Breakdown of Ben bu akşam kendimi yalnız hissediyorum.
ben
I
kendim
myself
hissetmek
to feel
bu akşam
this evening
Questions & Answers about Ben bu akşam kendimi yalnız hissediyorum.
Do I need to include the subject pronoun Ben, or can I drop it?
You can drop it. The ending -um on hissediyorum already shows the subject is “I.” So:
- Bu akşam kendimi yalnız hissediyorum. is the most natural. Use Ben if you want contrast or emphasis, like “I (as opposed to others) feel lonely tonight.”
Why is kendimi there? Could I just say yalnız hissediyorum?
In standard Turkish, hissetmek (“to feel”) is transitive and takes an object, typically the reflexive pronoun: kendimi (“myself”). So:
- Standard: (Ben) kendimi yalnız hissediyorum.
- Colloquial (also very common and acceptable): (Ben) yalnız hissediyorum. Including kendimi sounds a bit more complete/careful; omitting it is very common in everyday speech, especially with adjectives (iyi, kötü, yalnız, yorgun).
What exactly does kendimi consist of?
It’s the reflexive pronoun built with possession and case:
- kendi = self
- -m = my (1st person singular possessive) → kendim = myself
- -i = accusative (direct object) → kendimi = myself (as the direct object) Other persons: kendini (yourself), kendini/kendisini (himself/herself), kendimizi (ourselves), etc.