Turkish Grammar Tips & Hints

Compilation of Grammar Hints & Notes on the English → Turkish Duolingo Skill Tree

Compiled by SoroushiForoushi
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Table of Contents
Basics
HOŞ GELDINIZ! WELCOME!
Word Order
Verb Tenses
Pronouns
Articles
Commands
Adjectives - 1
Food
Accusative
Vowel Harmony
Consonant Mutations
Plurals
Plural Suffix
To be
Copula
Be as a Command
Possessives
Possessive Suffixes
Genitive Case
To Have
Dative Pronouns
Questions
Questions
Locative
Numbers
Verbs: Present continuous 1
Dates and Time
Noun Compounds
Ablative
Ablative Case
Dative
Dative Case
What time is it?
Saat kaç?
Saat kaçta?
Postpositions
Type 1 Postpositions
Type 2 Postpositions
With or without? (Instrumental)
Adjective Formation
Instrumental Case
Instrumental Pronouns
Questions - 2
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Yes/No Questions
Yoksa or Veya
Family
Kinship Terms
Negation
Negation
Nations&Countries&Languages
Consonant Harmony, Part Deux
####Nationality vs. Language vs. Adjective####
Infinitive
Infinitives
Ordinal Numbers
Ordinal Numbers
Kaçıncı
Past Tense
Past Tense
The Positive Form
The Question Form
Past Tense Copula
POSITIVE FORM
QUESTION FORM
Future Tense
Future Tense
The Positive Form
EXCEPTIONS###:
The Question Form
Negation 2
Past Negative for Verbs
Past Negative Copula
Future Negative
Suggestion
Suggestions, Declaratıve
Suggestions, Questions
ki
Ki
POSSESSIVE KI
RELATIVE CLAUSE KI
KI AS A CONJUNCTION
KI IN SPECIAL PHRASES
IRREGULAR FORMS
Reflexive Pronouns
REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS: (KENDİ)
Example#:
Gerunds
GERUNDS AND INFINITIVES: (İSİM FİİLLER)
NOTE###:
Verbs: Aorist
Aorist / Simple Present Tense (Geniş Zaman)
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The Positive Form

The Question Form
Negation 3
Negative Form of the Aorist
Would&Used to (-rdi)
TALKING ABOUT OLD HABITS: (GENİŞ ZAMANIN HİKAYESİ)
Positive Form
Negative Form
Question Form
While&When (-iken)
Can
Can
Can’t
Must/Should/Have to
Meli/Malı
Zorunda
Narrative past -miş
Reported Past Tense
If (Conditional&Subjunctive)
Past Unreality
Non-Future Object Part.
-DIk
THE OBJECT PARTICIPLE AS AN ADJECTIVE
THE OBJECT PARTICIPLE AS A NOUN
THE OBJECT PARTICIPLE AS AN ADVERB
Passive
Passive Voice
Verb Roots Ending in Consonants Except for L
Verb Roots Ending in Vowels
When (-ince)
Relative Pronouns -(y)An
Relative Pronouns
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Basics

HOŞ GELDINIZ! WELCOME!

Turkish, unlike many Indo-European languages, contains no articles at all! Surprisingly

simple, right? Turkish does have its own little quirks that will make it a challenge.

Word Order
Turkish is a Subject-Object-Verb language, meaning that sentences take on a different
word order than that of English, French, German, or most other languages that English
speakers most commonly study. That being said, a background in Japanese, Korean, or
Hungarian will prove very useful. The verb always comes at the end of the sentence in
written Turkish (spoken Turkish allows for some flexibility).

For example: Ben gazete okurum. Literally “I newspaper read.”, meaning, “I read
newspapers.”

Verb Tenses
The Turkish language does distinguish between a “present continuous” and a “simple
present” tense. In this lesson, we have included the “simple present” form of a few verbs,
but this will be taught later in greater detail. This means that there is a difference in the
sentences:

I eat a sandwich. (present simple) I am eating a sandwich. (present continuous)

Be careful while you are translating, because this does make a difference, just like in
English!

Pronouns
The Turkish pronouns are as follows:

Singular Plural

1st Person Ben Biz

2nd Person Sen Siz

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3rd Person O Onlar

Siz behaves just like vous in French, serving both as you (plural) and you (formal).

Articles
There are no articles in Turkish! The number one (bir) is sometimes used to distinguish
between the/a(n). However, if a noun is in the subject position, there is no way to tell! Cool,
right? This being said, if the noun is in the object position, Turkish does distinguish between
the/a(n). In this lesson, we will only use a(n) in the object position, but we will teach you in
the Accusative skill how to do it the other way.

Commands
Forming the informal imperative form in Turkish is extremely simple. All you have to do is
use the root form of the verb. More information about the formal imperative can be found in
the skill “to be.” Here are the two verb in this lesson in their dictionary (infinitive) and informal
imperative forms:

Infinitive English Inf. Imp. English

yemek to eat Ye! Eat!

içmek to drink İç! Drink!

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Adjectives - 1

Adjectives and all modifiers in Turkish must always come before the nouns that they modify
when they operate as modifiers. This does not stand true if it is used as a predicate adjective
with the verb “to be” in English (e.g. The dog is happy). If you use the number bir as an
article, this will come directly before the noun. For example:

soğuk elma --The cold apple

soğuk bir elma -- A cold apple

Elma soğuk -- The apple is cold.

Adjectives are also not declined according to gender and number like what is common to
many European languages. This means that adjectives behave pretty close to their English
counterparts and shouldn’t pose too big of a challenge.
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Food

General Direct Objects

Selam!

