Before or without doing: interpreting -meden

The idea

A verb with -meden or -madan links to the main verb without taking its own tense or person ending. In Çocuklar konuşmadan resim çiziyor, drawing happens without talking. Adding önce makes the time relation explicit: Dışarı çıkmadan önce pencereleri kapatıyoruz places closing before going out. Context can also give “before” without önce, as in Film başlamadan yerimize oturalım. The two actions need not share a subject: in Sen gelmeden önce masayı hazırlayacağım, you arrive and I set the table.

Examples

• Çocuklar konuşmadan resim çiziyor.The children are drawing without talking.
• Biz durmadan yürüyoruz.We are walking without stopping.
• Sen düşünmeden cevap veriyorsun.You are answering without thinking.
• Çorbayı tatmadan tuz ekleme.Do not add salt without tasting the soup.
• Dışarı çıkmadan önce pencereleri kapatıyoruz.We close the windows before going out.
• Sen gelmeden önce masayı hazırlayacağım.I will set the table before you arrive.
• Film başlamadan yerimize oturalım.Let’s take our seats before the film starts.

Watch out

Do not read the converb as a negative statement about the whole sentence. Sen düşünmeden cevap veriyorsun says that you ARE answering, but without thinking. To tell someone not to do that, the main verb must also be negative: Düşünmeden cevap verme.

Try it yourself

1. Complete: Do not add salt without tasting the soup.

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   tatmadan

   tatmadan: tasting is the missing step before salt is added. The command ekleme separately tells the listener not to add it under that condition.

2. Add the word that makes “before going out” explicit.

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   önce

   önce: the windows are closed first and going out comes later. This word makes that sequence explicit instead of simply describing an action done without going out.

3. Complete: I will set the table before you arrive.

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   gelmeden

   gelmeden: sen is the person arriving; the ending of hazırlayacağım identifies the person setting the table as “I”. The linking verb needs no second-person ending.

4. Complete the command to one person: Do not answer without thinking.

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   verme

   verme: this is a negative command to one person. Düşünmeden already describes the lack of thought, but it does not itself prohibit answering.

Use it today

Describe something you do without another action, then something you do before a later event. Use önce in the second sentence. Add a third sentence with different subjects and identify who does each action.