Saying “Should”, “Must”, or “Have to” in Turkish: Meli / Mali, Gerek / Lazım, and Zorunda

One of the things I found confusing in Turkish was how to say “should” or “must”.

In English, as in many languages, these are separate words.

In Turkish, saying “should” or “must” can involve a verb suffix or a construction with a separate word.

There are three common constructions to learn: -malı/-meli, gerek/lazım and zorunda. Their meanings overlap, but their grammar differs.

“Should”, “Must”, “Need To” or “Have To” in Turkish: Overview

In summary, there are three main ways of expressing necessity in Turkish.

The first way is the suffix -malı/-meli. It follows two-way vowel harmony and can express advice or an obligation.

A second way is to use gerek or lazım, roughly “necessary” or “needed”.

A third way is an infinitive with zorunda, meaning “have to” or “be obliged to”. This often expresses an obligation imposed by circumstances or someone else.

These aren’t three fixed rungs on a scale from weak to strong. Context matters: -malı/-meli can mean “must” as well as “should”.

-malı / -meli: “Should” in Turkish

The first construction uses the suffix -malı/-meli.

It can convey advice, necessity or obligation. To negate it, put -ma/-me before it, following vowel harmony.

Attach -malı/-meli to the verb stem, then add the appropriate personal ending. For example, uyu-malı-yım means “I should sleep”; uyu-ma-malı-yım means “I shouldn’t sleep”.

Below are some examples of “-malı / -meli“, along with some examples of the negative form.

Gerek / Lazım: “Need to” / “Must” in Turkish

Use gerek or lazım to say that something is necessary.

For a general statement, use an infinitive before gerek or lazım: Gitmek lazım, “It is necessary to go”. To name who needs to act, use the verbal noun -ma/-me with a possessive ending.

For the personal construction, the order is verb stem + -ma/-me + possessive ending + gerek/lazım. Here, -ma/-me makes a verbal noun; it is not the negative suffix.

For instance, “I need to read” is Okumam lazım or Okumam gerek: oku-ma-m, literally “my reading”, followed by “necessary”.

Similarly, “You need to go” is Gitmen lazım or Gitmen gerek: git-me-n, “your going”.

The same pattern applies to the other people: gitmesi, gitmemiz, gitmeniz and gitmeleri.

For “there’s no need to”, use -maya/-meye gerek yok: Gitmeye gerek yok. For a particular person, use a possessive ending too: Gitmeme gerek yok, “I don’t need to go”. With lazım, use Gitmem lazım değil, not “lazım yok”.

Zorunda: “Must” / “Have to” in Turkish

Zorunda expresses an obligation: “have to” or “be obliged to”.

Use verb stem + infinitive -mak/-mek + zorunda + personal ending. The infinitive ending is not itself a necessity suffix.

For instance, “I have to go” would be translated as “Gitmek zorundayım”, where “gitmek” is the infinitive form of the verb “to go”, “zorunda” indicates a strong necessity, and “yım” is the personal suffix for “I”.

For “do not have to”, put the separate word değil after zorunda and attach the personal ending to değil: Gitmek zorunda değilim. This means there is no obligation to go, not that going is forbidden.

Below are some examples of using “zorunda” in the negative.

Wrap up

I hope the above was useful. If you want more examples, let me know.