Breakdown of İşe gitmeden önce stresten kurtulmak istiyorum.
iş
work
gitmek
to go
istemek
to want / to require / to call for
önce
before / first / firstly
Questions & Answers about İşe gitmeden önce stresten kurtulmak istiyorum.
How does the ending on gitmeden önce work?
To say "before doing" an action, Turkish uses the verb root + -meden or -madan + önce. Here, we take the root git- (to go), add -meden due to vowel harmony, and follow it with önce. Together, gitmeden önce means "before going".
I know we use -den önce with nouns (like işten önce). Can I say gitmekten önce?
No, and this is a very common mix-up! With nouns, you use the ablative case (-den / -dan) + önce (for example, işten önce means "before work"). But with verbs, you must use the special suffix -meden / -madan. You cannot attach -den to an infinitive verb like gitmek to mean "before".
Why does stres have the -ten ending here?
The verb kurtulmak means "to get rid of" or "to escape". In Turkish, you don't just escape a thing; you escape from a thing. Therefore, this verb always requires the ablative ("from") case. Stres becomes stresten (from stress).
The verb for "want" is istemek. Why is it spelled istiyorum and not isteyorum?