Breakdown of Pazartesi akşamı parkta yürümek istiyorum.
Questions & Answers about Pazartesi akşamı parkta yürümek istiyorum.
Breakdown:
- Pazartesi – Monday
- akşam-ı – evening-its → Monday evening (literally: the evening of Monday)
- park-ta – park-in/at (locative case)
- yürü-mek – to-walk (infinitive)
- ist-iyor-um – want-(present continuous)-I
So overall: I want to walk in the park on Monday evening.
Pazartesi akşamı is a common noun compound in Turkish, literally Monday’s evening:
- akşam = evening
- akşam-ı = its evening (3rd person possessive suffix)
In compounds like Pazartesi akşamı, Turkish uses this -ı / -i / -u / -ü ending on the second noun:
- Pazartesi akşamı – Monday evening
- Salı sabahı – Tuesday morning
- Cuma gecesi – Friday night
The possessive idea is not strongly felt in meaning; it’s just how Turkish forms many time expressions. Saying Pazartesi akşam would be incorrect.
This is how indefinite noun compounds work in Turkish:
- First noun: no ending (Pazartesi)
- Second noun: takes -(s)I possessive (akşam-ı)
So Pazartesi akşamı literally behaves like X’s Y:
- Pazartesi akşamı – Monday’s evening
- kitap kapağı – the book’s cover
- okul bahçesi – the school’s yard
In these compounds, the first part (Pazartesi) is left bare, and the second part (akşamı) carries the marker.
-ta / -te / -da / -de is the locative case in Turkish, meaning in, at, on.
- park – park
- park-ta – in the park / at the park
You use the locative case for locations:
- evde – at home / in the house
- okulda – at school
- parkta – in the park
So parkta yürümek = to walk in the park.
After istemek (to want), Turkish usually uses the infinitive form of the verb (-mek / -mak):
- yürümek istiyorum – I want to walk
- gitmek istiyorum – I want to go
- yemek istiyorum – I want to eat
English also uses the infinitive after want: I want to walk, not I want I am walking.
So yürümek istiyorum is exactly parallel to I want to walk.
Yürüyorum would be a separate verb (I am walking), not something you attach directly after istiyorum.
You can say yürümeyi istiyorum, but it sounds more formal/marked and is less common in everyday speech.
- yürümek istiyorum – normal, very common
- yürümeyi istiyorum – technically correct, but feels heavier or more emphatic, like “I desire the act of walking”
Grammatically:
- yürü-mek – infinitive
- yürü-me-yi – verbal noun + accusative (literally “the act of walking” as a direct object)
With istemek, the plain infinitive (yürümek) is what you will hear most in normal conversation.
In yürümek istiyorum, istiyorum already carries:
- the tense/aspect (present continuous: -iyor)
- the person (1st person singular: -um)
The subject “I” applies to the whole verb group yürümek istiyorum. You don’t repeat the person ending on the infinitive:
- yemek istiyorum – I want to eat
- gitmek istiyoruz – we want to go
- konuşmak istiyordun – you wanted to speak
The person ending always goes on the finite verb (istiyorum), not on the infinitive.
Turkish word order is flexible, but verb-final is the norm. Variants include:
- Pazartesi akşamı parkta yürümek istiyorum. (neutral, very natural)
- Parkta Pazartesi akşamı yürümek istiyorum. (slight emphasis on park)
- Pazartesi akşamı yürümek istiyorum parkta. (unusual in speech; sounds stylized or poetic)
The most natural everyday choice is the original: time (Pazartesi akşamı), place (parkta), then the verb phrase (yürümek istiyorum), with the conjugated verb last.
Yes, you can, but the meaning changes slightly:
- Pazartesi parkta yürümek istiyorum. – I want to walk in the park on Monday (no time of day specified)
- Pazartesi akşamı parkta yürümek istiyorum. – I want to walk in the park on Monday evening (specifically in the evening)
So omitting akşamı makes the sentence more general about Monday as a day.
In standard Turkish spelling, days of the week and months are capitalized:
- Pazartesi, Salı, Çarşamba, Perşembe, Cuma, Cumartesi, Pazar
- Ocak, Şubat, Mart, …
So Pazartesi akşamı parkta yürümek istiyorum correctly capitalizes Pazartesi.