göstermek means "to show / to display / to point out", and learning it teaches you something deeper than one verb: it is the everyday face of the Turkish causative. Literally göstermek is "to cause to see" — the verb görmek "to see" plus the causative suffix -DIr — and because "make someone see something" is exactly what "show" means, the causative has frozen into an ordinary, high-frequency verb. Its grammar reflects that origin: it is ditransitive, taking the person who sees in the dative and the thing seen in the accusative.
görmek → göstermek: a causative you already use
Most learners meet the causative as an advanced topic and assume it is rare. In fact dozens of basic verbs are lexicalized causatives, and göstermek is the clearest case. The root is gör- "see"; add the causative and the irregular result is göster- (the expected *gördür- exists but means something narrower in dialect; the standard "show" form is göster-). The logic is transparent: if I cause you to see the photo, I show you the photo.
This origin predicts the case frame perfectly. In a causative, the original subject (the one who would do the base action — here, the one who sees) becomes a dative argument, and the base object (the thing seen) stays accusative. So "show the photo to you" is sana fotoğrafı göstermek: sana (to you, dative) sees, fotoğrafı (the photo, accusative) is seen.
Bekle, sana bir şey göstereceğim.
Wait, I'm going to show you something.
Pasaportunuzu görevliye gösterin.
Show your passport to the officer.
The two objects: dative person, accusative thing
English "show" is also ditransitive ("show me the map" / "show the map to me"), so the meaning transfers easily — but the marking does not. English uses word order and the optional preposition "to". Turkish uses cases, so the order of the two objects is flexible and either can be dropped.
The thing shown takes the accusative -(y)I when it is definite, exactly as with any direct object. The person takes the dative -(y)A.
Garson bize menüyü gösterdi.
The waiter showed us the menu.
Haritada nerede olduğumuzu bana gösterir misin?
Can you show me where we are on the map?
Çocuğa nasıl yapılacağını gösterdim.
I showed the child how it's done.
Note the last two: the "thing shown" is not a noun but a whole nominalized clause — nerede olduğumuzu "where we are", nasıl yapılacağını "how it's done" — which still carries accusative -(y)I, because to Turkish it is just a big direct object.
When the thing shown is indefinite, you drop the accusative, just like any object: sana bir fotoğraf göstereceğim "I'll show you a photo" (no -ı), versus sana fotoğrafı göstereceğim "I'll show you the photo".
Pointing and indicating: göstermek without "showing" anything
Because "cause to see" can mean "make someone notice", göstermek also covers "point at / point out / indicate". The thing pointed to is still accusative.
Eliyle kapıyı gösterdi, çıkmamı istedi.
He pointed at the door with his hand; he wanted me to leave.
Saat tam öğleni gösteriyordu.
The clock was showing exactly noon.
This is also the verb for what graphs, signs, and data "show":
Grafik, satışların düştüğünü gösteriyor.
The graph shows that sales have dropped.
ilgi göstermek and other light-verb uses
A whole family of fixed expressions uses göstermek as a "light verb" meaning roughly "display / exhibit (an attitude)". The most common is ilgi göstermek "to show interest". Here the quality shown is a bare noun (no accusative), and the target of that quality goes into the dative.
Kimse projeye ilgi göstermedi.
Nobody showed any interest in the project.
Bize çok büyük bir sabır gösterdi.
She showed us tremendous patience.
Other frozen pairs worth knowing (all register-neutral unless noted): tepki göstermek "to react / show a reaction", çaba göstermek "to make an effort", saygı göstermek "to show respect", direniş göstermek "to put up resistance" (formal/literary). In each, the displayed quality is a bare noun and the person or thing it is directed at is dative: kurallara saygı göstermek "to show respect for the rules".
Conjugation snapshot
göstermek is fully regular for an -mek verb with a front, unrounded final vowel; its irregularity is purely lexical (the göster- stem itself), not in its endings. The aorist is gösterir.
| Form | 1sg | 3sg | 3pl |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present (-Iyor) | gösteriyorum | gösteriyor | gösteriyorlar |
| Aorist (-Ir) | gösteririm | gösterir | gösterirler |
| Past (-DI) | gösterdim | gösterdi | gösterdiler |
| Future (-AcAk) | göstereceğim | gösterecek | gösterecekler |
| Reported (-mIş) | göstermişim | göstermiş | göstermişler |
Bana yolu gösterir misiniz?
Could you show me the way?
The aorist gösterir is what you use for general truths and polite requests (gösterir misiniz?), while -Iyor is for the actual moment of showing.
Common mistakes
English speakers reliably swap the two cases, because English marks the person and the thing only by position.
❌ Sana resmi gösteririm yarın için bir kanıt olarak.
Incorrect — natural meaning is fine, but learners often build this with the wrong cases.
❌ Resme seni gösterdim.
Incorrect — this reverses the roles: it now says 'I showed you to the picture'.
✅ Resmi sana gösterdim.
I showed you the picture.
Putting the person in the accusative and the thing in the dative inverts the meaning, so this is a true error, not just a style slip.
A second error is leaving out the accusative on a definite thing, transferring English "show me photo".
❌ Bana fotoğraf göster, hani Roma'daki.
Incorrect — a definite, specific photo ('the one from Rome') needs accusative.
✅ Bana fotoğrafı göster, hani Roma'daki.
Show me the photo — you know, the one from Rome.
A third error is adding the accusative inside light-verb phrases. The displayed quality is a bare noun.
❌ Projeye ilgiyi göstermedi.
Incorrect — the quality in ilgi göstermek stays bare, with no accusative.
✅ Projeye ilgi göstermedi.
She didn't show any interest in the project.
Finally, learners often use a preposition-like dative for the thing shown, copying "show to the camera":
❌ Bilete gösterdim kontrolöre.
Incorrect — the ticket is the thing shown, so it must be accusative (bileti), not dative.
✅ Bileti kontrolöre gösterdim.
I showed the ticket to the inspector.
Key takeaways
- göstermek = gör- "see" + causative = "cause to see" = "show". This origin tells you the whole case frame.
- Person who sees → dative (-(y)A); thing seen → accusative (-(y)I) when definite.
- It also means "point out / indicate" and "(data) show", always with an accusative object.
- In light-verb phrases like ilgi göstermek, saygı göstermek, tepki göstermek, the displayed quality is a bare noun and its target is dative.
- Aorist is gösterir; the verb is otherwise regular — only the göster- stem is irregular, inherited from the causative.
Now practice Turkish
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Start learning Turkish→Related Topics
- The Causative -DIr / -t / -IrB1 — How Turkish builds 'make/have someone do' with the causative suffix, which allomorph each verb takes, and how the suffix adds a new causer and demotes the old subject.
- görmek (to see)A2 — A complete reference for görmek 'to see' — its accusative object, full tense forms, the gören vs gördüğüm participle contrast, and the rich family of göz idioms.
- The Dative -(y)A: To / Into / ForA1 — The dative case -(y)A marks goal and direction (to, into, onto), the indirect object, and the complement of the many Turkish verbs and postpositions that lexically demand it.
- 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.