i am really confused about verb etmek.

i know it mean to make, but does it always have same meaning?

for example i would understand, seni mutlu ettim (i make you happy). so in this example i can clearly understand meaning of etmek.

but what about dans etmek (to dance) why is there etmek? Does it mean to make dance literaly? really weird. 

what about sabretmek (sabır+etmek) to make patience? really no sense to me...Kaybetmek (kayıp+etmek) ...affetmek (aff+etmek)...hissetmek (hiss+etmek).How would you explain this?

i know in english they could be translated like that:

sabretmek (to be patient)

kaybetmek (to lose)

affetmek (to forgive)

hissetmek (to fell)

dans etmek (to dance)

but i want to learn literal meaning, how does turkish people see on this? Does etmek always have same meaning?

I´m a learner too, but I tend to think of "etmek" as just kind of a catch-all verb. Basically you put it after a noun and the noun becomes a verb - kayb etmek (to lose), rahatsız etmek (to bother), teşekkür etmek (to thank), kahvaltı etmek (to (have) breakfast). Not sure if I´m right about that, but it´s worked for me!

etmek is the disease of Turkish.

etmek is an auxillary verb. When you use it with borrowed foreign nouns, it turns them into verbs. Instead of taking verbs from another language, we take nouns and turn them into verbs which are compitable with Turkish grammar.

Yardımcı Fiileri-Auxiliary verbs

Etmek

Olmak 

are auxiliary verbs and they give to the nouns meaning of verbs. So, when they are used with nouns they create complex, compound verbs.

Etmek

Some words when they are used with Etmek they go through voice change and they are written as one word by making double the last consonant.

His + (s) etmek

Af + (f) etmek

Zan + (n) etmek 

Some words when they are used with Etmek they are losing the vocal from the 2^nd syllable and they are written as one word.

Sabır + etmek > sabretmek

Kayıp + etmek > kaybetmek

Şükür + etmek > şükretmek

Emir + etmek > emretmek 

Olmak

Also, some words when they are used with Olmak they go through voice change. They are written as one word by making double the last consonant, and they are passive verbs by their meaning.

Kayıp + olmak > kaybolmak

Zehir + olmak > zehrolmak

They are   quite  handy elements in Turkish however lately they are becoming a tool of making up new half english half turkish, weird sounding verbs such as :

seyv [save] etmek -  to save

download etmek  = to download

provoke  etmek =  to provoke

imaj  yapmak  = to create a [fancy] image

fit olmak =  to be fit

mastır yapmak = to do master´s degree

Think "etmek" as , " to perform, to do , to make  "

- Dans   etmek  --> To do [perform]  dance

 - Sabır + etmek --> To be patient.

 You are doing [performing] the act of   "being patient"

 - Af  + etmek  =  You are doing [performing] the act of  "forgiving". 

 - His + etmek =  You are doing [performing] the act of  "feeling" .

 - Kayıp + etmek =  You are doing [performing] the act of "losing".

This is the logic how I would come up with. Turkish people wouldn´t look for a logic in them. Sometimes there is no logical explanation for some things. And natives just use them the way as they learn.

Hi,

There are various verbs compounded of the verb ´etmek´ to do , giving the pattern of yardım etmek (to do help) to help. Many language reformers have found ´pure´ Turkish´ replacements for many of them, though. Most of them are still in use, such as: teşekkür etmek to thank , kabul etmek to accept, telefon etmek to telephone.

Hope it helps a little bit

As an additional info, In archaic Turkish [ Orkhon Inscriptions]  "etmek"  used in various meanings as follows;

"düzenlemek, hazırlamak, inşa etmek, yapmak"

To organize

To prepare

To build

To  do

This is exactly what has happened earlier with borrowed Arabic nouns. The old formations just seem more acceptable because they are old and less transparent for modern speakers.

While producing masses of "X etmek" verbs all the agglutinative tools of Turkish have been left aside.

Uhh not my piece of cake.