You will say what you like doing, ask someone about their free time and turn the verb into a noun to do it.
The idea
To say what you like doing, turn the verb into a noun with -me or -ma, add the accusative -yi or -yı, then use sevmek: okumayı severim, yüzmeyi seviyorum. The vowel of the verb decides: -me after e i ö ü, -ma after a ı o u. To ask, say Boş zamanlarında ne yaparsın? or Ne yapmayı seversin?
| Verb | Noun form in -me / -ma | With the accusative |
|---|---|---|
| okumak | okuma | okumayı |
| dinlemek | dinleme | dinlemeyi |
| yüzmek | yüzme | yüzmeyi |
| koşmak | koşma | koşmayı |
| söylemek | söyleme | söylemeyi |
| yapmak | yapma | yapmayı |
Examples
- Boş zamanlarında ne yaparsın?What do you do in your free time?Sen is the informal you. To a stranger or an older person say Boş zamanlarınızda ne yaparsınız?
- Ben müzik dinlemeyi severim.I like listening to music.
- Hafta sonları arkadaşlarımla futbol oynarım.At weekends I play football with my friends.
- Çocuğum resim yapmayı çok sever.My child likes drawing a lot.
- Yüzmeyi sevmiyorum ama koşmayı seviyorum.I don't like swimming, but I like running.Each verb takes the vowel of its own stem: yüz gives -meyi, koş gives -mayı.
- Akşamları genelde dizi izlerim.In the evenings I usually watch series.
- Benim hobim fotoğraf çekmek.My hobby is taking photos.After a noun such as hobi the plain infinitive stands; -meyi belongs to verbs like sevmek.
- Ne yapmayı seversin?What do you like doing?
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Watch out
Learners copy the English infinitive and say Yüzmek seviyorum. After sevmek the verb usually takes -meyi / -mayı: yüzmeyi seviyorum. The plain -mek belongs after istemek and after a noun: yüzmek istiyorum, hobim yüzmek.
Try it yourself
Complete the whole word: I like swimming.
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yüzmeyi
yüzmeyi: the vowel of yüz is ü, a front vowel, so the noun form is -me, and after the vowel e the accusative is -yi.
Complete the whole word: I love cooking.
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yapmayı
yapmayı: yap has the back vowel a, so the noun form is -ma, and after a the accusative is -yı.
Complete the whole word: my mother likes singing.
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söylemeyi
söylemeyi: söyle ends in the front vowel e, so -me follows, and the accusative after it is -yi.
Write the verb in the form that follows hobim: my hobby is reading books.
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okumak
okumak: after a noun such as hobim the plain infinitive stands; -meyi belongs to verbs like sevmek.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Complete the whole word: I like swimming.
Complete the whole word: I love cooking.
Complete the whole word: my mother likes singing.
Write the verb in the form that follows hobim: my hobby is reading books.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
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Write four sentences about your free time: two with sevmek and -meyi / -mayı, one with an aorist verb such as oynarım, and one with hobim.