Learn Hardcore Turkish: Seninle tekrar buluşacağımızı umuyorum.

Seninle
- sen = you (singular, informal)
- -in = genitive ending (your) – it’s “hidden” inside here historically, but with -le it’s fossilized; you can think of seninle simply as “with you”
- -le = with
  → seninle = with you
tekrar
- tekrar = again
buluşacağımızı
- buluş = meet (verb stem of buluşmak)
- -acak = future tense marker (will meet)
- -ımız = 1st person plural marker (we / our)
- Because of vowel harmony and consonant changes: buluş + acak + ımız → buluşacağımız
- -ı = accusative case marker (object ending)
  → buluşacağımızı = (that) we will meet as an object (literally “our future-meeting” in object form)
umuyorum
- um = hope
- -uyor = present continuous/progressive
- -um = 1st person singular (I)
  → umuyorum = I am hoping / I hope

Altogether: “I hope that we will meet again (with you).”

What exactly does the form buluşacağımızı mean, and why is it so long?

Buluşacağımızı is a nominalized verb phrase—a verb turned into a noun-like structure that can function as an object.

Breakdown:

buluş- = to meet
-acak- = future (will meet)
-ımız = 1st person plural (we / our)
→ buluşacağımız = our (future) meeting / (that) we will meet
-ı = accusative case ending, because this whole chunk is the direct object of umuyorum

So grammatically it’s:

buluşacağımızı = “our-will-meet-ness” as an object
Functionally: “that we will meet”

In Turkish, sentences like “I hope that…” are often expressed by turning the “that…” part into this kind of noun-like form and marking it in the accusative. That’s why you get a long form instead of a separate “that” word.

Why does buluşacağımızı end with -ı? Can I leave that off?

The final -ı is the accusative case ending. It shows that buluşacağımız(ı) is the direct object of the verb umuyorum (“I hope”).

Without -ı: buluşacağımız
- Just a noun-like form: “our (future) meeting / that we will meet” (in a neutral case)
With -ı: buluşacağımızı
- Marked as the specific thing that is being hoped for:
  - Neyi umuyorum? – What do I hope for?
  - Buluşacağımızı. – (That) we will meet.

In this sentence, the object is specific and known, so the accusative is natural and preferred. Dropping the -ı here would sound ungrammatical or at least very odd.

Where is the “we” in this sentence? I only see seninle (“with you”) and umuyorum (“I hope”).

The “we” is hidden inside the suffix -ımız in buluşacağımızı:

buluş-acak-ız → buluşacağız = we will meet (finite verb form)
As a nominalized form:
- buluş-acak-ımız → buluşacağımız = our (future) meeting / that we will meet

So:

umuyorum = I hope
buluşacağımızı = that we (you + I) will meet

The 1st person plural marker -ımız on the verb-stem is what encodes “we” in this subordinate clause. There is no separate “we” word.

Why do we say seninle and not just senle or just sen?

-le is the “with” suffix, and it attaches to pronouns in a slightly irregular way:

ben → benimle (with me)
sen → seninle (with you)
o → onunla (with him/her/it)

So:

sen + -le is not senle in standard Turkish; it is seninle.
seninle functions as a fixed form meaning “with you.”

Using just sen would mean “you” as subject or object, not “with you,” so:

Sen tekrar buluşacağımızı umuyorum – wrong / unnatural
Seninle tekrar buluşacağımızı umuyorum – correct: “I hope (that) we’ll meet again with you.”

Could I say “Seninle tekrar buluşmayı umuyorum” instead? What is the difference between buluşmayı and buluşacağımızı?

Yes, Seninle tekrar buluşmayı umuyorum is grammatically correct and natural. The nuance is slightly different:

Seninle tekrar buluşacağımızı umuyorum
- Uses a future participle + possessive: buluş-acak-ımız-ı
- Feels a bit more like “I hope that we will meet again” – explicitly future-looking as an event that will happen.
Seninle tekrar buluşmayı umuyorum
- Uses -mak / -mek infinitive turned into object with -ı: buluş-ma-yı
- Feels like “I hope to meet you again” – more activity-focused, less like a full “that-clause.”

