Ben arkadaşımı mutlu hissettirmek istiyorum.

A word-by-word breakdown is:

• Ben = I
• arkadaşımı = my friend (as the direct object)
• mutlu = happy
• hissettirmek = to make someone feel
• istiyorum = I want

So the whole sentence means something like:

• I want to make my friend feel happy.

More literally, it is:

• I my-friend happy feel-make want-am.

Turkish often builds meaning through suffixes rather than separate helper words.

No, Ben is not strictly necessary.

Turkish verbs already show the subject, and istiyorum already means I want, so you could simply say:

• Arkadaşımı mutlu hissettirmek istiyorum.

Adding Ben gives extra emphasis or contrast, like:

• I want to make my friend feel happy.
• As for me, I want to make my friend feel happy.

So Ben is optional unless you want emphasis.

Because arkadaşımı is the direct object of the verb phrase.

Here is the structure:

• arkadaşım = my friend
• arkadaşımı = my friend with the accusative ending, used because this is a specific person being affected by the action

Breakdown:

• arkadaş = friend
• -ım = my
• -ı = accusative marker

So:

• arkadaşım = my friend
• arkadaşımı = my friend / my friend as the object

You need the accusative here because the sentence is about making a specific friend feel happy.

Because those two suffixes do different jobs:

• -ım shows possession: my
• -ı shows that the noun is the definite direct object

So:

• arkadaş = friend
• arkadaşım = my friend
• arkadaşımı = my friend (as the object of the verb)

This stacking of suffixes is very normal in Turkish.

Hissettirmek comes from the verb hissetmek, which means to feel.

Then Turkish adds a causative idea, giving hissettirmek:

• hissetmek = to feel
• hissettirmek = to make someone feel

Finally:

• hissettirmek = the infinitive form, to make feel

So in this sentence, the speaker does not mean I want to feel happy. They mean:

• I want to cause my friend to feel happy.

Because mutlu describes the feeling being caused.

So:

• mutlu hissetmek = to feel happy
• mutlu hissettirmek = to make someone feel happy

This is similar to English patterns like:

• feel happy
• make someone feel happy

In Turkish, adjectives often come directly before the verb they relate to, so mutlu naturally appears before hissettirmek.

This is a very common Turkish pattern:

• [infinitive] + istemek = to want to do something

So:

• gitmek istiyorum = I want to go
• öğrenmek istiyorum = I want to learn
• hissettirmek istiyorum = I want to make someone feel

In your sentence:

• mutlu hissettirmek istiyorum = I want to make [someone] feel happy

The main idea of wanting is carried by istiyorum, and the action wanted is expressed by the infinitive hissettirmek.

İstiyorum is in the present continuous form, but with verbs like istemek, Turkish often uses this form for a general present meaning too.

Breakdown:

• iste- = want
• -iyor = present continuous marker
• -um = I

So literally it is something like:

• I am wanting

But in natural English we usually translate it as:

• I want

In many everyday Turkish sentences, this form works as the normal present tense.

Turkish usually prefers a word order closer to:

• Subject + Object + other information + Verb

So:

• Ben arkadaşımı mutlu hissettirmek istiyorum

puts the verb at the end, which is very natural in Turkish.

English usually says:

• I want to make my friend feel happy

Turkish often saves the main finite verb for the end of the sentence. That is one of the most noticeable differences from English.

Yes, very natural.

In fact, this version is probably more common in everyday Turkish:

• Arkadaşımı mutlu hissettirmek istiyorum.

Because the verb istiyorum already tells us the subject is I, Turkish often leaves out the pronoun unless it is needed for emphasis.

Yes, it is understandable and natural enough, but many speakers might also say:

• Arkadaşımı mutlu etmek istiyorum.

That means:

• I want to make my friend happy.

The difference is small:

• mutlu etmek = to make someone happy
• mutlu hissettirmek = to make someone feel happy

The version with hissettirmek focuses a little more on the emotional experience of feeling happy.

Yes.

Turkish does not mark grammatical gender the way English does with he/she. The noun arkadaş can refer to:

• a male friend
• a female friend

So arkadaşımı simply means my friend as the object, without saying whether that friend is male or female.

Not exactly in the most direct sense.

• Arkadaşımın mutlu hissetmesini istiyorum means I want my friend to feel happy.
• Arkadaşımı mutlu hissettirmek istiyorum means I want to make my friend feel happy.

The difference is important:

• In the first sentence, you want your friend to feel happy.
• In the second sentence, you want to actively cause that feeling.

So the original sentence is more clearly causative.

Because Turkish often uses the infinitive suffix -mek / -mak where English uses to + verb.

So:

• yapmak = to do / to make
• gitmek = to go
• öğrenmek = to learn
• hissettirmek = to make feel

Then Turkish combines that infinitive with another verb:

• gitmek istiyorum = I want to go
• hissettirmek istiyorum = I want to make someone feel

So English uses a separate word, to, but Turkish usually expresses that idea with the verb ending itself.

The person feeling happy is arkadaşımı.

That is because hissettirmek means to make someone feel, and the object in the sentence is my friend.

So the logic is:

• I am the one who wants
• my friend is the one being made to feel
• happy is the feeling

So the sentence does not mean I want to feel happy with my friend. It means I want my friend to feel happy because of something I do.

Yes. A more literal gloss would be:

• Ben = I
• arkadaş-ım-ı = friend-my-accusative
• mutlu = happy
• hisset-tir-mek = feel-causative-infinitive
• istiyor-um = want-present-1st person singular

So a very literal English-style unpacking is:

• I want to make my friend feel happy.

Or even more mechanically:

• I my-friend happy feel-make want.

That kind of literal breakdown can help you see how Turkish builds meaning piece by piece.