there are 5 fundamental tenses in turkish
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There are 5 fundamental tenses in Turkish. These are:
1. Present simple tense (Geniş zaman)
2. 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
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 be is used.
1. Present continuous tense (Şimdiki zaman)
The suffix for present continuous tense is -iyor. Present continuous tense
is used, very much like the one in 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. --> 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 ends with a vowel, drop the
last vowel and add -iyor. Otherwise, just simply add -iyor. Be careful
about the vowel harmony rules for the 'i' of -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 Turkish
to come --> gelmek
i am coming (ben) geliyor-im --> geliyorum
you are coming (sen) geliyor-sin --> geliyorsun
he \
she | is
coming
it /
(o) geliyor
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 be is used.
2. Future tense (Gelecek zaman)The suffix for future tense in Turkish is -ecek. There are not two different
cases like in Englishwill and is going to. Future tense is always
constructed using the suffix -ecek. The uses of the Turkish future tense is
just like a union of the uses of will 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 to a verb that ends with a
vowel, you add the fusion consonant 'y' between the verb and the suffix to
separate the two vowels. Otherwise, just simply add the suffix -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 \
she | will
close
it /
(o) kapatacak
we will close (biz) kapatacak-iz --> kapatacağız
you will close (siz) kapatacak-siniz --> kapatacaksınız
they will close (onlar) kapatacak-ler --> kapatacaklar
Question SentencesQuestion 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 be
constructed.
1. Yes-no questionsIn Turkish, yes-no questions are constructed with the question suffix '-mi'.
It is important to note, however, the question suffix -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 -mi is regarded as a suffix is that it has to satisfy
the 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 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 -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. --> 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 evim
B. Is this your house? --> Bu senin evin mi?
A1. Yes, this is my house. --> Evet, bu 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 questionsRegular 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 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 ask is, "Who is
this?".
1. The answer sentence will be something like "This is my brother. --> Bu
benim kardeşim."
2. The answer to the question is the phrase "my brother --> benim
kardeşim".
3. Replace this phrase with the question word "who --> kim" and the
question sentence becomes "Bu 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 eve gidiyor? (Ahmet in the regular sentence
is replaced by who. The rest of the sentence is the same.)
Where did Ahmet go? --> Ahmet nereye gitti? (ev in the regular sentence
is replaced 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' in
the original sentence is replaced by "ne yapıyor --> what's he doing")
Note that to make a question sentence asking a verb, we use :
"What + to be (in the appropriate tense) + object + to do (in the
appropriate tense)"
Ex1: What are you doing?
Ex2: What did Ahmet do?
In Turkish, this structure becomes:
"Object + ne + yapmak (in the appropriate tense and person)"
Ex1: (Sen) ne yapıyorsun?
Ex2: Ahmet ne yaptı?
This is simply the regular sentence where the action is replaced by
"ne + yapmak", which is consistent with our rule for constructing
question sentences.
3. Question tagsQuestion 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), 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 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", is included in the
imperative definition. If you want to say "Let´s go to the movie", it
becomes "Sinemaya gidelim" in Turkish. Now, let´s see how the example
verbs we used above are made imperative with respect to different cases
of person.
Personal
Pronoun
gelmek - to
come
gitmek - to
go
okumak - to
read
oturmak - to
sit down
kalkmak - to
stand up
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 plural form of the
imperatives, but there is another form called wish clause that gives a
similar meaning for the first person singular and plural. Note that only
the first person singular and first person plural forms of the wish clause
are used in practice. Here is how the wish clause is constructed:
Personal Pronoun Suffix
Ben -eyim
Biz -elim
Case Meaning
(ben) git-eyim --> gideyim let me go
(biz) git-elim --> gidelim let´s go
Personal
Pronoun
gelmek - to
come
gitmek - to
go
okumak - to
read
oturmak - to
sit down
kalkmak - to
stand up
Ben Geleyim gideyim okuyayım oturayım kalkayım
Biz Gelelim gidelim okuyalım oturalım kalkalım
Degrees of Adjectives
Comparatives and superlatives are constructed in a very straightforward
way in Turkish. Besides these, there is a special way of making
adjectives stronger in Turkish and this is not very trivial. I this lesson,
we will cover all these topics.
1. Comparatives1.1. More, LessComparative of an adjective is obtained by adding the word "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 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.
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 thanIf 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 is more hardworking than Mehmet.
