Bugün işten sonra alışveriş merkezine gideceğim.

Today after work I will go to the shopping mall.

Breakdown of Bugün işten sonra alışveriş merkezine gideceğim.

• bugün: today
• gitmek: to go
• sonra: after
• iş: the work
• alışveriş merkezi: the shopping mall

Questions & Answers about Bugün işten sonra alışveriş merkezine gideceğim.

What is the word‑for‑word breakdown of Bugün işten sonra alışveriş merkezine gideceğim, and why is the word order different from English?

A fairly literal breakdown is:

• Bugün – today
• işten – from work
• sonra – after
• alışveriş merkezine – to the shopping mall (to the shopping center)
• gideceğim – I will go

So, very literally: “Today from work after to-the-shopping-mall I-will-go.”

Turkish basic word order is Subject – Object – Verb (SOV), whereas English is SVO. Also, time and place expressions usually come before the verb. So:

• Time: Bugün (today)
• Source: işten sonra (after work)
• Destination: alışveriş merkezine (to the mall)
• Verb: gideceğim (I will go)

English tends to put “will go” earlier: “I will go to the mall after work today.”
Turkish keeps the main verb at the end, which is very typical for the language.

Where is the word “I” in this sentence? Why is there no separate pronoun?

In Turkish, the subject “I” is usually built into the verb, so you often don’t need a separate ben.

• The verb gideceğim comes from gitmek (to go).
• -ecek / -acak is the future tense marker.
• -im / -ım / -um / -üm (here realized as -ğim) is the 1st person singular ending (I).

So gideceğim already means “I will go”.

If you really want to emphasize I (and not someone else), you can say:

• Ben bugün işten sonra alışveriş merkezine gideceğim.
  → I (as opposed to others) will go to the mall after work today.

But normally, ben is omitted because the verb ending is enough.

What does işten mean, and why does it have the ending -ten?

The base word is:

• iş – work, job

The ending -den / -dan / -ten / -tan is the ablative case, which often corresponds to “from”, “out of”, “away from”, or is used in certain time expressions.

• iş + ten → işten – from work

So işten sonra literally means “after (from) work”, but naturally we translate it as “after work”.

The exact form -ten (not -den or -dan) is chosen due to consonant harmony:

• The stem ends in a voiceless consonant ş, so the suffix also uses a voiceless consonant t instead of d.

How does the phrase “after work” work grammatically in Turkish?

The pattern is:

• X + (d/t)en sonra → after X

So:

• işten sonra – after work (from work + after)
• dersten sonra – after the lesson
• yemekten sonra – after the meal
• tatilden sonra – after the holiday

Here, sonra means “after / later”, and the thing that comes before sonra is usually in the ablative case (-den / -dan / -ten / -tan).

So işten sonra is a very standard way to say “after work.”

What exactly is alışveriş merkezi, and why is it alışveriş merkezine in this sentence?

Break it down:

• alışveriş – shopping (lit. “buying and selling”)
• merkez – center
• merkezi – center of …, “its center” (here part of a compound)
• alışveriş merkezi – shopping center, shopping mall

Now, in this sentence, we are going to the mall, so we need the dative case (“to / toward”):

• alışveriş merkezi + ne → alışveriş merkezine
  (center-of-shopping + to → to the shopping mall)

So:

• alışveriş merkezi – shopping mall (dictionary form; subject or object)
• alışveriş merkezine – to the shopping mall (destination)

In short: the -ne at the end is the dative case marker (-e / -a), adapted for vowel harmony and the existing -i in merkezi.

Why is it alışveriş merkezine with -ne and not just merkeze or merkezine?

Three things are happening:

1. Compound noun
   alışveriş merkezi is a compound:

   • alışveriş (shopping) + merkezi (its center)
     Together: alışverişin merkezi → “the center of shopping” → “shopping center”.

2. Possessive-like form

   • merkez (center)
   • merkez-i (its center / center of …)
     This -i helps form the compound alışveriş merkezi.

3. Dative case on top of that
   We want “to the shopping center”, so we add -e / -a (dative) after that compound form:

   • merkezi + e → merkezine
     Then keep the whole phrase: alışveriş merkezine.

You could also say simply merkeze (“to the center”), but that loses the shopping part; it might mean “to the city center” depending on context.

So alışveriş merkezine is the full, specific form: “to the shopping mall.”

How is gideceğim formed from gitmek, and how do I pronounce it?

