There are 5 fundamental tenses in Turkish. These are: 2.
Present simple tense (Geniş zaman) Present continuous tense (Şimdiki zaman)
3.
Future tense (Gelecek zaman)
4.
Past tense with -di (-di'li geçmiş zaman) --> Regular past tense
5.
Past tense with -miş (-miş'li geçmiş zaman) --> Also called the story
1.
past tense In the basic grammar lessons, we will cover the present continuous tense and the future tense. Rest will be covered in the intermediate level lessons. To start with, let's review some verbs we'll use in the following lessons and their meanings: gelmek --> to come gitmek --> to go okumak --> to read kapatmak --> to close
koşmak --> to run aramak --> to call
konuşmak --> to talk vermek --> to give kaynamak --> to boil
çalışmak --> to work yemek --> to eat beklemek --> to wait The meaning of tenses are given using some suffixes. There are some important properties common to all these suffixes denoting tense:
The suffix for tenses is added right after the verb root if the verb is
positive, or after the negating suffix if the verb is negative.
The present tense for of 'to be' comes after the suffix for tense. o
Therefore, the order becomes: verb root + (negative) + tense +
present tense to be o
This is different only for the regular past tense, where past tense
form of to of to be is used.
1. Present continuous tense (Şimdiki zaman)
The suffix for present continuous tense is -iyor -iyor.. Present continuous tense is used, very much like the one in English: English:
To tell what you are currently doing o
I am working now. --> Şimdi çalışıyorum.
o
I am eating ice cream. --> Dondurma yiyorum.
To tell something you will do in the close future o
Wait, I'm coming in 5 minutes. minutes. --> Bekle, 5 dakika içinde
geliyorum. Present continuous tense is used only for verbs, it is not meaningful for nouns and adjectives. Present continuous tense of a verb is constructed this way: verb root + (negative) + iyor + present tense to be
If the verb you want to add the suffix -iyor -iyor ends with a vowel, drop the last vowel and add -iyor -iyor.. Otherwise, just simply add -iyor. -iyor. Be careful about the vowel harmony rules for the 'i 'i ' of -iyor -iyor.. Let's see how a verb is put into present continuous tense on the following examples: gel-iyor --> geliyor --> he is coming git-iyor-im --> gidiyorum --> i am going oku-iyor --> okuyor --> he is reading kapat-iyor-iz --> kapatıyoruz --> we are closing
koş-iyor --> koşuyor --> he is running ara-iyor-sin --> arıyorsun --> you are calling konuş-iyor --> konuşuyor --> he is talking ver-me-iyor --> vermiyor --> he is not giving ye-me-iyor --> yemiyor --> he is not eating gel-me-iyor-siniz --> gelmiyorsunuz --> you are not coming (plural you)
And let's see how present continuous tense is used with different cases of person. English to come --> gelmek
Turkish
i am coming
(ben) geliyor-im --> geliyorum
you are coming
(sen) geliyor-sin --> geliyorsun
he \
(o) geliyor
she | is coming it / we are coming
(biz) geliyor-iz --> geliyoruz
you are coming
(siz) geliyor-siniz --> geliyorsunuz
they are coming
(onlar) geliyor-ler --> geliyorlar
In the basic grammar lessons, we will cover the present continuous tense and the future tense. Rest will be covered in the intermediate level lessons. To start with, let's review some verbs we'll use in the following lessons and their meanings: gelmek --> to come gitmek --> to go okumak --> to read kapatmak --> to close
koşmak --> to run aramak --> to call
konuşmak --> to talk vermek --> to give kaynamak --> to boil
çalışmak --> to work yemek --> to eat beklemek --> to wait The meaning of tenses are given using some suffixes. There are some important properties common to all these suffixes denoting tense:
The suffix for tenses is added right after the verb root if the verb is
positive, or after the negating suffix if the verb is negative.
The present tense for of 'to be' comes after the suffix for tense.
o
Therefore, the order becomes: verb root + (negative) + tense +
present tense to be o
This is different only for the regular past tense, where past tense
form of to of to be is used.
