Breakdown of Arkadaşlarımla vakit geçirmeyi seviyorum.
arkadaş
friend
sevmek
to love, to like
vakit geçirmek
to spend time
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Questions & Answers about Arkadaşlarımla vakit geçirmeyi seviyorum.
How is arkadaşlarımla built to mean "with my friends"?
Turkish stacks suffixes to build meaning! We start with the root arkadaş (friend), add -lar to make it plural (friends), and then -ım for "my" (my friends). Finally, -la is a shortened, attached form of the word ile, which means "with". Put it all together: arkadaş-lar-ım-la = with my friends.
Why is the word for "spending" written as geçirmeyi?
To say you like doing a specific action, you have to turn the action into a noun first. The root verb is geçirmek (to spend). We add -me to turn it into "spending" (geçirme). Then, because it is the specific thing you like, the verb sevmek (to like) requires the accusative case suffix -i. The -y- is just a buffer letter to keep the two vowels from crashing. So, geçir-me-y-i = "the spending".
Could I use zaman instead of vakit for "time"?
Yes, you could! Zaman and vakit both mean "time" and are often completely interchangeable. However, vakit geçirmek (to spend time) is a very common fixed phrase in Turkish, so it sounds very natural to native speakers.
Why does seviyorum use the continuous -yor tense if the English translation is "I like"?