In Turkish we can turn a verb into a gerund fairly easily. In English, the gerund is a noun made from a verb by adding -ing. In Turkish, the gerund is formed by adding a possessive suffix to the light infinitive. Where Turkish uses a gerund, the English translation usually uses a relative clause instead.
| Turkish | English |
|---|---|
| Öl-me-niz-i istiyorum. | I want you to die. |
Now let's chop that apart. Öl is, as you know, the root of the word and means die. -me is the light infinitive that turns the verb into a noun. -niz is the possessive suffix which turns the word into a gerund. Lastly, -i is the accusative case marker.
In a very literal sense, we're saying I want your dying. However, since nobody actually talks like that in English, we translate the sentence as I want you to die.
In later lessons, you will learn other suffixes that turn verbs into nouns that can be gerunds.
