Hello guys. We wish you a well-rested mind and cleared mind before starting this lesson. Because it is a subject that may seem a little confusing at first. Now that you have progressed at the A2 level, it is normal for us to go deeper in knowledge. In fact, the logic of this subject is very simple, and we will explain the lesson in the simplest way so that you can easily understand it. I think you’ve heard the infinitive (mastar) in Turkish before; -mak and -mek. In this lesson, we will learn how to make these suffixes functional in a sentence, how can we use these suffixes.
-ma -mak -me -mek In Turkish
It is a suffix that you can use in the verbs you have learned so far and even in the future, that is, at the end of all verbs in Turkish. So what will work? By adding this suffix to the end of the verb, we make it a noun. Please pay attention here. Thanks to these suffixes, we produce nouns from verbs. So they are no longer verbs but nouns. A verb as a noun.
You can think of it as the name of the work that the verb is describing. We can compare this to the English “to” or “-ing” suffixes. In addition, they take the -mek -mak -ma -me suffix and after becoming a noun, they do not take the tense suffixes, person suffixes etc. that the verbs take; just like nouns, they take the suffixes that nouns take For example, case suffixes, plural suffix etc.
You saw it in the example above. In the first sentence, the verb takes the tense and the personal suffixes just like a normal verb you learned till now. It is a verb! But in the 2nd sentence, the words with “-mek -mak” turned into nouns in the sentence. Can we say that the verbs “to travel’s and to know’s” name are used in the second sentence? The name of verb! We think that you have more or less understood what this suffix means from what we have told so far. Let’s take a look at the examples below.
Based on the examples, it is understood that thanks to these suffixes, we can construct longer and more useful sentences. You will understand what we mean with these examples in English. “Purchases are made with a credit card. It’s easy.” Instead of making two separate sentences like this, “It’s easy to shop with a credit card.” In a single sentence, we spend less effort. How? We connected the sentences with “to”. That’s why we use the suffix “-mek -mak -ma -me” in Turkish instead of “to, ing”. To make verbs nouns!
Rules
- Of course, as we always do, we immediately check for vowel harmony. If the last vowel of the word is “a, ı, o or u” the suffix will be “-mak or -ma”. But if the last vowel of the word is “e, i, ö or ü” the suffix will be “-mek or -me”.
- If you remember we said that the word have “-ma -mak -me -mek” suffixes can take also other suffixes which is nouns can takes. For example; -dan, -da, -a, -ı -im -ın… (ablative, genitive, plural, possesive suffixes etc.) Hmmm… How they can have nouns suffixes? Because they are nouns anymore, cause they have “-ma -mak -me -mek”!
- Beklemeyi hiç seviyorum. (I don’t like waiting.)
- verb+me+accusative case suffix (-i)
- Another point is how will you know which one to use. How can you decide to put “-ma or -mak”. Or how can you decide to put “-me or -mek”? You know if there is a “k” or not the meaning doesn’t change. But their places are different. You can decide with a very common rule, although it doesn’t apply to all situations. Pretty simple rule. In the previous rule, we talked about the suffixes that these words can take.
The rule about whether to use -ma or mak is: If the suffix following this suffix begins with a vowel, “-ma or -me”; if the next suffix after this suffix begins with a consonant, “-mak or -mek” is used. Don’t be confused by the buffer letter we put in. We don’t see it. You can see this if you look at the example sentences above. After the suffix -mak, the suffix (-tan) starting with a consonant letter, and the suffix (-i) starting with a vowel after the suffix -ma are used. But remember that this is not always true. Again, with a lot of practice, you will be able to understand.
- We can also mention a difference between them. SOMETIMES “-mak or -mek” is used when talking about a formal, general judgment that applies to everyone in general. So there’s a “k” at the end. “-ma or -me” is used when talking about things that are more specific to the person. So there is no “k” at the end. For an example let’s look at the above picture! But don’t forget this rule also not valid for all situations. You have to make some practice:)
- There are some cases that take this suffix and become a word. They are words that have been used as a synonym for a certain substance for a very long time and have become the name of that substance over time. These have now become the name of a substance or a place. So, these changed words have a new meaning. All you have to do is look up the dictionary to find out. Its meaning in a sentence may change depending on the context. In other words, it may be talking about the verb or, as we said, it may also be talking about the name of an object or place. Here are some common words for you:
- Dondurma (Ice cream)
- Ekmek (Bread)
- Uçurtma (Kite)
- Kızartma (Frying)
- Kavurma (Roasted Meat)
- Danışma (Consultation)
- Çakmak (Lighter)
- Yarışma (Competition)
- Yemek (Food)
- Oturma odası (Living room)
- Bekleme salonu (Waiting room)
- Görme engelli (Blind)
- Sarma (a Turkish food)
- Dolma (a Turkish food)
- Koruma (meslek) – Protector (job)
- Deneme dersi (trial lesson)
Example Sentences
- Doğum günümü kutlaman beni çok mutlu etti. (I am very happy that you celebrated my birthday.)
- Yemekten sonra kahve içmeyi severim. (I like to drink coffee after dinner.)
- Eşimin en büyük zevki karda yürümektir. (My wife’s / husband’s greatest pleasure is walking in the snow.)
- Boş zamanlarımda film seyretmekten hoşlanırım. (I like to watch movies in my spare time.)
- Tatile gitmekten vazgeçtim. (I gave up on going on vacation.)
- Ben yedi aylıkken yürümeye başlamışım. (I started walking when I was seven months old.)
- Akşamları güneşin batışını seyretmeyi severim. (I like to watch the sunset in the evening.)
- Kardeşim temizlik yapmaktan hiç hoşlanmıyor. (My brother doesn’t like cleaning at all.)
- Ödev yapmayı sevmiyorum. (I don’t like doing homework.)
- Aylin’le evlenmeye karar verdik. (Me and Aylin, we decided to marry.)
- Yazın sabah erken saatlerde yüzmeyi tercih ediyorum. (I prefer to swim early in the morning in summer.)
- Yorgun görünüyorsun. Dinlenmende fayda var. (You look tired. It’s good to rest.)
- Yanlış yapmaktan korkmayın. (Don’t be afraid to make mistakes.)
- Babam, her zaman doğruları söylememizi tavsiye eder. (My father advises us to always tell the truth.)
If you have any question about any subject on Turkish language just let me know in the comment below. Btw we also share all Turkish grammar lessons, some daily usefull tips, Turkish idioms and more about Turkish language and Turkish culture on YouTube channel! You can watch all lessons for free now! Just click here and subscribe to don’t lose our videos. See you in another lesson!