2. Future tense (Gelecek zaman) The suffix for future tense in Turkish is -ecek -ecek.. There are not two different cases like in Englishwill Englishwill and and is going to. Future tense is always constructed using the suffix -ecek -ecek.. The uses of the Turkish future tense is just like a union of the t he uses of will of will and and going to in English.
To express any action that will take place in the future.
Future tense is used only for verbs, it is not meaningful for nouns and adjectives. Future tense of a verb is constructed this way: verb root + (negative) + ecek + present tense to be
When you want to append the suffix -ecek -ecek to a verb that ends with a vowel, you add the fusion consonant 'y 'y' between the verb and the suffix to separate the two vowels. Otherwise, just simply add the suffix -ecek -ecek.. Be careful about the harmony rules though, as always. Let's see how future tense is obtained using some example verbs: gel-ecek --> gelecek --> he will come git-ecek-im --> gideceğim --> I will go oku-ecek-sin --> okuyacaksın --> you will read kapat-ecek-iz --> kapatacağız --> we will close
koş-ecek-siniz --> koşacaksınız --> you will run (plural you) ara-ecek-ler --> arayacaklar --> they will call
konuş-me-ecek --> konuşmayacak --> he will not talk ver-me-ecek-sin --> vermeyeceksin --> you will not give
To see the use of future tense with different cases of person, check the following table: English
Turkish
to close --> kapatmak i will close
(ben) kapatacak-im --> kapatacağım
you will close
(sen) kapatacak-sin --> kapatacaksın
he \
(o) kapatacak
she | will close it / we will close
(biz) kapatacak-iz --> kapatacağız
you will close
(siz) kapatacak-siniz --> kapatacaksınız
they will close
(onlar) kapatacak-ler --> kapatacaklar
Question Sentences Question sentences in Turkish can be classified into two groups like in English: 1.
Yes-no questions
2.
Regular questions
There are also question tags, i.e. questions of the form "You are coming, aren't you?". In this lesson, we will see how these different types of questions can be asked in Turkish. Before looking at how questions are constructed, let's see the question words in Turkish. English
Turkish
what?
ne?
who?
kim?
which?
hangi?
where?
nere?
when?
ne zaman?
how?
nasıl?
how many?
kaç tane?
how much?
ne kadar?
how often?
ne sıklıkla
Now, let's see how different types of question sentences can c an be constructed.
1. Yes-no questions In Turkish, yes-no questions are constructed with the question suffix '-mi' . It is important to note, however, the question suffix -mi is -mi is written separate from the word it is appended to. You can ask at this point: "Why is it a suffix instead of a separate word if it is written separately?". The reason question suffix suffix -mi is -mi is regarded as a suffix is that it has to satisfy the t he major and minor vowel harmony rules for the word it is appended to. Let's see some example sentences demonstrating the use of the question suffix -mi . A. This is a book. --> Bu bir bir kitap. B. Is this a book? --> Bu bir kitap mı? (Note how the regular sentence is turned into a yes-no question sentence by the addition of the question suffix suffix -mi ) A1. Yes, this is a book. --> Evet, bu bir kitap. A2. No, this is not a book. This is a notebook. --> Hayır, bu bir kitap değil. Bu bir defter. A. His name is Ahmet. --> Onun adı Ahmet. B. Is his name Ahmet? --> Onun adı Ahmet mi? A1. Yes, his name is Ahmet. A2. No, his name is not Ahmet. His name is Mehmet. Mehmet. --> Hayır, onun adı Ahmet
değil. Onun adı Mehmet. A3. No. His name is Mehmet. --> Hayır. Onun adı Mehmet. A. This is my house. --> bu benim benim evim B. Is this your house? --> Bu senin evin mi? A1. Yes, this is my house. --> Evet, bu benim benim evim. A2. No, this is not my house. This is my mother's house. --> Hayır, bu benim evim değil. Bu annemin evi.
