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Questions & Answers about Gelmem için ısrar etti.
Why does this sentence use için (for) instead of a word for "that"?
English uses "that" to connect ideas, but Turkish often uses the postposition için (for) with a verbal noun. Literally, this sentence translates to "He insisted for my coming."
How exactly does the word gelmem break down?
It comes from the verb gelmek (to come). You drop the -k to make the verbal noun gelme (coming), and then add the first-person possessive ending -m (my). So, gelmem literally means "my coming".
Could I say gelmemi ısrar etti, just like I would say gelmemi istedi (he wanted me to come)?
No, because ısrar etmek (to insist) does not take a direct object with the accusative -i ending. You cannot "insist a thing" in Turkish. Instead, you insist "for" something using için, or "on" something using the locative case (-de), such as gelmemde ısrar etti.
What kind of verb is ısrar etti?
It is a compound verb made from the noun ısrar (insistence) and the Turkish helper verb etmek (to do or make). With the past tense ending -ti, ısrar etti literally means "he did insistence" or "she did insistence".