In Turkish, if you have a general direct object, there is no need to put any case or suffix on
the object itself. A general direct object is one that uses “a/an” or the plural without “the.” If
you want to be extra specific, you can add the numeral bir to makes sure that the meaning
“a/an” is given. For example:

Turkish English

O portakal yer. He/She/It eats oranges or He/She/It eats an orange.

O bir portakal yer. He/She/It eats an orange.

Just keep in mind, "O portakallar yer" is simply wrong in Turkish.

Happy Learning!
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Accusative

Welcome to your second of the 7 cases in Turkish. You have already been using the
nominative case to describe subjects and some objects. The accusative case in Turkish is
used to mark specific direct objects. What does this mean exactly? A specific direct object
is one that uses the article the. For example:

Turkish English

Ben gazete okurum. I read newspapers. or I read a newspaper.

Ben gazeteyi okurum. I read the newspaper.

Ben bir gazete okurum. I read a newspaper.

As you can see above, the accusative is only used when referring to the newspaper. Now,
how do we form the accusative case? This is will bring you to one of the funnest aspects of
the Turkish language, vowel harmony.

Vowel Harmony
In Turkish, vowels within a (native) word and any suffixes that are attached to said word
must obey vowel harmony rules. This means that vowels tend to either be the same or
similar, making words easier to pronounce than they may look. There are two types of vowel
harmony in Turkish, 4-way and 2-way. The accusative case uses 4-way vowel harmony. In
order to figure out what may go on the end, you will have to look at the final vowel in the
word.

Turkish Accusative Suffix

ö, ü -(y)ü

o,u -(y)u

e,i -(y)i

a,ı -(y)ı

If the noun ends in a vowel, you have to insert the buffer letter y. Here are some
examples:
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Turkish, Nominative Turkish, Accusative English

elma elmayı apple

gazete gazeteyi newspaper

süt sütü milk

limon limonu lemon

Consonant Mutations
There is one final thing to talk about in terms of the accusative case. That would be your first
taste of consonant mutations, often called consonant harmony. Consonants often
change at the end of words depending on if it is followed by a vowel or a consonant. If they
are followed by a vowel, they will generally change into voiced consonants. For example:

Turkish, Nominative Turkish, Accusative English

kitap kitabı book

ağaç ağacı tree

köpek köpeği dog

This means:

● p→b
● t→d
● k→ğ
● ç→c

This rule in general does not affect single syllable words, but there are exceptions of course.
You will even come across exceptions to vowel harmony in loanwords from Arabic, Farsi,
and French. These must be learned as you encounter them. In the meantime, happy
learning and kolay gelsin.

Plurals

Plural Suffix
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Forming the plural in Turkish is simple compared to the Accusative case. It is formed using
the suffix -lAr. Now you might be thinking, “what is that capital A doing there?” to which we
respond with 2-way vowel harmony.

This is the other form of vowel harmony found in Turkey suffixes. Basically if the final vowel
is front (i, e, ü, ö) use -ler. If it is back (a, ı, o, u), use the suffix -lar. This rule along with the
rule for 4-way vowel harmony will be used in several suffixes across Turkish grammar, so try
to get used to it now.

Here are some examples:

Turkish, Nominative English Turkish, Plural English

ayı bear ayılar bears

kuş bird kuşlar birds

kurbağa frog kurbağalar frogs

köpek dog köpekler dogs

hindi turkey hindiler turkeys

menü menu menüler menus

To be

Copula
There are a few ways to say “to be” in Turkish depending on what you are saying. This is
shocking since there is not actual verb “to be.” A suffix is used to form “to be” in the present
tense. The suffixes are as follows:

Suffix Person/Number Example English

-(y)Im 1st sing. (Ben) mutluyum. I am happy.

-sIn 2nd sing. (Sen) mutlusun. You are happy.

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∅, -DIr 3rd sing O mutlu. He/She/It is

happy.

-(y)Iz 1st pl. (Biz) mutluyuz. We are happy.

-sInIz 2nd pl. (Siz) mutlusunuz. You are happy.

∅, -DIr 3rd pl. Onlar mutlu/mutludur. They are happy.

-lAr, - 3rd pl. (Onlar) They are happy.

DIrlAr mutlular/mutludurlar.

There are a few points to talk about in the above chart.

1) All except the 3rd person pl. suffix follow 4-way vowel harmony.

2) In the 1st person, you will see a buffer “-y-” be used if the adjective or noun ends in a
vowel.

3) The suffix -DIr is used to clarify any ambiguity, emphasize, or state facts. This both
follows 4-way vowel harmony and has consonant harmony; ‘d’ changes to ‘t’ after the
following consonants (p ç t k s ş h f).

4) The suffix -lAr is optional in the 3rd person pl. However, it is only optional when referring
to people. This suffix may not be used for items and animals. Only humans!

Be as a Command
To for “be” as a command in Turkish, the stem of the verb olmak, which means “to become.”
All you have to do is take off the -mak and you have the command for “ol.” To make it formal,
add the ending -In, which according to 4-way vowel harmony, comes out as “olun.” This
same sufix gets added to all verbs to make formal commands.
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Possessives

Possessive Suffixes
Possessive Determiners ( my, your, his, her, its, our, and their) are represented by a set of
suffixes, all of which follow 4-way vowel harmony, where applicable. These suffixes are as
follows:

Sing. Plural

1st Person -(I)m -(I)mIz

2nd Person -(I)n -(I)nIz

3rd Person -(s)I -(s)I

Some of the suffixes have buffer vowels (or in the case of the 3rd person, a buffer
consonant). These means that the suffixes gain the buffer vowel when the root ends in
consonant and do not have it when the root ends in a vowel. For the 3rd person suffix, the
buffer s will be added when the root ends in a vowel and will be omitted when it ends in a
consonant. This may seem a little confusing, but it is extremely simple with practice. The
same consonant harmony that we talked about in the accusative skill will occur with the
possessive suffixes as well Now let’s see these in real use. This chart will give an example
of a word that ends in a vowel:

