Verbal Nouns in the Accusative Case
In Turkish, when you talk about an activity as a concept—like "camping" or "taking photos"—you use the verbal noun suffixes -ma or -me.
When an activity is the direct object of a verb expressing personal taste, like sevmek (to like / to love), it must take the accusative case. Because verbal nouns end in a vowel, add the buffer letter y followed by the accusative suffix (-ı or -i). This gives us two possible endings depending on 2-way vowel harmony:
- -mayı (for verbs with a, ı, o, u)
- -meyi (for verbs with e, i, ö, ü)
| I love taking nature photos a lot. | Doğa fotoğrafı çekmeyi çok seviyorum. |
| My friends like camping in the forest. | Arkadaşlarım ormanda kamp yapmayı seviyor. |
Expressing Preferences
Use the same structure to talk about preferred activities. The verb tercih etmek (to prefer) also takes its direct object in the accusative case.
| to prefer | tercih etmek |
| I prefer climbing to high places. | Yüksek yerlere tırmanmayı tercih ediyorum. |
| We prefer walking in the park and resting. | Parkta yürümeyi ve dinlenmeyi tercih ediyoruz. |
Connecting Multiple Activities
When you enjoy or prefer multiple activities, link them together with ve (and) or hem ... hem de ... (both ... and ...). Each verbal noun in the list must take the accusative suffix.
| My mother likes swimming and diving in the sea a lot. | Annem denizde yüzmeyi ve dalmayı çok seviyor. |
| They like both sunbathing and catching fish. | Onlar hem güneşlenmeyi hem de balık tutmayı seviyorlar. |
Negation and Questions
To express that you dislike an activity, negate the main verb (e.g., sevmiyorum). The verbal noun describing the activity remains in the accusative case. You can form yes/no questions in the usual way to ask about hobbies.
| I don't like riding a bike at night. | Gece bisiklet sürmeyi sevmiyorum. |
| Do you like sunbathing and having a picnic? | Güneşlenmeyi ve piknik yapmayı seviyor musun? |
