# Gitmek lazım. / Gitmem lazım.



## elroy

Hello!

My Turkish teacher told me that "lazım" cannot be used with _-ma/-me _+ personal ending, but only with _-mak/-mek_.  According to him:

Gitmek lazım. 
Gitmem lazım. 
Gitmem gerek. 

I recently discovered, however, that "gitmem lazım" is in fact used in Turkish.  I'm puzzled as to why my teacher would have told us it was an invalid form.  Is it prescriptively incorrect?  Is it used colloquially but frowned upon in formal contexts?

Thanks!


----------



## shafaq

elroy said:


> Hello!
> 
> My Turkish teacher told me that "lazım" cannot be used with _-ma/-me _+ personal ending, but only with _-mak/-mek_.


I don't recollect that I have heard something like that...
Both ways are widely under use interchangeably with all variaties in colloquial and formal language.
Gitmem/gitmemiz, gitmen/gitmeniz, gitmesi/gitmeleri lazım/gerek.


----------



## proceed

They all make sense to me


----------



## BenjaminButton

elroy said:


> Hello!
> 
> My Turkish teacher told me that "lazım" cannot be used with _-ma/-me _+ personal ending, but only with _-mak/-mek_.  According to him:
> 
> Gitmek lazım.
> Gitmem lazım.
> Gitmem gerek.
> 
> I recently discovered, however, that "gitmem lazım" is in fact used in Turkish.  I'm puzzled as to why my teacher would have told us it was an invalid form.  Is it prescriptively incorrect?  Is it used colloquially but frowned upon in formal contexts?
> 
> Thanks!



Hi, "lazım" and "gerek" are synonymous.So you could use them both.Actually "gitmek lazım" is not grammatically wrong.But it's not very appropriate to use all the time.You should use "gitmem lazım" if you want to say "I need to go" So, "gitmem lazım" is completely right if you say that "I have to go"
When it comes to "gitmek lazım" I can give you an example like this : For example, you are chatting with a friend and he asks you : 
- Eğer bir insan yaşadığı yeri sevmiyorsa ne yapmalı? (what should someone do if he doesn't like the place where he lives?)
- Gitmek lazım. (It's better to go) 
So "gitmek lazım" is mostly used for general situations.
Also, here are the variations of "gitmek lazım" below according to subjects.

Gitmem lazım (I have to go)
Gitmen lazım  (You have to go)
Gitmesi lazım  (He/she/it has to go)
Gitmemiz lazım (We have to go)
Gitmeniz lazım (You have to go) -plural you-
Gitmeleri lazım (They have to go) 

I hope I could help you about it.If I couldn't, please tell me.


----------



## abertrotzdem

And "gitmek lazım" is actually isn't very weird all the time, it's only that, time to use it comes seldom.

Suppose that:

You're in a situation that you're preparing a school project with your friends, and while having some break after work, gazing at the project done so far, you think that y'all need to color that monkey drawing that was put for garnishing. 
*"Bu maymunu boyamak lazım."*(needed vocab: maymun = monkey, boyamak = color on)
Saying this implies that, this monkey needs to be colored, whoever does it, it just needs. Let me try to translate this literally: Drawing this monkey is needed.


BenjaminButton said:


> When it comes to "gitmek lazım" I can give you an example like this : For example, you are chatting with a friend and he asks you :
> - Eğer bir insan yaşadığı yeri sevmiyorsa ne yapmalı? (what should someone do if he doesn't like the place where he lives?)
> - Gitmek lazım. (It's better to go)


I'm afraid, my ears don't agree with you. I think that saying "Gitmek lazım." in that situation is either weird, or of some particular group of Turkish speakers, who represent probably elder ones. I am only a teenager, but I surely believe that I know proper Turkish. If you're sure about your example, or think that my explanation is wrong, please explainingly write under this back.


----------



## BenjaminButton

Dear abertrotzdem,
Thank you for your feedback.I think your example of "coloring on monkey" is a good one to examplify the subject as well.
And about my example,
As you mentioned in your example, when we use "gitmek lazım" we imply that it is needed to do whoever does.So in my example,in my opinion, the listener can say "Gitmek lazım" (because it is a general question, I mean the person asking the question doesn't refer to a specific person saying "he" ) we can use infinitive structure with verbs for general situations in Turkish.I mean "-mak, -mek"
But on the other hand, the listener can also say "gitmesi lazım" in his response.I think both of them will be correct in that case.


----------



## abertrotzdem

BenjaminButton said:


> Dear abertrotzdem,
> Thank you for your feedback.I think your example of "coloring on monkey" is a good one to examplify the subject as well.
> And about my example,
> As you mentioned in your example, when we use "gitmek lazım" we imply that it is needed to do whoever does.So in my example,in my opinion, the listener can say "Gitmek lazım" (because it is a general question, I mean the person asking the question doesn't refer to a specific person saying "he" ) we can use infinitive structure with verbs for general situations in Turkish.I mean "-mak, -mek"
> But on the other hand, the listener can also say "gitmesi lazım" in his response.I think both of them will be correct in that case.


Now the way I see it, your example actually should be fine. It just sounded to me so odd to say so in that situation. You see, one's daily speech doesn't always turn out exactly the same daily speech one another speaks.


----------



## BenjaminButton

I agree with you, it doesn't always.


----------