Turkish English

(Benim) kedim My cat

(Senin) kedin Your cat

(Onun) kedisi His/Her/Its cat

(Bizim) kedimiz Our cat

(Sizin) kediniz Your cat

(Onların) kedisi Their cat

This chart gives an example of a word that ends in a consonant:

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Turkish English

(Benim) aslanım My lion

(Senin) aslanın Your lion

(Onun) aslanı His/Her/Its lion

(Bizim) aslanımız Our lion

(Sizin) aslanınız Your lion

(Onların) aslanı Their lion

When you own multiples of the same thing, you will use the plural suffix. The plural suffix
comes before the possessive suffixes. For example:

Turkish English

(Benim) pastalarım My cakes

(Onun) limonları His/Her/Its lemons

(Sizin) portakallarınız Your oranges

If you attach any other case suffix to a noun with a possessive suffix, it willalways come
after the possessive suffix. They will also obey vowel harmony according to the last vowel in
the whole word. If you add a case to a noun with the 3rd person possessive suffix, it will
always have a buffer -n-. This buffer -n- can lead to ambiguities with the second person
possessive suffix. Here are some examples of nouns in the accusative case with a
possessive suffix:

Turkish w/o Accusative Turkish w/ Accusative English

(Benim) adım (Benim) adımı My name

(Onun) kahveleri (Onun) kahvelerini His/Her/Its coffees

(Senin) kahvelerin (Senin) kahvelerini Your coffees

Genitive Case
The genitive case is expressed with the suffix -(n)In in Turkish. This case is used to show
possession. The buffer -n- must be added to roots that end in a vowel. For example:
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● Selcen’s dog: Selcen’in köpeği

● Özge’s cats: Özge’nin kedileri

Notice: Possessors get the genitive case ending. Possesees get the possessive suffixes.
Pay attention to this! Look at the above tables to get a full list of the pronouns in the genitive
case.

If you want to say something like “your cats’ food,” this would have both the personal suffix
and the genitive case. The translation to this is “kedilerinin yemeği.” This is ambiguous
(remember, it can be your cats or his/her/its cats.

To Have
Turkish has a verb for "to have" (sahip olmak) but that's rarely used and will be taught in a
future skill. We mostly use just possessive + var to say "X has Y" andpossessive + yok to
say "X does not have Y". For example:

● Selcen has a dog: Selcen’in köpeği var

● Özge has cats: Özge’nin kedileri var
● I do not have water: Benim suyum yok
● You do not have milk: Senin sütün yok
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Dative Pronouns

The dative case in Turkish is normally used to describe indirect objects and motions towards
a place. The dative pronouns in Turkish are as follows:

Sing. Plural

1st Person bana bize

2nd Person sana size

3rd Person ona onlara

They generally have the meaning of “to me,” “to you,” etc. If you “are reading to me,”
“speaking to me,” or “coming to me” Turkish would use the dative pronoun.

For example: O bize gazeteyi okur. “He/She/It reads the newspaper to us” OR “He/She/It
reads us the newspaper.”

These pronouns and this case are used for more things in Turkish, but we will cover that
when we get to the Dative skill. Until then, kolay gelsin!
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Questions

Questions
Turkish question words do not undergo the same movement that they do in English
(notice...questions words almost always are at the beginning of questions in English).
Instead, they keep put in the place that naturally occur in the sentence-form of the question.
For example, imagine that you are surprised while asking the question “Where did you buy
the present?” You might exclaim, “You bought the present WHERE?!” Turkish maintains this
position in sentences.

Do not forget Turkish is a SOV language. This means that verbs are always at the end if
the sentence contains a verb.

Good luck and happy learning!

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Locative

The locative case in Turkish is used to describe location in, at, or on a place. It is formed
with the suffix -DA. Now, you may be asking, what is that capital D doing there…

...to which we respond with the answer “consonant harmony.” Turkish employs both vowel
and consonant harmony in its grammar. What does consonant harmony mean exactly?
Basically, unvoiced consonants like to be next to unvoiced consonants and voiced
consonants like to be next to voiced consonants. For example, things about how we
pronounce the plural marker -s in “cats” and “dogs” (one should sound like an ‘s’ and the
other should sound like a ‘z’). With the locative (and later the ablative), you will see a similar
phenomenon. The suffix -DA will become -TA after the letters ‘p, ç, t, k, f, h, s, and ş’ (We
use “Fıstıkçı Şahap” or "Efe Paşa çok hasta" as mnemonics to remember these). These are
unsurprisingly all of the unvoiced consonants in Turkish. The suffix remains as -DA in all
other instances (after following any other consonant or a vowel). Remember, this suffix will
also employ 2-way vowel harmony.

Here are some examples:

Turkish, Turkish,
Nominative English Locative English

park park parkta in/at the park

otel hotel otelde in/at the hotel

banyo bathroom banyoda in/at the bathroom

bakkal store bakkalda in/at the store

köpek dog köpekte on/at the dog

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Numbers

Forming numbers in Turkish is very simple after you know the core vocabulary. The numbers
are as follows:

Turkish Number Digit Turkish Number Digit

bir 1 on bir 11

iki 2 on iki 12

üç 3 yirmi 20

dört 4 otuz 30

beş 5 kırk 40

altı 6 elli 50

yedi 7 altmış 60

sekiz 8 yetmiş 70

dokuz 9 seksen 80

on 10 doksan 90

When you use a digit with a noun, you should NEVER use the plural suffix on the end of the
noun. This is redundant and grammatically incorrect in Turkish. That means you should say
“iki kedi” and not “iki kediler.” The larger numbers are as follows:

Turkish Number Digit

yüz 100

bin 1000

milyon 1000000

Verbs: Present continuous 1

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The tense sign of the present continuous tense in Turkish is -iyor, -ıyor, -üyor, -uyor, which is
added to the verb root. These suffixes are added according to 4-way Vowel Harmony.