Base verb:

• gitmek – to go

Future tense + 1st person singular:

1. Remove -mek / -mak:
   
   • git-
2. Add future tense suffix -ecek / -acak (vowel harmony):
   
   • git + ecek → gidecek-
     (a buffer vowel i appears and the stem becomes gide-; this is a regular change with some verbs)
3. Add 1st person singular ending -im / -ım / -um / -üm, which in this environment surfaces as -ğim:
   
   • gidecek + im → gideceğim

Spelling: gideceğim
Typical pronunciation: roughly “gi-de-jee-yim” in slow speech.

Note on ğ (soft g):

• ğ is not a hard “g” sound. It usually lengthens the preceding vowel or makes a very soft glide.
• So -ceğim is not like English “cheg-im”, but closer to “jeem” with a lengthened e.

What is the difference between gideceğim and gidiyorum?

Both relate to going, but with different time/aspect:

• gideceğim – I will go

  • Future tense (-ecek / -acak)
  • Often used for plans, intentions, or future events:
    
    • Yarın sinemaya gideceğim. – I will go to the cinema tomorrow.

• gidiyorum – I am going / I’m on my way / I go (right now)

  • Present continuous (-iyor)
  • Used for actions in progress or immediate plans:
    
    • Şimdi gidiyorum. – I’m going now / I’m leaving now.

In your sentence:

• Bugün işten sonra alışveriş merkezine gideceğim.
  → Sounds like a plan for later today.

If you were leaving work right now to go to the mall, you might say:

• Şimdi işten alışveriş merkezine gidiyorum.
  → I’m (right now) going from work to the mall.

Can I change the word order in this sentence? For example, can I move Bugün or işten sonra?

Yes, Turkish word order is flexible, especially for time and place phrases. The main rule is: the verb usually stays at the end.

All of these are grammatical and natural, with small differences in emphasis:

• Bugün işten sonra alışveriş merkezine gideceğim.
  (Neutral: when? today; after what? work; where? to the mall.)

• İşten sonra bugün alışveriş merkezine gideceğim.
  (Still okay, but slightly unusual; sounds like you’re highlighting “today” more.)

• Bugün alışveriş merkezine işten sonra gideceğim.
  (Emphasis a bit more on “after work” in contrast to some other time.)

• Alışveriş merkezine bugün işten sonra gideceğim.
  (Stronger focus on “to the shopping mall”, as opposed to some other place.)

The most neutral, typical version is the original:

• Bugün işten sonra alışveriş merkezine gideceğim.

Can I leave out Bugün or işten and still have a correct sentence?

Yes, you can drop elements if the context already makes them clear.

1. Drop Bugün if it’s obvious you’re talking about today:

   • İşten sonra alışveriş merkezine gideceğim.
     → I’ll go to the mall after work. (Probably today, if that’s clear from context.)

2. Drop işten but keep sonra only if the “after what?” is clear:

   • Bugün sonra alışveriş merkezine gideceğim.
     This is not natural Turkish and sounds wrong; sonra normally needs a reference point (after what?).

So:

• You can safely remove Bugün when the day is understood.
• You should generally keep the noun before sonra, e.g. işten sonra, dersten sonra, etc.

How would I say “I will not go to the shopping mall after work today” in Turkish?

You make the verb negative. The negative future of gitmek is:

• gitmeyeceğim – I will not go

So the full sentence:

• Bugün işten sonra alışveriş merkezine gitmeyeceğim.
  → I will not go to the shopping mall after work today.

Breakdown of gitmeyeceğim:

• git- – go
• -me- – negative marker
• -yecek – future tense (with a glide y)
• -im → -ğim – 1st person singular ending

So the negativity is entirely in the verb; the rest of the sentence stays the same.

Is there a shorter or more colloquial way to say alışveriş merkezi in everyday speech?

Yes. In everyday Turkish, especially in cities, people very often say:

• AVM – an abbreviation from AlışVeriş Merkezi

Then you use it like a regular noun:

• Bugün işten sonra AVM’ye gideceğim.
  → Today I will go to the mall after work.

Note:

• AVM’ye has the dative case -ye (a variant of -e) added to AVM.
• Speech: sounds like “a-ve-me-ye”.

So in casual conversation, AVM’ye gideceğim is extremely common and sounds very natural.

Is there any difference between bugün and bu gün?

Yes:

• bugün (one word) – today (the normal, correct form)
• bu gün (two words) – literally “this day”, but as a phrase it is not used in modern standard Turkish for “today.”

Historically, bugün comes from bu gün, but in modern usage for “today” you should always write and say bugün as a single word.

So the correct sentence is:

• Bugün işten sonra alışveriş merkezine gideceğim.
  not
• Bu gün işten sonra…