Turkish Verb Conjugation: Hoşuna Gitmek

This common Turkish verb literally means to suit someone's liking. It is conjugated differently from other Turkish verbs. It is used with the personal pronouns in the genitive case (benim, senin, onun etc.). The adjective hoş (nice) takes a possessive suffix according to the person, while gitmek takes the tense suffix.

The table below shows how this verb is conjugated in the simple tenses.

The -a in hoşuma, hoşuna, etc. is the dative case ending. In the third-person forms, the -n before -a serves as a buffer letter (hoşuna, hoşlarına).

Adding Personal Suffixes to Gitmek

When conjugating hoşuna gitmek, whether or not gitmek takes a personal suffix depends on the person of the object — that is, on who or what pleases someone.

1. If the object refers to someone or something in the 3rd person (singular or plural), gitmek does not take a personal suffix:

• Film (bizim) hoşumuza gitmedi. Çok şiddet vardı.

→ We didn’t like the film. There was too much violence.

• Kaba şakalar (benim) hoşuma gitmiyor.

→ I don't like rude jokes.

2. If the object refers to the 1st or 2nd person (singular or plural), gitmek takes the personal suffix

corresponding to the person who is liked:

• Sen çok hoşuma gidiyorsun.

→ I like you so much.

• Ben kızın hoşuna gitmemişim.

→ The girl didn’t like me.

The Verb Hoşlanmak

The verb hoşlanmak has a similar meaning as hoşuna gitmek. It is formed from the hoş with the suffix -lan, which makes it a verb. However, it is regularly conjugated and used with the ablative case.

See how we can rewrite the last example above using hoşlanmak:

• Kız benden hoşlanmamış.

Look also at this example:

• Melek’le vakit geçirmek benim hoşuma gidiyor. Eğlenceli bir kız.

→ I like spending time with Melek. She is a fun girl.

Or equivalently:

• Ben Melek’le vakit geçirmekten hoşlanıyorum. ...

This verb comes from my book 200 Most Common Turkish Verbs in Context. If you enjoyed this lesson, the book is a great way to learn most common Turkish verbs in context, with conjugatin tables and practice exercises.