Just how does one find the verb root in Turkish? Infinitives in Turkish end in -mAk, for
example: istemek.

You must simply remove the -mek off of "istemek" to get the root "iste-"

The tense endings are completed by adding the following personal suffixes:

Sing. Plural

1st Person -um -uz

2nd Person -sun -sunuz

3rd Person -∅ -∅ / -lar

*If the nominative pronoun "onlar," is used in the sentence, you are not required to include '-
lAr’ as a suffix, since it is already clear that the verb is plural from context. You can only use
-lAr if the subject is human. Sorry cat, trees, and cars!

When the verb root itself ends in a vowel, as in bekle-mek (to wait, expect), then this vowel
is also dropped as the head vowel of the "-iyor" tense sign replaces it, becoming bekl-iyor.

The first letter "-i" of "-iyor" is subject to 4-way vowel harmony with the verb stem's final
vowel. The tense sign "-iyor" can be likened to the English Tense sign "-ing".

Some examples:

● geliyorum [geliyor-um] (I am coming)

● alıyorsun [alıyor-sun] (you are taking)
● ödüyorlar [ödüyor-lar] (they are paying)

Dates and Time

Noun Compounds
In this skill, you will encounter your first Turkish noun compounds. A noun compound is
when you combine two nouns to create something with a new meaning (i.e.
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birth+day=birthday). Forming these in Turkish will be easy using the knowledge that you
already have up to this point.

All you have to do is put two nouns next to each other and add the possessive suffix on the
second noun. There is no suffix on the first word. For example:

Word 1 Word 2 Noun Compound English

doğum gün doğum günü birthday

tavuk su tavuk suyu chicken broth

balık çorba balık çorbası fish soup

kuzu et kuzu eti lamb (meat)

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Ablative

Ablative Case
You have learned 4 of the 7 Turkish cases so far (Nominative, Accusative,
Genitive/Possessive, Locative). Tebrikler! In this lesson you will get closer to learning all of
them. In this lesson we will cover the Ablative case, which is used in Turkish to convey
motion from a place. After learning the Locative case, the Ablative will be extremely easy. In
fact, it is almost the exact same! The suffix that you will have to use is -DAn. This suffix
follows the exact same consonant and vowel harmony rules as the Locative. In fact the only
difference is the letter “n” at the end of the suffix. Here are some examples:

Turkish Nominative Turkish Ablative English

park parktan from the park

köy köyden from the village

saray saraydan from the palace

ofis ofisten from the office

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Dative

Dative Case
It is time for case 6 out of 7. How are you feeling? Overwhelmed? Don’t be! You are doing
great so far! Just remember that Turkish isn’t as complicated as you think, and it will be
easy. It is different from English, but it much more regular and isn’t too complicated. The
Dative case in Turkish is used to describe movement towards something and for indirect
objects. An indirect object tells “to whom or for whom” an action is being done. It always tells
the recipient of the direct object.

I gave her a hug.

I told him about the event.

We showed them the cake.

Forming the Dative case is very simple, considering the amount of knowledge you have
under your belt now. The suffix is “-(y)A.” The suffix obeys 2-way vowel harmony and uses a
buffer -y- when attached to a word that ends in a vowel. Consonant harmony will often
happen at the end of words that end with /p t k ç/. Simple, right? It is a great way to review
concepts while still learning something new. Here are some examples:

Turkish Nominative Turkish Dative English

park parka to the park

şapka şapkaya to the hat

domates domatese to the tomato

fare fareye to the mouse

fareler farelere to the mice

köpek köpeğe to the dog

Good job and see you in the next lesson!

What time is it?

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This skill, unlike the last Time skill is only dedicated to telling time in Turkish. There will be a
lot of information below, so read carefully.

Saat kaç?
1) The phrase “Saat kaç?” is used to ask “What time is it?” in Turkish. The response is
Saat… followed by the number of the hour. This is really simple when you are at the full
hour. When at the full hour, saat is optional.

Turkish English

Saat kaç? What time is it?

Saat beş. It is 5 o'clock.

Beş It is 5.

2) The word buçuk is used to describe time at the half hour.

Turkish English

Saat kaç? What time is it?

Saat beş buçuk. It is 5:30.

3) For telling time before the half hour, you will use the word geçiyor and theaccusative
case. The word denoting the hour gets the accusative case ending which is then followed by
the minute number. Then you add geçiyor to the end.

Turkish English

Saat kaç? What time is it?

Saat beşi on geçiyor. It is 5:10.

Saat dördü on dört geçiyor. It is 4:14.

4) For telling time after the half hour, you will use the word var and the dativecase. The word
denoting the next hour gets the dative and the remainingminutes until the next hour follows.
Then add var to the end.

Turkish English
 24

Saat kaç? What time is it?

Saat yediye üç var. It is 6:57.

Saat altıya on var. It is 5:50.

5) When you are unsure, you can just say “saat+ the hour number + the minute number”.
This construction is used for trains, buses, and television.

Turkish English

Saat kaç? What time is it?

Saat on kırk. It is 10:40.

Saat dokuz elli. It is 9:50.

6) To describe things at the quarter hour, use the word çeyrek using the same grammar from
above.

Turkish English

Saat kaç? What time is it?

Saat onu çeyrek geçiyor. It is 10:15.

Saat sekize çeyrek var. It is 7:45.

Saat kaçta?
Now that you have taken in how to tell the time, we have to explain how to explain “At what
time?”. This uses a similar, but not identical system.

