Choosing a Turkish noun clause: -mek, -me or -dik

The idea

Use -mek to name an activity without marking its own subject, as in Ahşap oyuncak yapmak sabır ister. With istemek, the person wanting normally also performs the action in çalışmak istiyorum. For a wish about another person, use -me with a possessive ending identifying that person: senin çalışmanı istiyorum. With bilmek, -dik plus a possessive ending presents what is known: senin çalıştığını biliyorum. Here senin identifies the embedded subject; both objects also take the accusative required by the main verb. These are representative suffix labels, not a list of their shapes.

Examples

• Ben bu atölyede çalışmak istiyorum.I want to work in this workshop.
• Ben senin burada çalışmanı istiyorum.I want you to work here.
• Ben senin burada çalıştığını biliyorum.I know that you work here.
• Ahşap oyuncak yapmak sabır ister.Making wooden toys requires patience.
• Ben burada çalışmayı seviyorum.I like working here.
• Her sabah erken kalktığımı biliyorum.I know that I get up early every morning.
• Senin her akşam kapıyı kapattığını biliyorum.I know that you close the door every evening.
• Senin kapıyı kapatmanı istiyorum.I want you to close the door.

Watch out

Same subject does not automatically mean -mek: Ben burada çalışmayı seviyorum uses an activity object in the accusative, and Her sabah erken kalktığımı biliyorum reports knowledge about myself. Nor does -dik mean only past time: the context can describe a current or habitual situation. Do not turn the wish/information contrast here into a rule that -me always describes an unreal event.

Try it yourself

1. Choose the form: I want to stay at home this evening.

   Show answer or example answer

   kalmak

   kalmak: you both want and will stay at home. In this pattern istemek takes the bare infinitive; no separate subject or accusative is needed.

2. Choose the form: I want you to stay at home this evening.

   Show answer or example answer

   kalmanı

   kalmanı: the wish belongs to the speaker, but the person staying is sen. The possessive -n marks that person, and final -ı makes the whole action the object of the wish.

3. Choose the form: I know that you stay at home every Friday.

   Show answer or example answer

   kaldığını

   kaldığını: you know about a Friday habit, rather than asking someone to stay. Senin identifies whose habit it is; the softened ğ belongs to the nominalised verb, not a past-tense ending on the main verb.

4. Choose the form: I like staying at home.

   Show answer or example answer

   kalmayı

   kalmayı: the object of liking is the activity of staying at home. The form contains -ma and accusative -yı; it has no possessive ending, although the same person likes and stays.

Use it today

Use okumak to write three sentences: something you want to read, something you want a friend to read, and something you know the friend reads. Add a fourth sentence about enjoying reading. Identify each subject and the object ending.