To talk about a whole event or action as the subject of your sentence—such as "The manager's leaving" or "For us to accept"—Turkish uses the short verbal noun.
You form this by adding -ma or -me to the verb root, followed by a possessive ending to show whose action it is.
| Person | Genitive Pronoun | Verb + -mA + Possessive | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | benim | yapmam | my doing |
| You | senin | yapman | your doing |
| He/She/It | onun | yapması | his/her doing |
| We | bizim | yapmamız | our doing |
| You (formal) | sizin | yapmanız | your doing |
| They | onların | yapması / yapmaları | their doing |
The "owner" of the action takes the genitive ending (-ın/-in/-un/-ün or -nın/-nin/-nun/-nün), exactly as they would in a standard possessive phrase like "the manager's car" (müdürün arabası).
| The manager's leaving suddenly is very surprising. | Müdürün aniden ayrılması çok şaşırtıcı. |
| His canceling the meeting is an unexpected situation. | Onun toplantıyı iptal etmesi beklenmedik bir durum. |
Reacting to Situations
This structure is extremely common when reacting to news or evaluating a situation at work. Pair these verbal noun clauses with adjectives like mantıklı (logical), mümkün (possible), şaşırtıcı (surprising), or üzücü (saddening).
| It is logical for us to accept this suggestion. | Bizim bu öneriyi kabul etmemiz mantıklı. |
| Is it possible for you to sign a new agreement? | Yeni bir anlaşma imzalamanız mümkün mü? |
| Just like us, it is important for them to support the project. | Bizim gibi, onların da projeyi desteklemesi önemli. |
To Be (olmak) as a Verbal Noun
When the situation you are describing uses adjectives or nouns rather than an action verb, use the verbal noun form of olmak (to be), which becomes olması (its being).
| It is very sad for the meeting hours to be uncertain. | Görüşme saatlerinin belirsiz olması çok üzücü. |