7) If it is the full or half hour, you will use the described system above along with the locative
case (-DA).

Turkish English

Saat kaçta? At what time?

Saat onda. At 10.

Saat iki buçukta. At 2:30.

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8) If it is before the half hour, you will use the same construction as above, but will use geçe
instead of geçiyor.

Turkish English

Saat kaçta? At what time?

Saat onu beş geçe. At 10:05.

Saat biri çeyrek geçe. At 1:15.

9) If it is after the half hour, you will use the same construction above, but withkala instead of
var.

Turkish English

Saat kaçta? At what time?

Saat on bire çeyrek kala. At 10:45.

Saat dokuza beş kala. At 8:55.

Ok...I know this was a lot to take in, but with some practice, it will be very easy! Good luck in
the skill and please feel free to repeat it several times until you have the hang of it. Until
then, kolay gelsin!
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Postpositions

In Turkish, there are no such things as prepositions. Before you feel really relieved, I must
give you some bad news. Turkish uses postpositions. All Englishprepositions are
represented in Turkish either by a case or by postpositions. There are two types of
postpositions in Turkish, Type 1 and Type 2.

Type 1 Postpositions
Type 1 postpositions are formed by using a genitive construction with a main noun and a
location noun. Rather than saying “outside of the house,” Turkish says “at the outside of the
house.” It isn’t too bad, right? We will include several of these in this lesson. Here are some
examples.

Main Location
(Pro)nouns English Noun Combination English

ev house iç inside evin içinde inside the

house

sen you arka behind senin behind

arkanda you

kitap book üst top kitabın above

üstünde the book,
on top of
the book

kitap book üzeri top kitabın above

üzerinde the book,
on top of
the book

hastane hospital ön front hastanenin in front of

önünde the
hospital

Type 2 Postpositions
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Type 2 prepositions resemble English prepositions more. They are single words that follow a
noun, sometimes requiring certain cases. You have already seen an example of this in the
course in the Dative Skill (doğru). We have included 4 here.

hariç and sırasında These are two postpositions that require the nominative case. Hariç
has the meaning except. Sırasında has the meaning during.

Main Location
(Pro)nouns English Noun Combination English

yaz summer sırasında during yaz sırasında during

summer

akşam dinner sırasında during akşam during

yemeği yemeği dinner
sırasında

ben I hariç except ben hariç except

for me

kar snow hariç except kar hariç except

for snow

hakkında and gibi

These two postpositions also require the nominative case. There is one exception however.
If they are used in combination with pronouns, you must use the genitive case. For
example:

Main Location
(Pro)nouns English Noun Combination English

mahalle neighborhood hakkında about mahalle about the

hakkında neighborhood

biz we hakkında about bizim about us

hakkımızda

annem my mother gibi like annem gibi like my

mother
 28

o he/she/it gibi like onun gibi like him/her/it

With practice, the idea of prepositions coming post the word will be simple! Until then, kolay
gelsin!
 29

With or without? (Instrumental)

Adjective Formation
In order to form adjectives from nouns in Turkish that describe “with” or “without,” you must
use the suffixes -lI and -sIz, respectively. For example:

Turkish
Nominative With English Without English

süt sütlü with milk sütsüz wıthout milk

peynir peynirli with cheese peynirsiz without cheese

tuz tuzlu with salt tuzsuz without salt

elma elmalı with elmasız without

apple(s) apple(s)

Instrumental Case
Are you ready for this? This is the last case in Turkish! Calm down from all of your
excitement. Everything is going to be alright! The name of the seventh case in Turkish is the
Instrumental. This is actually a hotly debated topic in the Turkic linguistic community...is this
a case or is it not a case? It is a shortened version of the postposition ile (with also means
with)and kind of acts strange to be a case proper. You are able to decide for yourself. The
Instrumental, like most other cases in Turkish, is surprisingly simple to form. All you have to
do is add the suffix -(y)lA. Use the buffer -y- if the noun ends in a vowel. The Instrumental
denotes the meaning “with “ or “by means of.” Here are some examples:

Turkish Nominative Turkish Instrumental English

babam babamla with my father

kedi kediyle with the cat

öğretmenimiz öğretmenimizle with our teacher

And now that you have learned every case in Turkish, we will put three chart below showing
the full declensions of two nouns.
 30

Singular English Plural English

Nominative anne mother anneler mothers

Genitive annenin "of the mother" annelerin "of the

"mother's" mothers"
"mothers'"

Dative anneye to the mother annelere to the

mothers

Accusative anneyi mother (direct anneleri mothers

object) (direct
object)

Ablative anneden from the mother annelerden from the

mothers

Locative annede in/on/at the annelerde in/on/at the

mother mothers

Instrumental anneyle with the mother annelerle with the

mothers

Singular English Plural English

Nominative kuş bird kuşlar birds

Genitive kuşun "of the bird" kuşların "of the birds"

"bird's" "birds'"

Dative kuşa to the bird kuşlara to the birds

Accusative kuşu bird (direct kuşları birds (direct

object) object)

Ablative kuştan from the bird kuşlardan from the birds

Locative kuşta in/on/at the bird kuşlarda in/on/at the

birds
 31

Instrumental kuşla with the bird kuşlarla with the birds

Instrumental Pronouns
● benimle
● seninle
● onunla
● bizimle
● sizinle
● onlarla (why this is not ONLARINLA is a big mystery)
 32

Questions - 2

Yes/No Questions
Forming Yes/No questions in Turkish is done by using a particle attached to the end of
sentences. This particle is mI-. It obeys 4-way vowel harmony. The personal endings for the
to be copula are always attached to this particle. They are never kept on the end of the verb
or noun that they would normally attach to in declarative sentences. For example:

Declarative Declarative Turkish English

Turkish English Question Question

Bir kedisin. You are a cat. Bir kedi misin? Are you a cat?