2. Regular questions Regular questions are the ones constructed using the question words listed above and the answers to these questions are not simply yes or no. In English, there is a certain word order for regular question sentences. The question word comes first, and the rest of the sentence elements follow it. In Turkish, however, questions are constructed in a quite different way. To learn how to construct a question, a simple way is to follow the following steps. This will will work in most cases: 1. Construct the answer sentence. 2. Locate the word or phrase that is the actual answer to the question. 3. Just replace that word or phrase with the appropriate question word.
Let's apply this on an example. The question we want to t o ask is, "Who is this?". 1. The answer sentence will be something like "This " This is my brother. brother. --> Bu --> Bu benim kardeşim."
2. The answer to the question is the phrase "my " my brother --> benim kardeşim". kim" and the question sentence 3. Replace this phrase with the question word "who "who --> kim" becomes " Bu kim?". kim?".
To summarize, a question sentence has the same word order as a regular sentence. The difference is that the part of the sentence that is asked is replaced by the appropriate question word. The question word takes all the suffixes of the word it is replaced for. Consider the sentence "Ahmet eve gidiyor. --> Ahmet is going home." Who is going home? --> Kim Kim eve gidiyor? ( Ahmet in Ahmet in the regular sentence is replaced by who. by who. The rest of the sentence is the same.) Where did Ahmet go? --> Ahmet nereye gitti? (ev (ev in the regular sentence is replaced by nere. by nere. Note that the question word nere also takes the suffix -e of the word ev and becomes nereye, meaning 'to where' ) What is Ahmet doing? --? Ahmet ne yapıyor? (The phrase 'eve gidiyor' gidiyor' in the original sentence is replaced by "ne yapıyor --> what's he doing") doing") Note that to make a question sentence asking a verb, we use : "What + to be (in the appropriate tense) + object + object + to do (in the appropriate tense)" tense) " Ex1: Ex1: What are you doing? Ex2: Ex2: What did Ahmet do? In Turkish, this structure becomes:
Object + ne + yapmak (in the appropriate tense and person)" person) " "Object + Ex1: (Sen) ne yapıyorsun? Ex2: Ahmet ne yaptı? This is simply the regular sentence where the action is replaced by "ne "ne + yapmak", yapmak", which is consistent with our rule for constructing question sentences.
3. Question tags Question tags are the questions of the form: You are home, aren't you? He did his homework, didn't he? Mehmet will come today, won't he? Constructing question phrases in Turkish is very simple and straightforward. You just add "değil mi " at the end regardless of the sentence. The translations for the question tags above are then:
Evdesin, değil mi? Ödevini yaptı, değil mi? Mehmet bugün gelecek, değil mi?
Imperatives - Let Making a verb imperative for the second singular person (sen (sen), ), is the same as it is done in English. Just use the plain verb without any suffix or change. When you want to order something to a single person listening list ening to you, you just say the plain verb. Examples: Come! --> Gel! Go! --> Git! Read! --> Oku! Sit down! --> Otur! Stand up! --> Kalk! However, different from English, there is an imperative form for different cases of person. Let´s see now how these are constructed:
Personal Pronoun
Suffix
Ben
No first person singular form
Sen
- (no suffix)
O
-sin
Biz
No first person plural form
Siz
-in
Onlar
-sinler
Now, let´s see the meaning of each case using the verb to go (gitmek).
Case
Meaning
(sen) git
go! (singular, to a single person)
(o) git-sin --> gitsin
let him go (not like "allow him to go", this has the meaning that you want him to go in an imperative way)
(siz) git-in --> gidin
go! (plural, to multiple people)
(onlar) git-sinler --> gitsinler
let them go (again, the meaning is not like "allow them to go", gitsinler means that you want them to go and you are expressing this in an imperative way)
As you can see, a commonly used clause, "let´s "let´s", ", is included in the imperative definition. If you want to say " Let´s go to the movie", movie", it becomes " Sinemaya gidelim" gidelim" in Turkish. Now, let´s see how the example verbs we w e used above are made imperative with respect to different cases of person.
