Spontaneous Urges
When you suddenly feel a strong whim or emotional impulse to do something, Turkish uses a special grammatical structure: the suffix -(y)ası / -(y)esi.
To build this structure, attach -(y)ası (for back vowels) or -(y)esi (for front vowels) to the verb stem, inserting a buffer y if the stem ends in a vowel. Then, add a possessive suffix to indicate whose urge it is.
| Person | Suffix Pattern | Example: uçmak (to fly) | Example: ağlamak (to cry) | Example: etmek (to do) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | -(y)asım / -(y)esim | uçasım | ağlayasım | edesim |
| You | -(y)asın / -(y)esin | uçasın | ağlayasın | edesin |
| He/She | -(y)ası / -(y)esi | uçası | ağlayası | edesi |
Finally, pair this new word with either the verb gelmek (to come) or the word var (exists) to complete the thought.
The Urge "Comes": -(y)ası gelmek
Using gelmek emphasizes the sudden arrival of the feeling. You conjugate gelmek just like a regular verb, typically in the past tense (geldi — I got the urge) or the present continuous (geliyor — I get the urge). Literally, this translates to "My urge to [verb] came."
| Yesterday evening, I suddenly felt an urge to sob uncontrollably. | Dün akşam birdenbire hüngür hüngür ağlayasım geldi. |
Because this structure is all about whimsical impulses, it pairs naturally with vocabulary expressing suddenness or a lack of reason.
| Sometimes, for no reason, I get an urge to rebel against everything. | Bazen sebepsizce her şeye isyan edesim geliyor. |
Having the Urge: -(y)ası var
If you want to describe a current, lingering state of having an urge rather than its sudden arrival, use var (exists) instead of gelmek. This translates closer to "I have an urge to [verb]."
| For some reason today, I have an urge to shout towards the mountains. | Bugün nedense dağlara doğru haykırasım var. |
| He is very rude, that's why I have an urge to slap him. | O çok kaba, bu yüzden ona bir tokat atasım var. |
Third-Person Urges
Notice in the table above that the third-person suffix (his/her/its urge) is simply -(y)ası or -(y)esi. When talking about someone else's impulse, the person experiencing the urge takes a genitive case suffix (e.g., -ın / -in), because they grammatically "own" the urge that is arriving.
| The drunk man suddenly felt an urge to swear at everyone. | Sarhoş adamın aniden herkese küfredesi geldi. |