You will recognise the infinitive in a dictionary, choose -mek or -mak from the stem, and use it after verbs such as want.
The idea
The infinitive is the dictionary form of the verb: the stem plus -mek or -mak. Look at the last vowel of the stem: e i ö ü gives -mek (gelmek, görmek), and a ı o u gives -mak (yapmak, uyumak). The consonant never changes. After the ability suffix it is always -mek, because that suffix ends in i: gelebilmek, yapabilmek. The infinitive can also act as a noun and be a subject: Yüzmek sağlıklıdır.
| Last vowel of the stem | Infinitive ending | Example |
|---|---|---|
| a | -mak | yapmak |
| ı | -mak | çalışmak |
| o | -mak | sormak |
| u | -mak | uyumak |
| e | -mek | gelmek |
| i | -mek | gitmek |
| ö | -mek | görmek |
| ü | -mek | yürümek |
Examples
- Ben her sabah erken kalkmak istiyorum.I want to get up early every morning.After istemek (to want) the verb stays a full infinitive: kalkmak istiyorum. The pronoun ben may be dropped.
- Müzik dinlemek bana iyi geliyor.Listening to music does me good.
- Çocuklar bahçede oynamak istiyor.The children want to play in the garden.
- Yüzmek sağlıklıdır.Swimming is healthy.The infinitive works like a noun, so it can be the subject of the sentence: yüzmek, swimming.
- gelememekto be unable to comegeleme-eme / -ama: cannot, could notmek-mek / -mak: the infinitive
- yapamamakto be unable to doyapama-eme / -ama: cannot, could notmak-mek / -mak: the infinitive
- okuyamamakto be unable to readokuyama-eme / -ama: cannot, could notmak-mek / -mak: the infinitive
- görememekto be unable to seegöreme-eme / -ama: cannot, could notmek-mek / -mak: the infinitive
- görmekto seeThe last vowel ö is front, so the ending is -mek, not -mak: görmek.
- uyumakto sleepThe last vowel u is back, so the ending is -mak, and nothing is added between uyu and -mak: uyumak.
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Watch out
After istemek the verb stays whole: kalkmak istiyorum is right and kalk istiyorum is not, because the bare stem is the command (Kalk!). Also choose by the last vowel of the stem, never the first.
Try it yourself
Make the infinitive of yaz (write): to write.
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yazmak
yazmak: the last vowel of yaz is a, a back vowel, so the ending is -mak.
Make the infinitive of oku (read): to read.
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okumak
okumak: the stem oku ends in the back vowel u, so -mak, and no consonant is placed between stem and ending.
Make the infinitive of öğren (learn): to learn.
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öğrenmek
öğrenmek: the last vowel of öğren is e, a front vowel, so -mek.
Make the infinitive of yürü (walk): to walk.
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yürümek
yürümek: the stem yürü ends in the front vowel ü, so the ending is -mek.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Make the infinitive of yaz (write): to write.
Make the infinitive of oku (read): to read.
Make the infinitive of öğren (learn): to learn.
Make the infinitive of yürü (walk): to walk.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the parts in order to build this word: to be unable to come
Tap the parts in order to build this word: to be unable to do
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Write four things you want to do this week with istiyorum, each with a full infinitive, and say for each whether the last vowel of the stem is front or back.