Personal
gelmek - to
gitmek - to
okumak - to
oturmak - to
kalkma
Pronoun
come
go
read
sit down
stand u
sen
gel
git
oku
otur
kalk
o
gelsin
gitsin
okusun
otursun
kalksın
siz
gelin
gidin
okuyun
oturun
kalkın
onlar
gelsiler
gitsinler
okusunlar
otursunlar
kalksınlar
There is no first person singular or first person perso n plural form of the imperatives, but there is another form called wish called wish clause that gives a similar meaning for the first the first person singular and plural . Note that only the first the first person singular and first and first person plural forms plural forms of the wish clause are used in practice. Here Her e is how the wish clause is constructed:
Suffix
Personal Pronoun Ben
-eyim
Biz
-elim
Meaning
Case (ben) git-eyim --> gideyim
let me go
(biz) git-elim --> gidelim
let´s go
Personal
gelmek - to
gitmek - to
okumak - to
oturmak - to
kalkma
Pronoun
come
go
read
sit down
stan
Ben
Geleyim
gideyim
okuyayım
oturayım
kalkayı
Biz
Gelelim
gidelim
okuyalım
oturalım
kalkalım
Degrees of Adjectives Comparatives and superlatives are constructed in a very straightforward st raightforward way in Turkish. Besides these, there is a special way of making adjectives str onger in Turkish and this is not very trivial. I this lesson, we will cover all these topics.
1. Comparativ Comparatives es 1.1. More, Less Comparative of an adjective is obtained by adding the word "daha "daha"" before the adjective. We can say that daha is the word for more and all adjective comparatives are constructed like 'more clever' (not like faster). faster --> daha hızlı slower --> daha yavaş more intelligent --> daha zeki more hardworking --> daha çalışkan more beautiful --> daha güzel If you want to say less beautiful or less hardworking, then replace the word 'daha' with 'daha' with 'daha az'. less fast --> daha az hızlı less intelligent --> daha az zeki less hardworking --> daha az çalışkan less beautiful --> daha az güzel Now, let's see how the comparative form of an adjective is used in sentences. I am beautiful. --> (Ben) güzelim. I am more beautiful. --> (Ben) daha güzelim. You are more beautiful. --> (Sen) daha güzelsin. güzelsin. She is more beautiful. --> (O) daha güzel. This is a fast car. --> Bu hızlı bir araba. This is a faster car. --> Bu daha hızlı bir araba. This car is faster. --> Bu araba daha hızlı.
1.2. More than If you want to compare two nouns with respect to an adjective, the structure used in English is as follows:
noun1 is more adjective than noun2 Ex1: Ahmet Ex1: Ahmet is more hardworking than Mehmet. Ex2: I am more intelligent than you. The structure to express the same meaning me aning in Turkish is as follows: noun1 noun2noun2-den daha adjective Ex1: Ahmet Mehmet'ten daha çalışkan. (Note that the ' sign is used to separate private names from their suffixes) Ex2: Ben senden daha zekiyim. Now, let's see a few example sentences with this expression. - Beril is beautiful. --> Beril güzel. - Gökçe is more beautiful. --> Gökçe daha güzel. - Gökçe is more beautiful than Beril. --> Gökçe Beril'den daha güzel. - He is more hardworking than me. --> O benden daha çalışkan. - My car is faster than your car. --> Benim arabam senin arabandan daha hızlı. - US is larger than Turkey. --> Amerika Türkiye'den daha büyük.
