sevinmek "to be glad / to rejoice" and üzülmek "to be sad / to feel sorry" are a matched pair of Turkish emotion verbs, and they behave very differently from their English translations. In English "be glad" and "be sad" are adjective constructions ("be" + adjective). In Turkish they are intransitive verbs — specifically reflexive-flavoured -In verbs — where the cause of the emotion is marked with the dative or expressed by a -DIK clause. They also feed neatly into the causative, giving sevindirmek "to make glad" and üzmek "to sadden". Learn this pair together and you have a template for a whole class of feeling verbs.
They are verbs, and you "do" the emotion to yourself
Both verbs end in the reflexive/middle suffix -In (sevin- from the root of sev- "love/like"; üzül- from üz- "distress"). The -In turns an outward-directed action into an inward state: just as yıkamak "wash (something)" becomes yıkanmak "wash oneself", üzmek "distress (someone)" becomes üzülmek "be distressed / become sad". So the literal feel is "to gladden oneself / to sadden oneself" — the emotion happens to the subject, who is the one in the state.
Because they are verbs, you conjugate them like any other; there is no "to be" involved.
Seni görünce çok sevindim.
When I saw you I was so glad.
Haberi duyunca hepimiz üzüldük.
When we heard the news we were all saddened.
The cause: dative noun or -DIK clause
What makes you glad or sad is marked in the dative — "glad at this", "sad at that". This is consistent across both verbs.
Hediyeye çok sevindi, gözleri parladı.
She was delighted with the present — her eyes lit up.
Senin gitmene gerçekten üzüldüm.
I was really sad about your leaving.
When the cause is a whole event ("glad that you came"), you nominalize it into a -DIK clause and put that clause in the dative. "You came" → geldiğin → dative geldiğine → geldiğine sevindim "I was glad that you came".
Beni hatırladığına çok sevindim.
I was very glad that you remembered me.
Daha erken gelmediğime üzüldüm.
I was sorry that I didn't come earlier.
İşi alamadığına üzülme, daha iyisini bulursun.
Don't be sad that you didn't get the job — you'll find a better one.
The nominalizer follows the usual split: -DIK for realized events (geldiğine "that you came"), -AcAK for future ones (göremeyeceğime üzüldüm "I was sad that I won't be able to see [it/him]").
sevinmek vs sevmek, and üzülmek vs üzmek
Two contrasts trip learners up because the roots look almost identical.
sevinmek "be glad" vs sevmek "love / like": same root sev-, but sevmek is transitive and takes an accusative object (seni seviyorum "I love you"), while sevinmek is intransitive and takes a dative cause (buna sevindim "I was glad about this"). You love a person/thing; you are glad about an event.
Seni seviyorum ama bugün yaptığına sevinmedim.
I love you, but I wasn't glad about what you did today.
üzülmek "be sad" vs üzmek "to upset / make sad": üzmek is the transitive, causative-direction verb — you upset someone (accusative) — while üzülmek is the intransitive state. "Don't upset your mother" is anneni üzme (accusative object); "Don't be sad" is üzülme (no object).
Onu üzmek istemedim, ama o yine de üzüldü.
I didn't mean to upset him, but he got sad anyway.
The causatives: sevindirmek and üzmek/üzdürmek
To say "make someone glad", add the causative to sevin-, giving sevindirmek "to gladden, to delight, to make happy". The person made glad becomes the accusative object — the mirror image of the intransitive.
Bu mektup beni çok sevindirdi.
This letter made me really happy.
Çocukları küçük bir hediyeyle bile sevindirebilirsin.
You can make the kids happy even with a small gift.
For "make sad / upset", the everyday causative is simply üzmek (the un-suffixed transitive root), which already means "to sadden someone". The double causative üzdürmek exists but means "cause (a third party) to upset someone" and is rare.
Bu kadar çalışıp da kazanamaman beni üzüyor.
It upsets me that you work so hard and still can't win.
So the full system is symmetrical:
| Intransitive (be / feel) | Causative (make feel) | |
|---|---|---|
| glad | sevinmek (+ dative cause) | sevindirmek (+ accusative person) |
| sad | üzülmek (+ dative cause) | üzmek (+ accusative person) |
Conjugation snapshot
Both are regular intransitive verbs. The aorists are sevinir and üzülür.
| Form | sevinmek (1sg) | üzülmek (1sg) |
|---|---|---|
| Present (-Iyor) | seviniyorum | üzülüyorum |
| Aorist (-Ir) | sevinirim | üzülürüm |
| Past (-DI) | sevindim | üzüldüm |
| Future (-AcAk) | sevineceğim | üzüleceğim |
| Negative aorist | sevinmem | üzülmem |
The aorist often appears in fixed polite phrases: memnun oldum, çok sevindim "I'm pleased, I'm so glad", and the negative imperative üzülme! "don't be sad / don't worry about it" is one of the most common comforting expressions in Turkish.
Üzülme, her şey yoluna girecek.
Don't be sad — everything will work out.
Common mistakes
The classic error is marking the cause with the accusative (treating "glad about X" like a direct object) instead of the dative:
❌ Hediyeyi çok sevindim.
Incorrect — the cause of gladness takes the dative, not the accusative: hediyeye sevindim.
✅ Hediyeye çok sevindim.
I was very glad about the gift.
Second, confusing sevinmek with sevmek — using the "love" verb where "be glad" is meant:
❌ Geldiğini seviyorum, teşekkürler.
Incorrect — being glad about an event is sevinmek + dative clause, not sevmek.
✅ Geldiğine sevindim, teşekkürler.
I'm glad you came, thank you.
Third, using the intransitive üzülmek where you need the causative (you are upsetting someone else):
❌ Lütfen anneni üzülme.
Incorrect — 'don't upset your mother' takes a direct object, so the transitive üzme is needed, not üzülme.
✅ Lütfen anneni üzme.
Please don't upset your mother.
Fourth, forgetting the dative -A on a clausal cause:
❌ Sınavı geçtiğin sevindim.
Incorrect — the -DIK clause that names the cause must itself be dative: geçtiğine.
✅ Sınavı geçtiğine sevindim.
I was glad that you passed the exam.
Key takeaways
- sevinmek "be glad" and üzülmek "be sad" are intransitive -In verbs, not "to be" + adjective; they often appear in the past (sevindim / üzüldüm = "I became glad / sad").
- The cause takes the dative: buna sevindim, buna üzüldüm; a clausal cause becomes a -DIK clause that is itself dative-marked (geldiğine sevindim).
- Don't confuse sevinmek (be glad, + dative) with sevmek (love, + accusative), nor üzülmek (be sad, intransitive) with üzmek (upset someone, transitive).
- The causatives are sevindirmek "make glad" and üzmek "sadden", each taking the affected person as an accusative object.
- Aorists are sevinir and üzülür; üzülme! "don't be sad / don't worry" is an everyday comfort phrase.
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Start learning Turkish→Related Topics
- The Reflexive -InB2 — How the suffix -In turns a verb back on its own subject (yıkanmak 'wash oneself', giyinmek 'get dressed'), and when to use it instead of the productive kendi(ni) reflexive.
- 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.
- Nominalized 'That'-ClausesB1 — How Turkish renders English 'that'-complements with -DIK (factual) or -(y)AcAK (future) plus a possessive and case, with the embedded subject in the genitive.
- 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.