Alex Alex is a Alex öğretmen Is Alex a

öğretmendir. teacher. midir? teacher?

Mutluyum. I am happy. Mutlu muyum? Am I happy?

Arkamdasın. You are behind Arkamda mısın? Are you behind

me. me?

If this particle is attached to a verb in the present continuous, you will neverhave to worry
about vowel harmony. Since the suffix for the present continuous is -(I)yor, the question
particle will always be mu- followed by the appropriate personal suffixes.

Declarative Declarative Turkish

Turkish English Question English Question

Parka I am going to the Parka gidiyor Am I going to the

gidiyorum. park. muyum? park?

Beni You love me. Beni seviyor Do you love me?

seviyorsun. musun?

Emel evime Emel is running to Emel evime Is Emel running to

koşuyor. my house. koşuyor mu? my house?

Yoksa or Veya
 33

Veya is used when you have multiple options that may exist outside of the two things you
are asking.

Nur Türkçe veya İngilizce biliyor.

Nur knows Turkish or English. (she may know other languages)

Yoksa is used when where are only two options. It is normally optional and isalways
accompanied with the question particle following both possible options in question.

● Evim büyük mü yoksa küçük mü?

● Evim büyük mü, küçük mü?
● Is my house big or small?
 34

Family

Kinship Terms
Turkish divides kinship terms in a slightly different way than English. A lot of terms on the
maternal and paternal side are different. Turks occasionally get confused by the more
obscure ones, but this skill teaches all of the ones used on a daily basis by all Turkish
people. The extra ones are in a bonus skill.

English Turkish, Maternal Turkish, Paternal

Aunt teyze (also used to refer to hala

old women in general)

Uncle dayı amca (also used to refer to

old men in general)

Grandmother anneanne (literally 'mother babaanne (literally 'father

mother') mother')
 35

Negation

Negation
Negation is formed by (you guessed it) another suffix. This suffix will work in very mysterious
ways however. This suffix is -mI. Now we know what you are thinking...this looks just like
the question particle! I will guarantee that you will never confuse the two for soon to be
obvious reasons. The negation suffixalways comes before the tense information on the
verb. The question particle95% of the time comes after the tense information. Seeing as we
only know thepresent continuous at this point in time, we will only use that tense in this
lesson. We have more negation lessons later on in the tree to explain negation in the other
tenses. Now here are some examples of negation and the question particle in action!

Turkish English

Yağmur yağmıyor. It is not raining.

Yağmur yağmıyor mu? Is it not raining?

Bahçeye gelmiyorum. I am not coming to the garden.

Biz parkaya gitmiyor muyuz? Are we not going to the park?

Ne söylüyorsun? What are you saying?

Here is also a break-down of three verbs with all the grammatical information that we know
so far:

Complete
Root Neg Tense QP Person Word English

Yap mı yor - um Yapmıyorum I am not

doing.

Öde mi yor - sunuz Ödemiyorsunuz You are not

paying.

Yürü mü yor mu yuz Yürümüyor Are we not

muyuz? walking?
36
 37

Nations&Countries&Languages

Consonant Harmony, Part Deux

Turkish has a very useful suffix for forming languages. This suffix is -CA. This suffix has
striking similarities to the locative case (in case you don’t remember -DA). After the
consonants ‘p, ç, t, k, f, h, s, and ş,’ this suffix will take the form -çA. In all other cases, it will
have the form of -cA. Here are some examples:

Root Language English

Macar Macarca Hungarian

Türk Türkçe Turkish

Çin Çince Chinese

Arap Arapça Arab/Arabic

####Nationality vs. Language vs. Adjective####

Turkish, unlike English (normally), distinguishes between nationalities and languages. That
means that Türk refers to things and people who are from Turkey. Türkçe refers to the
language spoken by most ethnically Turkish people. These are not interchangeable.

This being said, there are some cases that differentiate between the nationality and adjective
form. Amerikan refers to things from America. Amerikalı refers to people from America. If
there were a such thing and an American language, it would be referred to Amerikanca
(however, there is no such thing)!

Ok...have fun! Kolay gelsin!

 38

Infinitive

Infinitives
The infinitive in Turkish equates to the “to verb” form in English. It can alsosometimes (not
always) be interpreted as the -ing form (gerund) in English. This is the form that you will
always find in a Turkish dictionary. The suffix for this form is -mAk and obeys two way vowel
harmony.

The most common place where this is used is after the verb istemek, which means “to want”.
For example: Ben gitmek istiyorum. I want to go.

Here are some examples of words in the infinitive form:

Root Infinitive English

sev sevmek to love

yap yapmak to do/make

iç içmek to drink

uyu uyumak to sleep

This can also be used as a gerund in some cases, for example:

Türkçe konuşmak çok kolay. Speaking Turkish is very easy.

 39

Ordinal Numbers

Ordinal Numbers
One might ask, what are ordinal numbers? One might respond with examples such as “first,
tenth, umpteenth, etc.” Turkish also has this same grammatical structure, and it uses the
suffix -(I)ncI. If the numeral ends in a vowel, there is no need to add the buffer vowel. This
suffix does follow 4-way vowel harmony. Here are some examples:

Numeral Ordinal Number English

bir birinci first

iki ikinci second

altı altıncı sixth

dört dördüncü fourth

Kaçıncı
Turkish has a word that is pretty hard to translate into English. This wordkaçıncı would be
“which” in English, but only in reference to “which (number)th.” Hangi is used in all other
situations. For example:

Kaçıncı kedi? “Which cat?” (the first, second, or third?)

Hangi kedi? “Which cat?” (the brown, white, or tan one?)