1.3. As ... as If you want to say that two nouns are equa l with respect to an adjective, the strıctıre used in English is: noun1 is as adjective as noun2 Ex1: Beril is as beautiful as Gökçe. Ex2: I am as beautiful as you. The structure to express the same meaning me aning in Turkish is as follows: vita ejda radak ouo ouon . no
ejdavita radak ouo d ouon
Both of these expressions have the same meaning, you will understand the very slight difference slight difference as you see them used. One point to note not e here is that if noun2 if noun2 is a
simple pronoun (like ben, sen, bu, şu) then t hen it is used in possessive form (like benim, senin, bunun, şunun). Ex1: Beril de Gökçe kadar güzel. Ex2: Ben de senin kadar güzelim. Now, let's see a few example sentences with this expression. - Beril is beautiful. --> Beril güzel. - Gökçe is also beautiful. --> Gökçe de güzel. (de (de means 'also', 'as well' )
- Gökçe is as beautifl as Beril. --> Gökçe de Beril kadar güzel. - He is as hardworking as me. --> O da benim kadar çalışkan. - My car is as fast as your yo ur car. --> Benim arabam da senin araban kadar hızlı. - US is almost as large as China. --> Amerika Amer ika neredeyse Çin kadar büyük. (neredeyse means almost )
2. Superlatives Superlatives are also straightforward in Turkish, like it is in English. Instead of 'the ' the most ',', you use 'en 'en',', and all superlatives are constructed using this word. the fastest --> en hızlı slower --> en yavaş the most intelligent --> en zeki the most hardworking --> en çalışkan the most beautiful --> en güzel Now, let's see how the superlative form of an adjective is used in sentences. I am beautiful. --> (Ben) güzelim. I am more beautiful. --> (Ben) daha güzelim. When you want to use the superlative form in a sentence, there are two different cases: I am the most beautiful. --> (Ben) en güzelim. (This has the meaning of describing yourself, like an answer to the question "What "What are your traits? ") ") I am the most beautiful. --> En güzel benim. (This has the meaning of the answer to the question "Who "Who is the most beautiful? ") ") I am the most beautiful girl. --> En güzel kız benim. I am the most beautiful girl in this class. --> -- > Bu sınıftaki en güzel kız benim. You are the most beautiful girl in this class. --> Bu sınıftaki en güzel kız sensin. She is the most beautiful girl in this class. --> - -> Bu sınıftaki en güzel kız o.
3. Making an adjective stronger 3.1. Very In English, when you want to make an adjective stronger, you use the word 'very ' very'.'. Saying very fast is fast is a stronger statement than just saying s aying fast fast . The same method is
applied also in Turkish, and the word for very is 'çok 'çok'. '. Hence: very fast --> çok hızlı very slow --> çok yavaş very intelligent --> çok zeki very hardworking --> çok çalışkan very beautiful --> çok güzel You are very beautiful. --> (Sen) çok güzelsin. güzelsin. She is a very beautiful girl. --> (O) çok güzel bir kız. This girl is very beautiful. --> Bu kız çok güzel.
3.2. Too Another way of making an adjective stronger, but this time giving giving the meaning extreme, extreme, is to use the word too. too. Saying something is too fast gives fast gives the meaning that it is extremely fast and should be slower. The word for too in Turkish is fazla'. 'fazla'. too fast --> fazla hızlı too slow --> fazla yavaş too intelligent --> fazla zeki too hardworking --> fazla çalışkan too beautiful --> fazla güzel We are too fast. --> (Biz) fazla hızlıyız. This car is too fast. --> Bu araba fazla hızlı.
3.3. Other ways A third way commonly used in Turkish (which is not seen in in English) to make an adjective stronger is adding a modified form of the first syllable before the adjective. Important points to note here are:
There is not a rule for how this t his first syllable should be modified, which
makes this rule hard to learn.
This gives the same meaning as using the word 'very ' very'' and makes the
adjective stronger.
All adjectives can't be made stronger using this method, and there is not
a rule to understand for which adjectives this method met hod can be used. A group of adjectives you can always use this method is colors, colors , to express that the color is strong. However, there is no rule to exactly exactl y say which adjectives can be made stronger like this.
Because there is not a well-defined rule, it will be very difficult to go
over adjectives and see what the stronger s tronger form of each adjective is. I think you
should not try to learn this for each adjective at this step. The best strategy here would be to note that there t here is a rule like this and when you see s ee it used, you will understand what it means. In your sentences, sentences, you simply can use 'çok + adjective' adjective' instead and you will be clearly understood. Let's see some examples to this rule:
hızlı --> fast hıphızlı --> very fast sarı --> yellow sapsarı --> very yellow, strong yellow mavi --> blue masmavi --> very blue, strong blue beyaz --> white bembeyaz --> very white, strong white çabuk --> quick çarçabuk --> very quick
kalın --> thick kapkalın --> very thick Another way to make an adjective stressed and stronger is to repeat it twice. Again, this is not done with all adjectives and the best way to learn for which adjectives this rule is applicable is to note when you hear an adjective used like this. Don't be afraid by these rules, you will learn how to use them if you start reading Turkish texts or if you speak to native speakers. You can still express yourself without using using these methods for making adjectives stronger. Simply use the word 'çok 'çok'' before the adjective. I am giving these rules now so that you know the meaning when you see such a usage somewhere. büyük büyük evler --> big big houses, the property big property big is stressed property yellow is stressed sarı sarı elmalar --> yellow apples, the property yellow There is also another way to stress st ress an adjective and make it stronger. That is, adding a modified form of the adjective after the original form. This is again an irregular rule and you don't need to know this completely, just understand it when you see this usage. Sometimes, an adjective followed by the modified form of that adjective may have a slightly different meaning.
