Learn Turkish: Bu sokakları adımlamayalı çok zaman geçti ama hiç endişem yok. - Much time has passed since I last walked these streets, but I have no worries.

When expressing how much time has passed since an action last happened, Turkish frames it negatively as the time spent not doing it. The formula for this is Verb + negative -mA + -(y)AlI. So adımlamayalı literally translates to 'since I have not paced [them]', which naturally means 'since I last walked [them]' in English.

How do we know adımlamayalı means 'since I last walked' if there is no personal suffix on it?

Suffixes like -(y)AlI are converbs, which means they turn a verb into an adverb describing the main action. These forms do not take personal endings. The subject is inferred from the context of the sentence. Because the second clause says endişem yok (I have no worries / my worry does not exist), we know the speaker is referring to their own experience.

Why do we use the accusative sokakları instead of the locative sokaklarda?

The verb adımlamak means 'to pace' or 'to walk along'. Just as you would 'pace the floor' or 'walk the streets' in English, Turkish treats the streets as the direct object of the pacing, rather than just the location where the walking occurs. Therefore, it requires the accusative suffix -ı.

What is the root of the verb adımlamak in this sentence?