Name an activity with -me or -ma, then give it a role in a sentence. You will build forms for reading, starting to walk and someone coming early.
The idea
Use -me after e, i, ö, ü and -ma after a, ı, o, u: yürüme, okuma. Attach it directly to the verb stem; gitme keeps its t. The resulting noun can take possession: gel-me-n means your coming. Before a case vowel, an unpossessed form needs y: oku-ma-y-ı is the object of sevmek (to like), while yürü-me-y-e goes with başlamak (to begin). Choose the case required by the main verb.
| Last vowel | Suffix | Stem | Verbal noun |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | -ma | yaz | yazma |
| ı | -ma | kır | kırma |
| o | -ma | koş | koşma |
| u | -ma | oku | okuma |
| e | -me | bekle | bekleme |
| i | -me | sil | silme |
| ö | -me | gör | görme |
| ü | -me | yürü | yürüme |
Examples
- Akşamları balkonda okumayı seviyorum.I like reading on the balcony in the evenings.
- Senin erken gelmen çok önemli.It is very important that you come early.
- Bu hafta yürümeye başladık.We started walking this week.
- okumayıreading (as an accusative object)okuma-me / -ma: verbal nounsyBuffer -y-: the y that joins vowelsı-i / -ı / -u / -ü: marking the definite object
- yürümeyewalking (in the dative, as after “begin”)yürüme-me / -ma: verbal nounsyBuffer -y-: the y that joins vowelse-e / -a / -ye / -ya: to, towards
- gelmenyour cominggelme-me / -ma: verbal nounsn-in / -ın / -un / -ün: your (evin, araban)
- Onun mesajı okumaması beni şaşırttı.The fact that he or she did not read the message surprised me.
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Watch out
The same spelling can hide two suffixes: Okuma! means “Do not read!”, but okuma can name reading. To name not reading, put the negative suffix before the noun-forming suffix: oku-ma-ma. With third-person possession this becomes okumaması, not okuması, which is positive.
Try it yourself
Form the activity noun from yürümek (to walk); add no other ending.
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yürüme
yürüme: the last vowel of yürü- is ü, so the noun ends in -me, not a rounded -mü. There is no linking letter before m.
Complete: I like reading poetry every evening. Use okumak.
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okumayı
okumayı: reading poetry is the activity you like, so sevmek takes it as an accusative object. The vowel-final okuma needs y before -ı.
Complete: It is important that you come early. Use gelmek.
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gelmen
gelmen: senin identifies the person coming as “you”; the possessive -n after gelme matches it. The whole phrase is the subject, so no accusative is added.
Complete: It surprised me that he or she did not read the message. Use a negative verbal noun from okumak.
Show answer or example answer
okumaması
okumaması: oku-ma-ma-sı has negation, nominalisation and third-person possession. Both copies of ma are needed because it is the failure to read that caused surprise.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Form the activity noun from yürümek (to walk); add no other ending.
Complete: I like reading poetry every evening. Use okumak.
Complete: It is important that you come early. Use gelmek.
Complete: It surprised me that he or she did not read the message. Use a negative verbal noun from okumak.
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: reading (as an accusative object)
Tap the parts in order to build this word: walking (in the dative, as after “begin”)
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Write one sentence about an activity you enjoy and one about a friend’s coming. Split the verbal nouns into stem, noun suffix and any following endings.