yaşlı --> old (for people) yaşlı başlı --> old, mature
eski --> old (for objects) eski püskü --> very old and useless Present simple tense (Geniş zaman) The present simple tense is used, very much ike the one in English:
To make general statements o
Water boils at 100 degrees. --> Su 100 derecede kaynar.
To mention things you do regularly o
I run every morning. --> Her sabah koşarım.
Present simple tense is used only for verbs, it is not meaningful for nouns and adjectives.
Present simple tense of a verb is constructed this way: verb root + ir or er + present tense to be
The suffix for constructing the present simple tense of a verb is not always the same. The suffix is sometimes -ir, sometimes -er. This is the th e only tense with this irregularity, but there are certain rules that will tell you which one to choose most of the time. The rules that will help you choose which one of -ir or -er to t o use as suffix are as follows: 1.
If the verb ends with a vowel, the vowel of the suffix falls and you add
only -r.
2.
3.
o
ara-r --> arar --> he calls
o
oku-r --> okur --> he reads
If the verb has more than one syllable, use -ir o
kapat-ir --> kapatır --> he closes
o
konuş-ir --> konuşur --> he talks
If the verb has only one syllable: 1.
If the vowel of this syllable is 'a' or 'e' and if the verb ends with 'l',
'n' or 'r' then use -ir
gel-ir --> gelir --> he comes ver-ir --> verir --> he gives
2.
Use -er for the other single syllable cases
git-er --> gider --> he goes
koş-ar --> koşar --> he runs
Now, let's look at how the present simple tense is used with different personal pronouns:
English
Turkish
Example 1
to come --> gelmek i come
(ben) gelir-im --> gelirim
you come
(sen) gelir-sin --> gelirsin
he \
(o) gelir
she | comes it / we come
(biz) gelir-iz --> geliriz
you come
(siz) gelir-siniz --> gelirsiniz
they come
(onlar) gelir-ler --> gelirler
Example 2
to talk --> --> konuşmak i talk
-im --> konuşurum (ben) konuşur -im
you talk
(sen) konuşur -sin -sin --> konuşursun
he \
(o) konuşur
she | talks it / we talk
-iz --> konuşuruz (biz) konuşur -iz
you talk
(siz) konuşur -siniz -siniz --> konuşursunuz
they talk
-ler --> konuşurlar (onlar) konuşur -ler
The negative of present simple tense is a little different than just adding the negativemaking suffix -me. Construction of negatives of present simple tense is given in the table below. The negative-making suffix becomes -mez except for I and we. Moreover, when negative suffix is used, the present simple tense suffix is not used.
English
Turkish
Example 1
to come --> gelmek i don't come
(ben) gel-me-im --> gelmem
you don't come
(sen) gel-mez-sin --> gelmezsin
he \
(o) gel-mez --> gelmez
she | doesn't come it / we don't come
(biz) gel-me-iz --> gelmeyiz
you don't come
(siz) gel-mez-siniz --> gelmezsiniz
they don't come
(onlar) gel-mez-ler --> gelmezler
Present simple tense is the most irregular tense in Turkish, it's not simple as the name implies.
Past tense with -di (-di'li (- di'li geçmiş zaman) --> Regular past tense There is no suffix for the regular past tense. The only point is that you must use the past tense form of to be. Be careful about the harmony rules though, as always. The use of the past tense with -di -di is is almost the same as the English past tense.
