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Hava birden soğudu.

Hava birden soğudu.
The weather suddenly got cold.
From Lesson 399:Almost doing something (az kalsın / neredeyse)·Turkish

Questions & Answers about Hava birden soğudu.

Why does birden mean 'suddenly' when grammatically it looks like it means 'from one'?
It literally translates to 'from one' (the number bir plus the ablative case ending -den), but it functions as a fixed adverb meaning 'all at once' or 'suddenly'. You will also frequently hear it expanded to birdenbire, which means the exact same thing but adds a bit more emphasis to the suddenness.
Could I say soğuk oldu instead of using the dedicated verb soğudu?
While a native speaker would understand soğuk oldu, it sounds unnatural here. Turkish strongly prefers dedicated verbs for a change in physical state, environment, or weather—like soğumak (to get cold), ısınmak (to get warm), or kararmak (to get dark)—rather than combining an adjective with olmak.
How would I apply this lesson's grammar to say 'The weather almost got cold (but didn't)'?
To express an averted action, you would add an adverb like az kalsın or neredeyse, and change the verb to the past continuous tense (-yordu). The sentence would become: Hava az kalsın soğuyordu.

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