Ex2: I am more intelligent than you.
The structure to express the same meaning in Turkish is as follows:
noun1 noun2-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 ... asIf you want to say that two nouns are equal 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 in Turkish is as follows:
.noun1 noun2 kadar adjective
or
noun1 de noun2 kadar adjective
Both of these expressions have the same meaning, you will understand
the very slight difference as you see them used. One point to note here
is that if noun2 is a simple pronoun (like ben, sen, bu, şu) then 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 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 car. --> Benim arabam da senin araban kadar
hızlı.
- US is almost as large as China. --> Amerika neredeyse Çin kadar
büyük. (neredeyse means almost)
2. SuperlativesSuperlatives are also straightforward in Turkish, like it is in English.
Instead of 'the most', you use '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 are your
traits?")
I am the most beautiful. --> En güzel benim. (This has the meaning of
the answer to the question "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 stronger3.1. VeryIn English, when you want to make an adjective stronger, you use the
word 'very'. Saying very fast is a stronger statement than just
saying fast. The same method is applied also in Turkish, and the word
for very is '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.
She is a very beautiful girl. --> (O) çok güzel bir kız.
This girl is very beautiful. --> Bu kız çok güzel.
3.2. TooAnother way of making an adjective stronger, but this time giving the
meaning extreme, is to use the word too. Saying something is too
fast gives the meaning that it is extremely fast and should be slower.
The word for too in Turkish is '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 waysA third way commonly used in Turkish (which is not seen 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 first syllable should be modified,
which makes this rule hard to learn.
This gives the same meaning as using the word '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 can be used.
A group of adjectives you can always use this method is colors, to
express that the color is strong. However, there is no rule to exactly 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 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 is a rule like this and
when you see it used, you will understand what it means. In your
sentences, you simply can use 'çok + 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 these
methods for making adjectives stronger. Simply use the word '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 houses, the property big is stressed
sarı sarı elmalar --> yellow apples, the property yellow is stressed
There is also another way to stress 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 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 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.
o ara-r --> arar --> he calls
o oku-r --> okur --> he reads
2. If the verb has more than one syllable, use -ir
o kapat-ir --> kapatır --> he closes
o konuş-ir --> konuşur --> he talks
3. 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 \
she | comes
it /
(o) gelir
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 (ben) konuşur-im --> konuşurum
you talk (sen) konuşur-sin --> konuşursun
he \
she | talks
it /
(o) konuşur
we talk (biz) konuşur-iz --> konuşuruz
you talk (siz) konuşur-siniz --> konuşursunuz
they talk (onlar) konuşur-ler --> konuşurlar
The negative of present simple tense is a little different than just adding the negative-making 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 \
she | doesn't come
it /
(o) gel-mez --> gelmez
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 geçmiş zaman) --> Regular past tenseThere 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 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' in English.
He was good. --> İyiydi.
I was successful. --> Başarılıydım.
Regular past tense of a word is constructed 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, but negatives of nouns and adjectives are
constructed using değil. Değil is not a suffix, it is used as a seperate
word. 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 be, which
followed -me for 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 \
she | waited
it /
(o) bekle-di --> bekledi
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 \
she
| worked
it /
(o) çalış-di --> çalıştı
we worked (biz) çalış-dik --> çalıştık
you worked (siz) çalış-diniz --> çalıştınız
they worked (onlar) çalış-diler --> çalıştılar
Past tense with -miş (-miş'li geçmiş zaman) ==> Also called the story past tenseTo 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. 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 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 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. (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 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 \
she | waited
it /
(o) beklemiş
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' in English is the suffix '-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)
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 toThe meaning of formal obligation that 'have to' gives in English is best
given by the word'lazım' in Turkish. The structure for using this
construct is as follows:
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 same. So, okuma can mean either don't
read orreading according to the context in which it is used. In this case,
we are concerned about the second meaning. So, in the phrase okumam
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 toThis 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'. It is
similar to 'have to' in meaning, so that it can be used interchangeably
with have to (lazım). It is similar in structure, which can be seen in the
structural skeleton:
verb-me-posession (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.
You need to sleep early. --> Erken uyuman gerekiyor.
She needs to see a doctor. --> Doktora gitmesi gerekiyor.
4. Want toThe use of want to is logically almost identical to the English counterpart.
One important difference is that you use the verb 'to 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) 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?
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