what is it?
When you report a command, request, or wish — that is, when you tell someone what another person told, asked, or wanted them to to do — Turkish uses the -mA action nominal, inflected with a possessive suffix (marking the subject of the embedded action) and the accusative case suffix -(y)I. The resulting structure — verb stem + -mA + possessive + -(y)I — functions as the object of verbs such as istemek (to want), söylemek (to tell), and rica etmek (to request). This is distinct from the -DIK nominal, which reports facts or statements, not directives.
when to use it
Reported commands. Use -mAsInI söylemek when relaying an instruction or order: someone told another person to do something.
Reported requests. Use -mAsInI istemek or -mAsını rica etmek when someone politely asked another person to do something.
Wishes and wants. Use -mAsInI istemek in the present tense to express what the speaker currently wants someone else to do.
Reported necessity (exception). When the embedded clause expresses a necessity (he said I had to go), the necessity itself is a fact being reported, so -DIK is used: gitmem gerektiğini söyledi. The -DIK nominalises the entire necessity proposition, not a bare directive.
formation
The embedded directive clause is built in three steps: attach -mA to the verb stem, add the possessive suffix that agrees with the subject of the embedded action, then add the accusative -(y)I. Vowel harmony applies throughout.
| embedded subject | stem | output form | meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| ben (1sg) | git- | gitmemi | me going / (for me) to go |
| sen (2sg) | git- | gitmeni | you going / (for you) to go |
| o (3sg) | git- | gitmesini | him/her going / (for him/her) to go |
| biz (1pl) | git- | gitmemizi | us going / (for us) to go |
| siz (2pl) | git- | gitmenizi | you (pl.) going / (for you pl.) to go |
| onlar (3pl) | git- | gitmelerini | them going / (for them) to go |
The full directive clause then appears as the object of the matrix verb. Note the different case frames of the matrix verbs:
söylemek takes a dative addressee: bana söyledi (he told me).
istemek and rica etmek take an ablative addressee: benden istedi (he wanted it from me), benden rica etti (he requested it of me).
The possessive suffix on -mA marks who is to perform the action, not who is doing the telling or wanting. In Gelmenizi istiyorum, the -niz refers to you (pl.) as the ones who should come, while I am the one who wants it.
examples in context
common pitfalls
Using -DIK for a directive. Learners sometimes write gittiğimi söyledi when they mean «he told me to go». That sentence actually means «he said that I went» — a factual report about a past event. For a directive, use gitmemi söyledi. Reserve -DIK for reporting facts and statements, -mA for reporting what someone was told or asked to do.
Dropping the accusative. The -mA nominal is the object of the matrix verb and must carry the accusative. Writing gelmeniz istiyorum (without -i) is ungrammatical. The correct form is gelmenizi istiyorum.
Mixing up the addressee case. The person being asked or told takes different cases depending on the matrix verb. söylemek governs a dative addressee (bana söyledi), whereas istemek and rica etmek govern an ablative addressee (benden istedi, benden rica etti). Using bana rica etti or benden söyledi is a case-frame error.