane was a "reading room". Today, it refers to a traditional Turkish coffeehouse where people (usually men) gather to drink tea, socialize, and play games like backgammon or Okey, rather than a modern, trendy cafe.
Why does the main verb duymadım use the simple past tense (-dı) when the English translation uses the present perfect ("haven't heard")?