Breakdown of Az kalsın balkonunda hamak olan daireyi kiralıyordu.
olmak
to be
balkon
balcony
kiralamak
to rent
daire
apartment / flat
Questions & Answers about Az kalsın balkonunda hamak olan daireyi kiralıyordu.
How does balkonunda hamak olan translate to "that has a hammock on its balcony"? Where is the word for "has"?
In Turkish, having something in a location is expressed with an existential structure (using var or yok). The underlying sentence is Balkonunda hamak var (There is a hammock on its balcony). To turn this into a descriptive clause modifying the apartment, var is replaced by olan (the relative participle of olmak). Literally, it translates to "the apartment [which] there-being a hammock on its balcony."
Why is the verb kiralıyordu in the past continuous tense (was renting) when the English translation says "almost rented"?
The phrase az kalsın (almost / narrowly) is very frequently paired with the past continuous (-yordu) to describe an action that was on the absolute verge of happening but ultimately didn't. Turkish frames this as "he was just about to rent it / was in the process of renting it (but something stopped him)," whereas English prefers the simple past "almost rented."
Let's break down balkonunda. Why is there a possessive suffix on it?
The word breaks down into balkon-u-n-da. The -u is the 3rd person possessive suffix, which refers forward to the apartment (daire). It literally means "on its balcony" (-n- is a buffer letter, and -da is the locative case). It connects the balcony specifically to the apartment being rented.
Why does take the accusative () case here?