Ben senin bu şehri sevdiğini biliyorum.

I know that you like this city.

Breakdown of Ben senin bu şehri sevdiğini biliyorum.

• bu: this
• ben: I
• bilmek: to know
• şehir: the city
• senin: your
• sevmek: to like

Questions & Answers about Ben senin bu şehri sevdiğini biliyorum.

What does each part of Ben senin bu şehri sevdiğini biliyorum mean, word by word?

Breakdown:

• Ben – I (1st person singular pronoun, nominative)
• senin – your (2nd person singular pronoun in the genitive case)
• bu – this
• şehri – the city
  
  • şehir – city
  • -i – accusative case (marks a specific/definite direct object: this (particular) city)
• sevdiğini – literally “your loving it / that you love (it)”
  
  • sev- – to love
  • -dik – verb nominalizer suffix (turns the verb into a noun-like form); here it becomes -diğ- due to sound changes
  • -in – 2nd person singular possessive (your)
  • -i – accusative case (because this whole clause is the object of biliyorum)
• biliyorum – I know
  
  • bil- – to know
  • -iyor – present continuous / general present stem
  • -um – 1st person singular ending (I)

Very literal structure:
Ben – I
senin bu şehri sevdiğini – your loving this city / the fact that you love this city
biliyorum – know

→ “I know (your loving this city)” = “I know that you love this city.”

Why is it senin and not just sen?

In Turkish noun clauses formed with -dik/-dık/-duk/-dük, the subject of that clause is marked like a possessor (genitive), and the verb is marked like a possessed noun.

Here, the “mini-sentence” is:

• senin bu şehri sevdiğin – your loving this city / the fact that you love this city

So:

• sen → base pronoun you
• senin → your (genitive form), because it’s like saying “your loving (this city)”

Structure is parallel to English noun phrases:

• your love of this city
• your loving this city

So you need senin to show that you are the “owner” (subject) of the verbal noun sevdiğin.

Why does sevdiğini look like a past tense (sevdi-) if the meaning is “you love this city” (present)?

The -dik form (seen here as -diğ-) is not a normal past tense; it’s a nominalization suffix. It turns the verb into a noun-like form, and its internal “tense feeling” depends on context and the main verb.

• sevdin – you loved (simple past, finite verb)
• sevdiğin – your loving / the fact that you love (verbal noun, not a full finite verb)

In sentences like:

• Ben senin bu şehri sevdiğini biliyorum.
  → “I know that you love this city.”

the time reference largely comes from the main verb biliyorum (present). Without any extra time adverbs, this kind of clause is usually understood as present/general:

• Onun geldiğini biliyorum. – I know that he/she is coming / comes.
• Onun geldiğini biliyordum. – I knew that he/she was coming / came.

So the -dik form looking “past-like” is mostly a coincidence; here it’s doing a grammatical job (making a noun clause), not expressing simple past tense.

What exactly is the -ni at the end of sevdiğini?

sevdiğini can be segmented as:

• sev- – to love
• -dik → -diğ- – nominalizer
• -in – 2nd person singular possessive (your)
• -i – accusative case

So the final -ni is actually -in + -i that has merged in pronunciation/spelling:

• sevdiğ
  • in
    • i → sevdiğini

Functionally:

• -in says “this loving belongs to you” → your loving
• -i says “this whole ‘your loving this city’ phrase is the object of biliyorum”

So sevdiğini = your loving it / the fact that you love it, as the thing known.

Why is it bu şehri and not bu şehir?

şehri is accusative; şehir is plain (nominative).

• bu şehir – this city (no case marking)
• bu şehri – this (specific) city as a direct object

In Turkish, the direct object is marked with -i (accusative) when it is:

• definite (the city), or
• specific (this particular city).

In senin bu şehri sevdiğin:

• the object of “loving” is a specific city – this city
• so it takes accusative: bu şehri

Compare:

• Bu şehri seviyorum. – I love this city. (specific)
• Bir şehir seviyorum. – I love a (certain) city. (indefinite, no -i)

Why do we need the -dik form (sevdiğini)? Why not just use a normal verb like seviyorsun?

In Turkish, when you embed a clause as the object of another verb (e.g. know, think, say, hope), you usually nominalize the verb – turn it into a noun-like phrase.

English:

• “I know that you love this city.” (finite clause)

Turkish:

• Senin bu şehri sevdiğini biliyorum.
  Literally: “I know your loving this city / the fact that you love this city.”

So you can’t say:

• ✗ Ben biliyorum sen bu şehri seviyorsun. (ungrammatical as a single sentence)

You must either:

1. Use the nominalized form (most natural):

   • Ben senin bu şehri sevdiğini biliyorum.

2. Or use ki with a full finite clause (slightly more “spoken” / colloquial feel):

   • Ben biliyorum ki sen bu şehri seviyorsun.

The -dik form is the standard way to build noun clauses like “that you love …” without using ki.

Can I say Ben biliyorum ki sen bu şehri seviyorsun instead? Is it the same?

Yes, it is grammatically correct and means essentially the same:

• Ben biliyorum ki sen bu şehri seviyorsun.
• Ben senin bu şehri sevdiğini biliyorum.