 40

Past Tense

Past Tense
The concept of past tense is a little bit different than English and many other European
languages in Turkish. When talking about past in Turkish, you can understand if the story
teller saw the events by his / her own eyes or heard from someone else. If you want to talk
about things that you have witnessed, this is the tense you are looking for.

The Positive Form

The conjugation formula for the positive form of the Simple Past Tense (SPT) is given below:

VERB ROOT + TENSE SUFFIX + PERSONAL SUFFIX

The Tense Suffix for Simple Past is -DI (-dı, -di, -du, -dü, -tı, -ti, -tu and -tü). Selecting the
right suffix is determined by the 4-way vowel harmony and consonant harmony rules, which
should be very simple by now.

Personal Tense Personal Conjugated

Pronoun Verb Suffix Suffix Verb Meaning

Ben yapmak -tı -m yaptım. I did.

Sen almak -dı -n aldın. You took

/ bought.

O yemek -di N/A yedi. He/she/it

ate.

Biz gelmek -di -k geldik. We came

/ arrived.

Siz içmek -ti -niz içtiniz. You

drank.

Onlar gitmek -ti -ler gittiler. They

went.
 41

The Question Form

The conjugation formula is below:

VERB ROOT + TENSE SUFFIX + PERSONAL SUFFIX + SPACE + QUESTION SUFFIX + ?

As seen from the formula above, the only difference from the positive form is the question
suffix at the end: -mI. Some examples are provided below:

O yedi mi? - Did he/she/it eat? Biz geldik mi? - Did we come / arrive? Siz içtiniz mi? - Did
you drink?

Past Tense Copula

POSITIVE FORM

In older Turkish, the simple past version of the verb to be was idi. Since you don’t see a
dash in front, this should be considered as a separate word that comes after the noun.
Example:

This was a house. → Bu bir ev idi. Those were red cars. → Şunlar kırmızı arabalar idi.

But, to sound it separately was quite hard in the spoken language and almost no one
prefered it to use it this way. That’s why, idi is attached to the end of the noun now. The
attachment obeys the rules of vowel and consonant harmony in Turkish. Yet, if the noun
ends with a vowel, an interesting thing happens which we will explain in the example:

This was a big castle. → Bu büyük bir kaleydi.

Let’s investigate kaleydi in pieces: kale-y-idi. → here kale is “castle”, idi is the past tense
copula. To be able attach two vowels, you need a buffer letter (-y). But the interesting thing
is, the first i disappears and the second one should change according to the last vowel of the
noun before it. In this case it stays asi. After this conjugation, you should add the personal
suffix. Investigating the table below, you will understand it better.

Noun / Tense Personal Conjugated

Adjective Suffix Suffix Verb Meaning

Ben genç -ti -m gençtim I was young.

Sen yaşlı -(y)dı -n yaşlıydın You were old

(age).
 42

O dün -dü N/A dündü It was

yesterday.

Biz yeni -(y)di -k yeniydik We were new.

Siz güzel -di -niz güzeldiniz You were

beautiful.

Onlar eski- -(y)di N/A or - eskiydi / They were old

ler eskiydiler (used too
much).

QUESTION FORM

The Tense suffix is added to the Question Suffix in this form. Since question suffixes always
end with a vowel, the buffer letter -y- is always in between. The question suffix follows the
rules for vowel harmony.

NOUN + SPACE + QUESTION SUFFIX + TENSE SUFFIX + PERSONAL SUFFIX +?

Examples: Ben genç miydim? (Was I young?) Sen yaşlı mıydın? (Were you old?) Siz güzel
miydiniz? (Were you beautiful?)
 43

Future Tense

Future Tense
Talking about future is really easy in Turkish because you won’t have the “will / be going to”
dilemma like in English. There is only one Future Tense. And all you need to remember is a
suffix: -(y)AcAk.

The Positive Form

The conjugation formula for the positive form of the future tense is: VERB ROOT + TENSE
SUFFIX + PERSONAL SUFFIX

Vowel in the last syllable of Future Tense

the verb root Suffix Example Meaning

a, ı, o, u -acak Koş- He/she/it

acak. will run.

e, i, ö, ü -ecek Gel- He/she/it

ecek. will come.

If the verb root ends with a consonant, the rule above is straightforward. Otherwise, the
buffer letter -y- is used between the root and the suffix. For example; Bekle-y-ecek (He/she/it
will wait.) Söyle-y-ecek (He/she/it will say.)

The only thing you need to be careful about is the personal suffixes starting with a vowel.
They transform the letter “k” at the end of the tense suffix into “ğ“. You will see the examples
in the table below:

Tense Personal Conjugated

Verb Suffix Suffix Verb Meaning

Ben olmak -acak -ım (-im) olacağım I will be.

Sen istemek -ecek -sin (-sın) isteyeceksin You will

want.
 44

O beklemek - N/A bekleyecek He/she/it

(y)ecek will wait.

Biz değiştirmek -ecek -iz (-ız) değiştireceğiz We will

make
change.

Siz değişmek -ecek -siniz (- değişeceksiniz You will

sınız) change.

Onlar gelmek -ecek -ler (-lar) gelecekler They will

come.

EXCEPTIONS###:

The following verbs do not obey the rules above: gitmek → gidecek yemek → yiyecek
demek → diyecek

The Question Form

The conjugation formula for the question form is given below: VERB ROOT + TENSE
SUFFIX + SPACE + QUESTION SUFFIX +PERSONAL SUFFIX

Examples are given in the table below:

Positive Question Meaning of the Question

Ben isteyeceğim Ben isteyecek miyim? Will I want?

Sen olacaksın Sen olacak mısın? Will you be? (sg.)

O gidecek O gidecek mi? Will he / she / it go?

