The Optative Mood for Blessings
While modern conversational Turkish usually relies on the imperative or the subjunctive for everyday requests, traditional blessings, formal well-wishes, and poetic advice use the older optative mood. You will hear this frequently in phrases involving God, destiny, health, and peace.
To form the optative for the third-person singular ("may he/she/it..."), add -(y)a or -(y)e to the verb stem.
Wishing Well to "You"
When directing a blessing or piece of advice to a single person informally ("may you..."), use the second-person singular optative suffix: -(y)asın or -(y)esin.
If you are addressing multiple people or speaking formally, use the plural/formal suffix -(y)asınız or -(y)esiniz.
To make a negative wish or give a warning ("may you not..."), insert the negative marker -ma or -me right before the optative suffix. Because the optative suffix starts with a vowel, the buffer y is always required, resulting in the ending -mayasınız or -meyesiniz.
Third-Person Plural Wishes
Finally, if the subject of your wish is plural (such as "angels" or "destinies"), use the third-person plural optative ending: -(y)alar or -(y)eler.