To tell an action that took place in the past. o
He came. --> Geldi.
To make a statement that was true in the past. o
She was beautiful. --> Güzeldi.
The same way regular past tense is applied to verbs, it can also be applied to nouns and adjectives using the past tense form of to be. The meaning in this case is the same as the meaning of 'was 'was'' in English. He was good. --> İyiydi. I was successful. --> Başarılıydım.
Regular past tense of a word is constructed construct ed this way: word root + (negative) + past tense to be
Let's see how a verb is used in regular past tense on the following examples: gel-di --> geldi --> he came git-me-di --> gitmedi --> he did not go oku-di --> okudu --> he read kapat-dik --> kapattık --> we closed
koş-din --> koştun --> you ran ara-diniz --> aradınız --> you called (plural you) konuş-me-di --> konuşmadı --> he did not talk ver-me-dim --> vermedim --> I did not give
çalış-ma-dik --> çalışmadık --> we did not work ye-diler --> yediler --> they ate bekle-me-diler --> beklemediler --> they did not wait
Note that making the past tense of a verb and making the past tense of a noun or adjective is the same, but only as long as they are positive. The negative suffix for verbs is -me -me,, but negatives of nouns and adjectives are constructed using değil . Değil is not a suffix, it is used as a seperate word. wor d. Let's see a few examples to how nouns and adjectives are expressed in past tense. She was beautiful. --> Güzeldi. She was not beautiful. --> Güzel değildi. (Note what we did is just to replace the suffix -me for verbs with the word değil in the case of nouns and adjectives. The ordering is
still the same. Past tense of to t o be, which followed -me -me for verbs, verbs, is now put after değil ) You were not kids. --> Çocuk değildiniz.
Let's see how these personal suffixes are used on some example verbs: English
Turkish
to wait --> beklemek i waited
(ben) bekle-dim --> bekledim
you waited
(sen) bekle-din --> bekledin
he \
(o) bekle-di --> bekledi
she | waited it / we waited
(biz) bekle-dik --> bekledik
you waited
(siz) bekledi-niz --> beklediniz
they waited
(onlar) bekle-diler --> beklediler
to work --> çalışmak i worked
(ben) çalış-dim --> çalıştım
you worked
(sen) çalış-din --> çalıştın
he \
(o) çalış-di --> çalıştı
she | worked it / we worked
(biz) çalış-dik --> çalıştık
you worked
(siz) çalış-diniz --> çalıştınız
they worked
(onlar) çalış-diler --> çalıştılar
Past tense with -miş -miş ((-miş'li geçmiş zaman) ==> Also called the story past tense To obtain the story past tense of a verb, we append the suffix -miş to the verb. Be careful about the harmony rules. Past tense with -miş is used:
To talk about something you learned from somebody else or some other
resource, there is some uncertainty in the statement. st atement. If you use the story past tense when talking about something, it implies that you are not the source of the information and you shouldn't be responsible for the mistakes. o
I talked to his mother. He went to t o school. --> Annesiyle
konuştum. Okula gitmiş. (The part about talking to the mother is your direct experience, so you tell it using regular past tense. However, the part about he going to school is information you got from the mother, so you tell it using story past tense.)
To talk about something you just learned or understood o
Is this your daughter? She is very beautiful. --> Bu senin kızın
mı? Çok güzelmiş. (You just noticed that she is beautiful, and you express this using story past tense)
Simple stories are written and told tol d in using this tense.
