Fix your biggest headache in Turkish: how to use getir- and götür- correctly.
A lot of Turkish language learners struggle understanding the different between the verbs for 'to bring/to take' in Turkish - getirmek and götürmek - we break down the difference and how to use these verbs correctly.
The use of getir- vs. götür- in Turkish seem to be trivial at first if you are coming from a language that does not make such a distinction, e.g. Russian or English. Let’s take an English example, since we are writing this post using that language. Getirmek and götürmek both are the equivalent of the verbs 'to bring' or 'to take' in English
In English you can TAKE a bottle of wine to a party or you can BRING a bottle of wine to a party and you can say to a friend, regardless of them going to the party or is already at the party, that you are taking or bringing a bottle of wine to that party.
Turkish, on the other hand, has a clear and important distinction manifested in getir- and götür- verbs that centers around an interplay between the speaker and the hearer and their current locations and/or usual locations with respect to each other. Getirmek is used for bringing something towards someone/someplace, and götürmek is used to bring or take something away from someone/someplace.
Say, I am on way to the said party and bringing/taking a bottle of wine. If I am talking to someone at the party on the phone, I should say:
'Şarap GETİRiyorum'. and not Şarap götürüyorum. unless you are planning to show up to the party and take a bottle of wine from the party and LEAVE WITH IT, GO AWAY FROM IT.
If I am taking my kid to the school, and I am on the phone with the school teacher who is already in the school, I would tell them: Çocuğu GETİRiyorum. and not Çocuğu götürüyorum. unless I want to actually say that I am taking the child away, somewhere away from the school and definitely not TO it.
