Hafta sonu sinemaya gitmeye karar verdik.

Hafta sonu is a fixed expression meaning the weekend / on the weekend.

In this sentence, it works as a time expression, so Turkish does not need an extra ending like -da/-de.

• Hafta sonu sinemaya gitmeye karar verdik. = We decided to go to the cinema on the weekend.

If you say hafta sonunda, that usually means at the end of the week, which is a different idea.

• Hafta sonunda çok yoruluyorum. = I get very tired at the end of the week.

So:

• hafta sonu = weekend / on the weekend
• hafta sonunda = at the end of the week

This is because hafta sonu is historically a kind of noun compound.

• hafta = week
• son = end
• hafta sonu = literally the week’s end

In Turkish noun compounds, the second noun often takes a 3rd person possessive ending, which here is -u:

• son → sonu

Even though learners often translate hafta sonu simply as weekend, the form still keeps that compound structure.

You will see similar patterns in other expressions too:

• yıl sonu = end of the year
• ders programı = class schedule
• otobüs durağı = bus stop

Because the verb idea here involves motion toward a place.

The ending -a / -e is the dative case, often used for to, toward, into in this kind of context.

• sinema = cinema
• sinemaya = to the cinema

So:

• sinemaya gitmek = to go to the cinema

This is very common with gitmek:

• okula gitmek = to go to school
• eve gitmek = to go home
• markete gitmek = to go to the market

Because sinema ends in a vowel, Turkish inserts a buffer letter y before the case ending:

• sinema + a → sinemaya

Because the expression karar vermek requires the thing decided on to be in a special form, often a verbal noun + dative.

So:

• gitmek = to go
• gitmeye = to going / to go in the form required after karar vermek

The pattern is:

• [verb stem] + -me/-ma + -ye/-ya + karar vermek

Examples:

• gelmeye karar verdim = I decided to come
• okumaya karar verdi = he/she decided to study/read
• taşınmaya karar verdiler = they decided to move

So gitmeye karar verdik is the normal Turkish structure for we decided to go.

Gitmeye is made of several parts:

• git- = verb stem (go)
• -me = verbal noun / infinitive-like ending
• -ye = dative case ending (to)

So:

• gitmek = to go
• gitme = going / the act of going
• gitmeye = to going / for going / to go, in the structure needed here

In natural English we just say to go, but Turkish often uses these noun-like verb forms in places where English uses an infinitive.

Yes, vermek by itself usually means to give, but in Turkish karar vermek is a fixed expression meaning to make a decision / to decide.

Literally, it is something like to give a decision, but you should learn it as a whole chunk:

• karar vermek = to decide

Examples:

• Gitmeye karar verdim. = I decided to go.
• Erken kalkmaya karar verdi. = He/She decided to wake up early.

So in this sentence, verdik does not mean we gave in the ordinary sense. It is part of the idiom karar vermek.

Verdik is the simple past, 1st person plural form of vermek.

Breakdown:

• ver- = give
• -di = past tense
• -k = we

So:

• verdim = I gave / I decided
• verdin = you gave / you decided
• verdi = he/she gave / decided
• verdik = we gave / decided

In this sentence, because it is part of karar vermek, verdik means:

• we decided

Also notice that vermek becomes verdi- in the past, not v ermekdi or anything like that. This is just the normal past-tense form.

It is not stated explicitly, because Turkish often leaves the subject out when it is already clear from the verb ending.

The ending -k in verdik already tells you the subject is we.

So:

• karar verdik = we decided

If you want, you can add biz for emphasis:

• Biz hafta sonu sinemaya gitmeye karar verdik.

But most of the time, biz is unnecessary unless you want contrast or emphasis.

Turkish word order is fairly flexible, but the most neutral order is often:

time + place/direction + verb phrase + main verb

So here:

• Hafta sonu = time
• sinemaya = direction/place
• gitmeye = action being decided on
• karar verdik = main predicate

This makes the sentence sound natural and neutral.

You could rearrange it for emphasis, for example:

• Sinemaya hafta sonu gitmeye karar verdik.
• Gitmeye hafta sonu sinemaya karar verdik. — this sounds much less natural

The original sentence is the most standard and natural version.

This is very normal in Turkish.

One part expresses the action being talked about, and the other part is the main conjugated verb.

Here:

• gitmeye = the action decided on (to go)
• karar verdik = the main action (we decided)

English also does something similar:

• We decided to go.

There are two verb ideas there too:

• decided
• to go

Turkish just builds the to go part differently.

Yes, karar almak also exists and means to make a decision / take a decision.

But karar vermek is extremely common and very natural in everyday Turkish.

So both can work in many contexts:

• Sinemaya gitmeye karar verdik.
• Sinemaya gitme kararı aldık.

Notice, though, that the structure often changes a bit with karar almak. A very natural pattern is:

• gitme kararı almak = to make the decision to go

So while karar vermek fits your sentence exactly and smoothly, karar almak is usually built somewhat differently.

Modern standard Turkish writes this as gitmeye.

You may sometimes encounter older or non-standard spellings like gitmeğe, but in current standard Turkish orthography:

• gitmek → gitmeye
• gelmek → gelmeye
• yapmak → yapmaya

So for learners, the correct standard form to use is gitmeye.

Both words show common Turkish spelling and suffix rules.

1. sinemaya

• base noun: sinema
• dative ending: -a / -e
• because sinema ends in a vowel, Turkish adds a buffer y

So:

• sinema + a → sinemaya

2. gitmeye

• stem: git-
• verbal noun ending: -me / -ma
• because the vowel in the stem is front (i), vowel harmony gives -me
• then the dative is added: -e
• since gitme ends in a vowel, buffer y appears

So:

• git + me + ye → gitmeye

This is a very common pattern:

• yüzmeye = to swim / for swimming
• okumaya = to read / for reading
• başlamaya = to start

Yes, absolutely.

Even though sinema literally means cinema, in natural English this sentence could be translated in several good ways, depending on style:

• We decided to go to the cinema this weekend.
• We decided to go to the movies this weekend.
• We decided to go see a movie this weekend.

The Turkish structure stays the same, but English may choose slightly different everyday wording.