Story past tense of a word is constructed this way: word root + (negative) + miş + present tense to be
The same way story past tense is applied to verbs, it can also be applied to nouns and adjectives. I talked to Kemal about her. She is sick. --> Kemal'le onun hakkında
konuştum.Hastaymış. konuştum.Hastaymış. (You learned that she is sick from Kemal) Prime minister was in France yesterday. --> Başbakan dün Fransadaymış. (You use story past tense because you learned this from somebody else or from the news) Prime minister was not in France yesterday. --> Başbakan dün Fransada değilmiş. (Remember that negatives of non-verbs are made with değil )
Let's see the use of story past tense on some example verbs. gel-miş --> gelmiş --> he came git-miş-siniz--> gitmişsiniz --> you went (plural you)
oku-miş-sin--> okumuşsun --> you read kapat-miş-ler--> kapatmışlar --> they closed
koş-me-miş--> koşmamış --> he did not run ara-me-miş-sin--> aramamışsın --> you did not call konuş-me-miş-ler--> konuşmamışlar --> they did not talk ver-miş-iz--> vermişiz --> we gave Finally, let's see how a verb is used in the t he story past tense with different personal pronouns. English
Turkish
to wait --> beklemek i waited
(ben) beklemiş-im --> beklemişim
you waited
(sen) beklemiş-sin --> beklemişsin
he \
(o) beklemiş
she | waited it / we waited
(biz) beklemiş-iz --> beklemişiz
you waited
(siz) beklemiş-siniz --> beklemişsiniz
they waited
(onlar) beklemiş-ler --> beklemişler
1. Must The best counterpart in Turkish for the meaning of necessity that is given with 'must 'must'' in English is the suffix '-meli '-meli'.'. The skeleton for using a verb with this suffix is as follows: verb-meli-to be I must go --> git-meli-im --> gitmeliyim (note the use of the fusion consonant y consonant y ) We must study --> çalışmalıyız (note that the suffix -meli becomes -malı due to the major vowel harmony) You must sit down (plural) --> oturmalısınız
You must go home now. --> Şimdi eve gitmelisin. We can show how to express the necessity of a verb the for different cases of person: Personal Pronoun
Suffix
Ben
-meliyim
Sen
-melisin
O
-meli
Biz
-meliyiz
Siz
-melisiniz
Onlar
-meliler
2. Have to The meaning of formal obligation that 'have 'have to' to' gives in English is best given by the word'lazım word'lazım'' in Turkish. The structure for using this construct is as follows: verb-me-possession verb-me-possession (blank space) lazım This might seem confusing, let us explain how this structure works. The suffix me allows a verb to be used like a noun, it is similar to a gerund. You might ask at this point, wasn't the suffix -me used for negating verbs? That is right, but the suffix for negating verbs and the suffix for using a verb like a noun are the s ame. So, okuma can mean either don't read orreading orreading according to the context in which it is used. In this case, we are concerned about the second meaning. meaning. So, in the phrase okumam lazım, lazım, the part okumam means my reading and the part lazım means required. When we put these together, it becomes my reading is required and this is what we use for I have to read in Turkish. Let's look at a few examples to clarify this further: I have to go to school tomorrow. --> Yarın okula gitmem lazım. I have to work now. --> Şimdi çalışmam lazım. We have to get ready. --> Hazırlanmamız lazım. You have to go. --> Gitmen lazım.
3. Need to This is very similar to the use of have to, both in meaning and structure. The word we use to give the meaning of need to is 'gerekiyor ' gerekiyor'. '. It is similar to 'have ' have to' to' in meaning, so that it can be used interchangeably with have to (lazım (lazım). ). It is similar in structure, which can be seen in the structural struct ural skeleton: verb-me-posession (blank (blank space) gerekiyor The following examples will clarify this further: I need to go home. --> Eve gitmem gerekiyor. You need to be here at 2. --> Saat ikide burada olman gerekiyor. gerekiyor. You need to sleep early. --> Erken uyuman gerekiyor. gerekiyor. She needs to see a doctor. --> Doktora gitmesi gerekiyor.
4. Want to The use of want to is logically almost identical to the English counterpart. One important difference is that you use the verb 'to 'to want' want' in present continuous tense instead of present simple. The turkish verb for to want is istemek . The structure goes as follows: verb(infinitive) (blank space) space) istiyor-to be I want to go. --> Gitmek istiyorum. I want to sleep. --> Uyumak istiyorum. I want to take a rest. --> Dinlenmek istiyorum. I want to go home. --> Eve gitmek istiyorum. What do you want? --> Ne istiyorsun?
Konuşmak istiyor musun? --> Do you want to talk?
