English gets by with two words, like and love, but Turkish slices the same emotional ground into at least three verbs: sevmek, beğenmek and hoşlanmak. Choosing the wrong one is rarely a grammar error — it is a meaning error, and one that can be socially awkward, because the difference between them is partly about romance and partly about whether you are giving an opinion or expressing affection. This page sorts them out and, just as importantly, fixes the case each one demands.
sevmek — love, or steady affection
sevmek is the broad, warm verb. It covers to love (a person, your country, your dog) and to like in the sense of enjoying something habitually (a food, an activity, a kind of music). Its stem is regular: sev-. The crucial grammatical fact is that sevmek takes the accusative case when the object is a specific, identifiable thing or person.
| Form | sevmek |
|---|---|
| present continuous (o) | seviyor |
| aorist (o) | sever |
| past (o) | sevdi |
| negative continuous (o) | sevmiyor |
| question (o) | seviyor mu? |
The most famous Turkish sentence of all uses it: Seni seviyorum — I love you. Here seni is you in the accusative; the pronoun sen must be marked because the object is fully specific.
Seni seviyorum, bunu sana defalarca söyledim.
I love you, I've told you so many times.
Ben acılı yemekleri çok severim, sen sevmez misin?
I really like spicy food, don't you?
When the object is general (a whole category, not a specific item), you can leave it unmarked — but with a definite object the accusative is obligatory. Compare kahve severim (I'm a coffee person, in general) with bu kahveyi sevdim (I liked this coffee, this specific one).
Köpekleri severim ama bu köpeği pek sevmedim, çok havlıyor.
I like dogs, but I didn't really like this dog, it barks a lot.
beğenmek — to like in the sense of approving
beğenmek is the verb of opinion and approval. You use it when you have evaluated something and found it good: a film, a dress, a haircut, a candidate, a dish at a restaurant. It is what the “like” button on Turkish social media is called (beğeni). Its stem is beğen-, and like sevmek it takes the accusative.
| Form | beğenmek |
|---|---|
| present continuous (o) | beğeniyor |
| aorist (o) | beğenir |
| past (o) | beğendi |
| negative continuous (o) | beğenmiyor |
| question (o) | beğeniyor mu? |
The key contrast with sevmek: beğenmek is an act of judgement, usually one-off, often aesthetic, and carries no romantic charge. You can beğen a stranger's coat without it meaning anything. The past tense beğendim is the natural answer to “Did you like it?” after a meal, a movie or a purchase.
Filmi çok beğendim, özellikle de sonunu.
I really liked the film, especially the ending.
Vitrindeki o ceketi beğendim ama fiyatını görünce vazgeçtim.
I liked that jacket in the window, but I changed my mind when I saw the price.
Patron sunumu beğenmedi, baştan yazmamızı istiyor.
The boss didn't like the presentation, he wants us to rewrite it from scratch.
Because beğenmek is evaluative, it is the right verb when shopping, reviewing, or giving feedback. Using sevmek there would suggest deep affection for a sweater, which sounds odd.
hoşlanmak — to be fond of, to fancy (takes the ablative)
hoşlanmak means to be fond of or to take pleasure in something — and, very often, to fancy a person romantically in an early, tentative way. The grammar trap is the case: hoşlanmak governs the ablative -DAn, not the accusative. You are pleased from the source of pleasure.
| Form | hoşlanmak |
|---|---|
| present continuous (o) | hoşlanıyor |
| aorist (o) | hoşlanır |
| past (o) | hoşlandı |
| negative continuous (o) | hoşlanmıyor |
| question (o) | hoşlanıyor mu? |
So I fancy you is Senden hoşlanıyorum (ablative senden), never seni hoşlanıyorum. Applied to things, it is a gentle “I'm fond of / I enjoy”, weaker and more reflective than sevmek.
Galiba senden hoşlanıyorum ama söylemeye çekiniyorum.
I think I have feelings for you, but I'm too shy to say it.
Kalabalık ortamlardan pek hoşlanmam, sessiz kafeleri tercih ederim.