Differences in feel:

• The -dik version (sevdiğini) is the default, more neutral, and more “Turkish” structural choice.
• The ki-clause (ki sen bu şehri seviyorsun) is also common, especially in speech, and can sound a bit more emphatic, similar to “I do know that you love this city.”

Both are fine, but if you want to sound more native-like in a wide range of contexts, prioritize mastering the -dik noun-clause pattern.

Can we drop Ben and/or senin from this sentence?

Yes, Turkish often drops pronouns if they’re clear from the verb endings or context.

1. Dropping Ben:

   • Senin bu şehri sevdiğini biliyorum.
     Still clearly “I know that you love this city,” because biliyorum already shows 1st person singular.

2. Dropping senin:

   • Bu şehri sevdiğini biliyorum.
     This is also natural. The -in in sevdiğini still indicates 2nd person singular subject of the embedded clause, so senin is optional.
     Meaning remains “I know that you love this city,” as long as context makes “you” clear.

3. Dropping both pronouns:

   • Bu şehri sevdiğini biliyorum.
     In a typical conversation with you, this will be naturally understood as:
   • “I know that you love this city.”

So the full form with both pronouns (Ben senin bu şehri sevdiğini biliyorum) is more explicit and sometimes more emphatic, but not always necessary.

What changes if I say Bu şehri sevdiğini biliyorum instead of Ben senin bu şehri sevdiğini biliyorum?

Grammatically, nothing important changes; the meaning is still:

• “I know that you love this city.”

Differences:

• Ben is dropped because biliyorum already marks “I”.
• senin is dropped because sevdiğini already incorporates the 2nd person singular (-in).

So:

• Ben senin bu şehri sevdiğini biliyorum. – fully explicit, more emphatic or contrastive if needed.
• Bu şehri sevdiğini biliyorum. – shorter, more natural in everyday speech when context is clear.

In conversation, the shorter version is very typical.

How does word order affect emphasis in this sentence?

Turkish has relatively flexible word order, and the element placed right before the main verb is usually the focus.

Some common variants (all can be correct):

1. Ben senin bu şehri sevdiğini biliyorum.
   Neutral focus on the fact that “you love this city.” Slight emphasis on the embedded clause as a whole.

2. Ben bu şehri sevdiğini biliyorum.
   Mild focus on bu şehri (this city), as opposed to some other city.

3. Bu şehri sevdiğini ben biliyorum.
   Focus on ben: “I know that you love this city (maybe others don’t).”

4. Senin bu şehri sevdiğini ben biliyorum.
   Again focus on ben, emphasizing the knower.

5. Ben biliyorum senin bu şehri sevdiğini.
   Possible in spoken, more dramatic/emphatic, but less standard; main focus on biliyorum (I do know).

All share the same basic proposition, but the highlighted part (contrast, emphasis) shifts.

Is sevdiğini one word or several words? How should I think about it?

In writing, sevdiğini is one word, but functionally it contains several grammatical pieces.

Think of it both ways:

1. As one word (for spelling and fluency):

   • Just memorize sevdiğini as the form used after senin in sentences like this.

2. As a stack of meaningful parts (for understanding & forming others):

   • sev- (love) + -dik (nominalizer) + -in (your) + -i (object marker)
     → sevdiğini

This analysis lets you build parallel forms:

• Onun bu şehri sevdiğini biliyorum. – I know that he/she loves this city.
• Sizin bu şehri sevdiğinizi biliyorum. – I know that you (pl.) love this city.
• Onların bu şehri sevdiklerini biliyorum. – I know that they love this city.

Same pattern, just different possessive/person endings.

How would I make this sentence negative, like “I know that you do not love this city”?

You make the embedded verb negative:

• Ben senin bu şehri sevmediğini biliyorum.
  
  • sevme- – negative stem of sevmek
  • -dik → -diğ- – nominalizer
  • -in – your
  • -i – accusative

Meaning: “I know that you don’t love this city.”

Other variations:

• Bu şehri sevmediğini biliyorum. – I know that you don’t love this city.
• Bu şehri sevdiğini bilmiyorum. – I don’t know that you love this city. (negating know instead)

So you can:

• negate the main verb: bilmiyorum – I don’t know
• or negate the embedded verb: sevmediğini – that you don’t love
• or both, for more complex meanings.

How can I use this same pattern with other verbs like “think”, “believe”, “hope”, etc.?

You can use the same structure with many mental/communicative verbs:

Pattern:
[Subject in genitive] + [object / place / thing] + [verb in -dik form] + [main verb]

Examples:

• Senin geldiğini biliyorum. – I know that you are coming / came.
• Onun burada yaşadığını düşünüyorum. – I think that he/she lives here.
• Senin haklı olduğunu biliyorum. – I know that you are right.
• Onların bizi gördüğünü sanıyorum. – I think that they saw us.
• Senin başarılı olacağını umuyorum. – I hope that you will succeed.
  
  • (future-type noun clause: olacağını from olmak)

So senin bu şehri sevdiğini biliyorum is one example of a very productive, high-frequency pattern in Turkish.