With one another and with oneself: -(ı)ş, -(ı)n and birbirine
English recognizes 'greet each other', 'write to each other' by the phrase 'each other' — the same phrase that in 'dress oneself' becomes a reflexive and in 'they built themselves a house' something else again: one little phrase, several different jobs. Turkish splits them into two different tails, and mixing them up is not allowed. For example: “Komşularla her sabah selamlaşırız” — Every morning we greet the…
How it works
English recognizes 'greet each other', 'write to each other' by the phrase 'each other' — the same phrase that in 'dress oneself' becomes a reflexive and in 'they built themselves a house' something else again: one little phrase, several different jobs. Turkish splits them into two different tails, and mixing them up is not allowed.
The mutual -(ı)ş / -(i)ş / -(u)ş / -(ü)ş means 'do to one another'. selam gives selamlaşmak — to greet one another, veda gives vedalaşmak — to say goodbye to one another, görmek gives görüşmek — to see each other, bölmek gives bölüşmek — to share between themselves. From nouns it arrives through -laş-: telefonlaşmak — to phone each other, mektuplaşmak — to correspond, yardımlaşmak — to help one another. The subject of such a verb is always plural or comes with ile: komşularla selamlaşırız.
The reflexive -(ı)n means 'do to oneself'. giymek — to put on, giyinmek — to get dressed; soymak — to strip someone, soyunmak — to undress; yıkamak — to wash something, yıkanmak — to wash oneself. Hence soyunma odası — the room where one undresses: the changing room.
The third neighbor is the causative -tır / -dır, 'to make'. It completes the row: tanımak — to know, tanışmak — to meet one another, tanıştırmak — to introduce two people. One root, three tails, three different people in the doer's seat.
When a tail is not enough, they take birbir-. Birbirimizi tanıyoruz — we know each other, birbirine bakıyorlar — they look at each other. This is the only way to say 'each other' where the verb has no mutual form — and it also rescues you when -ış at the verb is already taken by another meaning: çalışmak means 'to work', not 'to work with one another'.
Table
| the tail | the meaning | example | translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| -ış / -iş | to one another | görüşmek | to see each other |
| -laş / -leş | from a noun, mutual | selamlaşmak | to greet one another |
| -ın / -in | oneself | giyinmek | to get dressed |
| -ın / -in | oneself | soyunmak | to undress |
| -tır / -dır | to make, to bring together | tanıştırmak | to introduce |
| birbir- | “each other” by a word | birbirimizi tanıyoruz | we know each other |
By example
- Komşularla her sabah selamlaşırızEvery morning we greet the neighbors
- Havaalanında uzun uzun vedalaştıkAt the airport we said our long goodbyes
- Seni ablamla tanıştırayımLet me introduce you to my sister
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
With one another and with oneself: how does it work in Turkish?
English recognizes 'greet each other', 'write to each other' by the phrase 'each other' — the same phrase that in 'dress oneself' becomes a reflexive and in 'they built themselves a house' something else again: one little phrase, several different jobs. Turkish splits them into two different tails…
What does it look like in an example sentence Turkish?
“Komşularla her sabah selamlaşırız” — Every morning we greet the neighbors. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.