I'm not really fond of crowded places, I prefer quiet cafés.
hoşuma gitmek — the everyday "I like it"
There is a fourth, idiomatic way to say you like something, and it is arguably the most common of all in casual speech: hoşuma gitmek, literally to go to my pleasure. Here the thing you like is the subject, and the possessive on hoş ("pleasing") changes with the person: hoşuma gitti (it pleased me), hoşuna gitti (it pleased you), hoşumuza gitti (it pleased us). It is closest to beğenmek — a reaction to something specific — but it phrases the verdict as something that happened to you rather than a judgement you made, which often sounds warmer and less critical.
Bu fikir çok hoşuma gitti, hemen başlayalım.
I really like this idea, let's start right away.
Söylediklerin pek hoşuna gitmedi galiba, suratı asıldı.
He didn't seem to like what you said — his face fell.
Because the liked thing is the subject, watch the agreement: it's bu film hoşuma gitti (this film pleased me), never bu filmi hoşuma gitti — there is no accusative object here at all.
The English speaker's map
English speakers default to like = beğenmek and love = sevmek, which is roughly right but misses two things. First, everyday English like for habits (“I like tea”) is sevmek in Turkish, not beğenmek — because it is an enduring preference, not a one-time verdict. Second, English has no neat equivalent of hoşlanmak, which sits between mild fondness and a budding crush and forces the ablative on you. A useful mental ladder of intensity for a person is: beğenmek (I find you appealing) → hoşlanmak (I'm into you) → sevmek (I love you) → âşık olmak (I've fallen in love with you).
Onu önce beğendim, sonra ondan hoşlandım, şimdiyse onu seviyorum.
First I found him attractive, then I started to fancy him, and now I love him.
Bu şarkıyı çok seviyorum ama klibini hiç beğenmedim.
I love this song, but I didn't like its video clip at all.
Notice how that last sentence needs both verbs: enduring affection for the song (sevmek), a one-off negative verdict on the clip (beğenmek).
Common mistakes
❌ Seni hoşlanıyorum.
Wrong case — hoşlanmak takes the ablative, not the accusative.
✅ Senden hoşlanıyorum.
I fancy you.
❌ Filmi çok sevdim.
Not wrong grammar, but it implies deep, lasting love for a film; for a one-time verdict use beğenmek.
✅ Filmi çok beğendim.
I really liked the film.
❌ Çayı beğenirim.
Wrong verb for a standing preference — beğenmek is a one-off judgement, not a habit.
✅ Çayı severim.
I like tea (I'm a tea drinker).
❌ Ben kahve seviyorum.
With a general category, the bare aorist is more natural than the continuous for a standing taste.
✅ Ben kahve severim.
I like coffee.
❌ Bu ayakkabıdan hoşlandım, alıyorum.
Odd in a shop — for approving a product you've just evaluated, use beğenmek.
✅ Bu ayakkabıyı beğendim, alıyorum.
I like these shoes, I'm buying them.
Key takeaways
- sevmek (accusative): love and lasting liking — “Seni seviyorum”, “Çayı severim”.
- beğenmek (accusative): a one-off verdict of approval, often aesthetic, never romantic — “Filmi beğendim”.
- hoşlanmak (ablative -DAn): fondness or a budding crush — “Senden hoşlanıyorum”.
- hoşuma gitmek (idiom, liked thing = subject): the everyday casual "I like it" — “Bu fikir hoşuma gitti”.
- English like for habits maps to sevmek, not beğenmek.
- Intensity ladder: beğenmek → hoşlanmak → sevmek → âşık olmak.
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Start learning Turkish→Related Topics
- When to Use the AblativeB1 — The five jobs of the ablative -DAn — source, material/cause, comparison 'than', partitive, and verb-selected complements like korkmak and hoşlanmak.
- Feelings and OpinionsB1 — Expressing what you think and how you feel in Turkish — opinion frames, adjective-plus-copula moods, and the possessive emotion idioms that catch every learner.
- Verbs and the Cases They GovernB1 — Common Turkish verbs grouped by the case they force on their object — accusative, dative, ablative, locative — and why English prepositions can't predict them.
- The Accusative -(y)I and DefinitenessA1 — The accusative ending marks a direct object as specific — and because Turkish has no word for 'the', the accusative effectively IS the definite article.