Breakdown of Onları gizlice gözetlemeden duramadım.
o
that / he / she / it
durmak
to stop, to stand
gizlice
secretly
gözetlemek
to spy on / to watch (secretly, keeping watch)
Questions & Answers about Onları gizlice gözetlemeden duramadım.
Why does gözetlemeden translate to "from spying" here? Doesn't the -mEdEn suffix usually mean "without"?
You are exactly right! -mEdEn does mean "without". The entire phrase -mEdEn duramamak literally translates to "to be unable to stand/stay without doing [something]." In Turkish, this is the standard idiomatic way to say "I couldn't help but do [something]" or "I couldn't stop myself from doing [something]."
What is the exact grammatical difference between durmadım and duramadım?
The single letter -a- changes the entire meaning. Dur-ma-dım is simple negation meaning "I didn't stop." Dur-a-ma-dım includes the inability suffix (-e/-a inserted before the negative suffix), which changes the meaning to "I couldn't stop."
Could I just say gizli gözetlemeden instead of gizlice?
In English we say "spy on them". Why is it onları (accusative) instead of taking a dative or locative case?
Unlike the English phrasal verb "spy on," the Turkish verb gözetlemek (to observe, keep an eye on, spy) directly takes the accusative case for its object. Because you are spying on a specific, known group of people, onlar takes the definite accusative suffix -ı to become onları.
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