Both are common; in many everyday contexts they’re interchangeable. If you want it to feel more like English “I hope that we will meet again,” buluşacağımızı is closer structurally; buluşmayı is more like “to meet again.”

Why is it umuyorum and not something like ummuyorum or just umarım?

Form of “umuyorum”

The verb stem is um- (to hope). The present continuous is formed with -iyor / -ıyor / -uyor / -üyor:

um + -uyor + um → umuyorum
- The vowel u and u come together smoothly as u + u → u (no double u in writing).

So ummuyorum is incorrect; the pattern is um + uyor → umuyor → umuyorum.

Why not “umarım”?

umuyorum = present continuous: I am hoping / I hope (right now / generally)
umarım comes from the aorist form umarım (I hope, I would hope) and is very commonly used as “I hope (that)…” at the start of sentences:
- Umarım seninle tekrar buluşuruz. = I hope we meet again.

So both are possible, but they build sentences differently:

Seninle tekrar buluşacağımızı umuyorum.
Umarım seninle tekrar buluşuruz.

The given sentence uses the “object clause + umuyorum” structure; umarım would require a finite verb clause (buluşuruz, buluşacağız, etc.), not buluşacağımızı.

Can I leave out seninle or move the words around? How flexible is the word order?

Turkish word order is flexible, especially for emphasis. Some options:

Seninle tekrar buluşacağımızı umuyorum.
– Neutral; slightly emphasizes the whole “that we’ll meet again” part as the object.
Tekrar seninle buluşacağımızı umuyorum.
– Emphasizes “again with you” a bit more.
Buluşacağımızı seninle tekrar umuyorum.
– This sounds unnatural; you don’t usually split things that way.

You can omit “seninle” if it’s clear from context who “we” are:

Tekrar buluşacağımızı umuyorum.
= “I hope we will meet again.” (The “with you” part is understood from context.)

But if you want to make it explicit that it’s with that specific “you”, keep seninle. The default, most natural version is the original:

Seninle tekrar buluşacağımızı umuyorum.

How would I say this politely to someone I address as “you (formal)” rather than informal sen?

For polite or plural “you” (siz), you adjust seninle to sizinle:

Sizinle tekrar buluşacağımızı umuyorum.
= “I hope we will meet again with you (formal).”

Notes:

The we in buluşacağımızı is still “we (you and I)”; the politeness is carried by sizinle.
You don’t change buluşacağımızı or umuyorum—they stay the same.

What is the difference between buluşmak and görüşmek in a sentence like this?

Both can work, but there’s a nuance:

buluşmak
- Focus on the act of meeting up, usually after making plans.
- Often implies gathering somewhere: meeting up in person.
görüşmek
- Literally “to see each other”, but commonly used as “meet / talk / have contact”.
- Can be in person, online, or even on the phone (if it’s a longer conversation).

In your sentence:

Seninle tekrar buluşacağımızı umuyorum.
– “I hope we’ll meet up again (in person).”

If you say:

Seninle tekrar görüşeceğimizi umuyorum.
– Slightly broader: “I hope we’ll see each other / be in touch again.”

In many everyday contexts they overlap, but buluşmak is more clearly about meeting up somewhere.

How do I pronounce buluşacağımızı and umuyorum, especially the ğ?

buluşacağımızı

bu-lu-şa-ca-ğı-mı-zı (syllables)
ğ in modern standard Turkish usually lengthens the preceding vowel and is not pronounced as a separate consonant.
- -cağı- is like “jaː” (long “a” sound after c).
Rough guide: bu-lu-sha-JAA-muh-zuh

umuyorum

u-mu-yo-rum (syllables)
Stress is typically on -yo-: u-MU-yo-rum or u-mu-YO-rum depending on speaker.
Rough guide: oo-mu-YO-rum

So, Seninle tekrar buluşacağımızı umuyorum might sound like:

Se-nin-le tek-rar bu-lu-sha-JAA-muh-zuh oo-mu-YO-rum (with smooth, connected vowels and a lengthened a before ğ).