gezmek: to stroll, to tour, with geziyorum and gezdim

The idea

Gezmek has the regular stem gez-: the present is geziyorum, the past gezdim (the voiced z takes d), the future gezeceğim (the k of -ecek softens to ğ) and the negative gezmiyorum. A place you tour as a sight is the object and takes the accusative: müzeyi gezmek, şehri gezmek. A space you wander around in takes the locative: bahçede gezmek. To go out for a stroll, say gezmeye gitmek.

Examples

• Hafta sonu şehri geziyoruz.We are touring the city this weekend.The city you tour is the object of the verb, so it takes the accusative: şehri geziyoruz, not şehre.
• Dün müzeyi gezdim.I visited the museum yesterday.The stem gez- ends in the voiced consonant z, so the past ending starts with d: gez-di-m. Müzeyi has a buffer y before the accusative -i.
• Çocuklar bahçede geziyor.The children are strolling around in the garden.Here the garden is not a sight but a space to move around in, so it takes the locative: bahçede. The verb after çocuklar is usually singular.
• Akşam arkadaşlarımla gezmeye gidiyoruz.In the evening we are going out for a stroll with my friends.Gezmeye is gezme (the verb stem with -me), a buffer y and the dative -e. Gezmeye gitmek is the usual way to say you are going out for a stroll.
• Hava kötü, bugün gezmiyoruz.The weather is bad, so we are not going out today.
• Yarın okul gezisi var.There is a school trip tomorrow.Gezi is a noun built from the stem gez-: a trip or outing. In okul gezisi the ending -si marks the compound, a trip belonging to the school.
• geziyorumI am strollinggez·iyor-iyor / -ıyor / -uyor / -üyor: happening now·um-im / -sin / -iz / -siniz: I am, you are, we are
• gezdimI strolledgez·di-di, -dı, -du, -dü, -ti: the past (geldi, yaptı)·mPast person endings: -m, -n, -k, -niz, -ler

Watch out

Do not treat gezmek like gitmek: müzeye gezdim is wrong. A place you tour is not a destination, so it takes -i, not -e: müzeyi gezdim. Compare müzeye gittim (I went to the museum) with müzeyi gezdim (I looked around it).

Try it yourself

1. Complete in the present continuous: We are touring the city this weekend.

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   geziyoruz

   geziyoruz: the stem gez- ends in a consonant, so -iyor attaches directly with i after the front vowel e, and biz takes -uz.

2. Complete in the past: I visited the museum yesterday.

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   gezdim

   gezdim: after the voiced z the past ending starts with d, the front unrounded e gives -di, and ben takes -m.

3. Complete in the future: They will tour the old neighbourhood tomorrow.

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   gezecekler / gezecek

   gezecekler: the future -ecek follows the front vowel e, and -ler marks the plural; the bare gezecek is also heard after onlar.

4. Add the ending that marks the toured place as the object: I toured Istanbul.

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   İstanbul'u

   İstanbul'u: a city you tour is the object, so it takes the accusative; the last vowel u gives -u, and the apostrophe separates the name.

Use it today

Write three sentences about a place you visited: one with the accusative, one with the locative and one with gezmeye gitmek.