Purpose / imminence: -mAk için, -mAk üzere

Turkish uses two postpositional constructions to express purpose. -mAk için attaches the infinitive suffix -mAk to a verb stem and adds the postposition için ('for'), yielding the meaning "in order to". When the purpose clause has a different subject from the main clause, the infinitive is replaced by the possessed verbal noun -mAsI için, meaning "so that (someone) …". A second construction, -mAk üzere, has two related uses: in everyday speech it signals imminence ("about to"), and in formal or written Turkish it can also express purpose ("in order to").

• Same subject, purpose: Use -mAk için when the person doing the main action and the person doing the purpose action are the same. The infinitive does not change for person.

• Different subject, purpose: Use -mAsI için when the purpose clause has its own subject. That subject takes the genitive case and the verbal noun takes a third-person possessive suffix.

• Negative purpose: To say "in order not to …", add the negative infinitive suffix -mAmAk before için. The negation goes on the infinitive, not on the main verb.

• Imminence: Use -mAk üzere with the copula (olmak or its past/present forms) to say that something is "about to" happen.

• Formal purpose: -mAk üzere can also replace -mAk için in formal writing with the same "in order to" meaning. Context — and the presence or absence of a copula — distinguishes the two senses.

The infinitive suffix -mAk follows vowel harmony: it surfaces as -mak after back vowels (a, ı, o, u) and as -mek after front vowels (e, i, ö, ü). The table below shows the four main patterns.

For negative purpose, insert -mA- between the stem and -mAk:

For a different-subject purpose clause, the verbal noun takes the third-person singular possessive suffix -(s)I and the logical subject takes the genitive:

For imminence with -mAk üzere, combine the infinitive with the present or past copula:

• Finite verb before için. için must follow the infinitive, not a conjugated verb form. Çalışırım için is ungrammatical. The correct form is çalışmak için.

• Confusing the two senses of -mAk üzere. -mAk üzere means "about to" when used with a copula (gitmek üzereyim = I am about to go), and "in order to" in formal writing without one. Do not mix up the two readings; rely on context and the presence or absence of the copula.

• Using -mAk için with a different subject. When the purpose clause has its own subject, -mAk için is wrong. Çocuk anlamak için yavaş konuştum is ungrammatical. Use the genitive + possessed verbal noun: çocuğun anlaması için.

• Negating the main verb instead of the infinitive. "In order not to" is expressed by negating the infinitive itself: geç kalmamak için. Placing the negation only on the main verb (geç kalmak için gitmedim) changes the meaning entirely — it would mean "I didn't go in order to be late", which is almost certainly not what is intended.