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When you want to give strong advice, criticize someone's current behavior, or suggest a better course of action, Turkish uses a specific structure that translates to "Instead of doing [action]."

You form this by combining the future participle suffix **-(y)acak / -(y)ecek**, a possessive ending (to show *who* is doing the action), and the dative case ending **-a / -e** (to / towards).

Because the possessive suffixes start with a vowel, the **k** in **-(y)acak / -(y)ecek** usually softens to **ğ**.

| Person | Verb + -(y)AcAk + Possessive + Dative | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| I | yapacağıma | instead of my doing |
| You | yapacağına | instead of your doing |
| He/She/It | yapacağına* | instead of his/her doing |
| We | yapacağımıza | instead of our doing |
| You (formal/plural) | yapacağınıza | instead of your doing |
| They | yapacaklarına | instead of their doing |

*(Note: For "He/She/It", the buffer letter **n** is added before the dative case: yapacağ + ı + n + a).* 

This structure is perfect for telling someone to stop a negative habit and do something productive instead.

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It works just as well when talking about third parties or evaluating someone else's choices.

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### Combining Multiple Actions

If you want to suggest an alternative to *several* negative actions at once, simply conjugate both negative actions using this structure and connect them with **ve** (and).

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Instead of doing (-eceğine)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

postposition

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Demonstrative pronouns (bu, şu, o)

Basic question words (kim, ne)

Plural nouns (-lar, -ler)

I am and you are (-(y)ım, -sın)

We, you, and they are (-(y)ız, -sınız)

Negative statements (değil)

Yes and no questions (mı, mi, mu, mü)

Questions with 'to be' (mısın, mıyım)

Numbers 1 to 10 (bir, iki, üç)

Numbers 11 to 20 (on bir, on iki)

Numbers by tens to 100 (otuz, kırk...)

Counting objects (tane)

The locative case (-da, -de)

Consonant assimilation (-ta, -te)

Asking where (nerede)

There is / there are (var)

There is not / there are not (yok)

Asking how many (kaç)

Infinitive verbs (-mak, -mek)

Informal commands (git, gel)

Negative commands (-ma, -me)

Polite and plural commands (-In, -InIz)

Basic word order

Present continuous for consonant roots (-iyor)

Present continuous for vowel roots (-iyor)

Present continuous personal suffixes (-iyorum)

Negative present continuous (-miyor)

Present continuous questions (-iyor mu)

Future plans with present continuous

The dative case (-(y)a, -(y)e)

Consonant mutation (k, t, p, ç to ğ, d, b, c)

From or out of (-dan / -den)

Directional question words (nereye, nereden)

First and second person possessives (-(i)m, -(i)n)

Third person possessive (-(s)i)

Plural possessives (-imiz, -iniz, -leri)

The genitive case (-(n)in)

Definite noun compounds (-nin ... -si)

Indefinite noun compounds (bare noun + -(s)i)

Possessive buffer letter (n)

Spatial postpositions (içinde, üstünde)

The definite direct object (-(y)ı, -(y)i)

Object question words (kimi, neyi)

Adjectives modifying nouns

Manner and choice questions (nasıl, hangi)

Basic degree modifiers (çok, biraz)

Comparisons (daha, en)

Days of the week

Months of the year

The time question word (ne zaman)

Telling time (saat, buçuk)

Asking the time (saat kaç, saat kaçta)

Basic conjunctions (ve, ama, veya)

Causality conjunction (çünkü)

Means and accompaniment (ile, -(y)lA)

Purpose and beneficiaries (için)

Expressing desire (-mak istemek)

The past copula (-(y)DI)

The direct past tense (-DI)

Past tense personal suffixes (-DIm, -DIn)

Past tense negative (-mAdI)

Past tense questions (-DI mI)

Ordinal numbers (-(I)ncI)

Greetings and politeness

Saying 'too' (de, da)

Conversation fillers (şey, yani, hadi)

Conversational essentials

Reflexive pronouns (kendim, kendin)

Reciprocal pronouns (birbiri)

Indefinite pronouns for people (herkes, kimse)

Indefinite pronouns for things and places (her şey, hiçbir şey)

Conjunctions of consequence (bu yüzden, bu nedenle)

Correlative conjunctions (hem... hem, ne... ne)

Verbs taking the dative case (-e / -a)

Verbs taking the ablative case (-den / -dan)

Time origin (beri)

Time duration (-DIr)

Comparisons of similarity (gibi)

Comparisons of equality (kadar)

Perspectives (göre)

Verbal nouns (-mA / -mE)

Verbal nouns as objects (-mAyI / -mEyI)

Verbal nouns with the dative (-mAyA / -mEyA)

General necessity (lazım / gerek)

Personal necessity (-mAm lazım)

Third-person commands (-sIn / -sInlAr)

First person singular optative (-(y)AyIm)

Question	Answer
to criticize	eleştirmek
to appreciate / to praise (effort, value)	takdir etmek
Instead of constantly criticizing your friends, you should appreciate their successes.	Arkadaşlarınızı sürekli eleştireceğinize, onların başarılarını takdir etmelisiniz.
to blame	suçlamak
to assume / to take on (responsibility, role)	üstlenmek
Instead of blaming each other for the mistake, assume some responsibility.	Hata için birbirinizi suçlayacağınıza biraz sorumluluk üstlenin.
If she is going to the center, instead of taking a taxi, she should get on the subway.	Eğer merkeze gidiyorsa, taksiye bineceğine metroya binmeli.
to dawdle / to waste time	oyalanmak
to take action	harekete geçmek
Instead of dawdling here in vain, you should take action now.	Burada boşuna oyalanacağınıza artık harekete geçmelisiniz.
laziness	tembellik
creative	yaratıcı
Instead of being lazy, you should produce more creative ideas.	Tembellik yapacağınıza daha yaratıcı fikirler üretmelisiniz.
He used to blame everyone in the past, but now instead of criticizing, he helps.	Geçmişte herkesi suçluyordu ama şimdi eleştireceğine yardım ediyor.
Instead of being afraid of mistakes, you should try again.	Hatadan korkacağına tekrar denemelisin.
Instead of constantly complaining, solve the problem.	Sürekli şikâyet edeceğine problemi çöz.
Instead of sleeping until noon, you should do a little sports.	Öğleye kadar uyuyacağınıza biraz spor yapmalısınız.
Instead of criticizing us, our boss should appreciate our successful projects.	Patronumuz bizi eleştireceğine başarılı projelerimizi takdir etmeli.
social media	sosyal medya
to browse / to wander (leisurely, online)	gezinmek
Instead of just lingering and browsing on social media, take action.	Sadece oyalanacağına ve sosyal medyada gezineceğine harekete geç.
Instead of being lazy and browsing on social media, take on a creative project.	Tembellik yapacağına ve sosyal medyada gezineceğine yaratıcı bir proje üstlen.