Creating Verbal Nouns
To turn a verb into a conceptual noun—similar to English gerunds ending in "-ing" (like "reading" or "writing")—you add the suffix -ma or -me to the verb stem, following 2-way vowel harmony. These are often called "short infinitives."
Verbal Nouns in Compounds
Verbal nouns are frequently used as modifiers to create compound nouns. Just like standard noun compounds, the first noun (the verbal noun) remains bare, and the second noun takes a possessive suffix.
You will see this structure often when discussing the arts and creative processes, such as the art of "taking photos" (fotoğraf çekme sanatı) or the practice of "playing piano" (piyano çalma pratiği).
Verbal Nouns as Direct Objects
When a verbal noun is the specific direct object of a verb like sevmek (to love) or öğrenmek (to learn), it must take the accusative case suffix. Because verbal nouns always end in a vowel (-a or -e), you must insert the buffer letter y, resulting in -mayı or -meyi.
Compare: istemek
You saw in the lesson on expressing desire that istemek (to want) works differently. It takes the full infinitive (-mak / -mek) with no case ending: okumak istiyorum (I want to read), next to okumayı seviyorum (I love reading). Most other verbs take the verbal noun with a case ending, and which case each verb takes has to be learned along with the verb.
Here okumayı and yazmayı are the objects of geliştirmek (to improve), so they take the accusative. Geliştirmek is the object of istiyorum, so it stays in the full infinitive.
Full Infinitives for Purpose
While the short infinitive (-ma / -me) acts as a noun, the full dictionary infinitive (-mak / -mek) is used alongside the word için to express purpose (meaning "in order to").
Discussing Events and Locations
When talking about directing action toward events or locations, remember to use the dative case (-e / -a, meaning "to"). If you are adding the dative case to a compound noun—like sanat sergisi (art exhibition) or tiyatro kursu (theater course)—you must add the buffer letter n before the dative suffix.