Biz yiyeceğiz Biz yiyecek miyiz? Will we eat?

Siz diyeceksiniz Siz diyecek misiniz? Will you say? (pl.)

Negation 2

Past Negative for Verbs

 45

The conjugation formula for the negative form is shown below:

VERB ROOT + NEGATION SUFFIX + TENSE SUFFIX + PERSONAL SUFFIX

Since this the negation always ends with a vowel, either -e or -a, the selection of the Tense
Suffix is narrowed down to -dı or -di in the negative form. Since this is very straightforward,
we will give you only a couple of examples.

Yağmur yağmadı. (It didn’t rain) Beklemedik. (We didn’t wait) Yaşamadım. (I didn’t live)

Past Negative Copula

For the negation of the noun sentences, the word değil is used. The Tense Suffix is always -
di in this case.

NOUN / ADJECTIVE + SPACE + DEĞİL + “-Dİ” + PERSONAL SUFFIX.

For example: Ben genç değildim. (I wasn’t young) Sen yaşlı değildin. (You weren’t old) O
dün değildi. (It wasn’t yesterday)

Future Negative
The conjugation formula for the future tense is given below: VERB ROOT + NEGATION
SUFFIX + TENSE SUFFIX + PERSONAL SUFFIX.

Since the negation suffix (-mA) always ends with a vowel, there always is the buffer letter “-
y-” between that and the tense suffix. The rest is the same as the positive form.
 46

Examples:

Positive Negative

Ben isteyeceğim Ben istemeyeceğim

Sen olacaksın Sen olmayacaksın

O gidecek O gitmeyecek

Biz yiyeceğiz Biz yemeyeceğiz

Siz diyeceksiniz Siz demeyeceksiniz

 47

Suggestion

Suggestions, Declaratıve
Turkish once again uses a special suffix for what is called the optative. This suffix is -
(y)AlIm. This literally translates as let’s or shall. Hopefully at this point in time, you can read
the suffixes, but just to be safe, there is a buffer -y- used when the root ends in a vowel, the
first vowel will follow 2-way vowel harmony, and the second vowel follows 4-way vowel
harmony. This means that this suffix only takes on two forms. -(y)alım/-(y)elim

Here are some examples:

Infinitive Suggestion English

okumak okuyalım Let's read. We should read.

gitmek gidelim Let's go. We should go.

yemek yiyelim Let's eat. We should eat.

konuşmak konuşalım Let's talk. We should talk.

Suggestions, Questions
When using the optative in a question, the question particle mI always comesafter the verb.
For example:

Suggestion Question English

okuyalım Okuyalım mı? Shall we read? Should we read?

gidelim Gidelim mi? Shall we go? Should we go?

 48

ki

Ki
ki is one of the most interesting things in the Turkish language. It is originally aFarsi
conjunction that has remained in the language from the Ottoman times. It is however used in
very interesting ways.

POSSESSIVE KI

ki can attach onto the ends of some pronouns to show possession. These are equivalent to
words like mine in English.

Pronoun with ki English

ben benimki mine

siz sizinki yours

RELATIVE CLAUSE KI

Notice in Turkish, you can say:

Kurbağa hasta. -- The frog is sick. Hasta kurbağa -- The sick frog

--BUT--

Kurbağa sokakta. -- The frog is on the street. Sokakta kurbağa -- incorrect

This is because nouns in Turkish cannot really function as adjectives (sokakta is the noun
street with the locative case). To fix this problem, you can attach the suffix -ki. There is no
vowel harmony on this suffix.

Sokaktaki kurbağa -- The frog (which is/that is) on the street Şişedeki su -- The water (which
is/that is) in the bottle Parktaki kadın -- The woman (who is/that is) in the park

KI AS A CONJUNCTION

This will be a sight for your sore Indo-European eyes. Since this suffix was originally
borrowed from Farsi (an Indo-European language related to English), it bears some
resemblance to English grammar in one way. It can be used as a subordinate conjunction to
 49

combine two clauses with the meaning that (as in “I said that you were happy). Remember
that is optional in English, but it is not in Turkish.

Turkish English

Annem diyor ki: "Okula git". My mother said, "Go to school."

Biliyorum ki onu sevmiyorsun. I know (that) you do not love him/her/it/

Remember There is a grammatically different way to say these that is natively Turkish
instead of being borrowed from Farsi. The other way is more common for most verbs. This
will be covered later in the skill -(i)dik.

KI IN SPECIAL PHRASES

ki is also used in a large array of special phrases. Here we teach: İyi ki which means
fortunately

IRREGULAR FORMS

The -ki suffix is irregular in only two instances in the entire Turkish language. This is when it
attaches to dün and bugün. It becomes dünkü and bugünkürespectively. These mean
“yesterday’s” and “today’s.”
 50

Reflexive Pronouns

REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS: (KENDİ)

The reflexive pronouns in Turkish is formed by the word “kendi”. You can think that this word
is close to “self” in English, but the usage is a little bit more different. Just like myself,
yourself, etc, this word is adapted to the pronouns as shown in the table below:

Conjugation of "kendi" Meaning

Ben kendim myself

Sen kendin yourself

O kendi / kendisi himself / herself / itself

Biz kendimiz ourselves

Siz kendiniz yourselves

Onlar kendileri themselves

Reflexive pronouns are generally placed just before the verb in the sentence.

Example#:

Bunu kendin mi yaptın? (Did you make this yourself?) Ahmet arabayı kendisi sürer. (Ahmet
drives the car himself.)

When you want to say “by myself”, “by yourself”, etc. then you need to use the word “kendi”
in front of the conjugated reflexive pronoun such as:

Türkçe’yi kendi kendime öğreniyorum. (I am learning Turkish by myself).

Gerunds

GERUNDS AND INFINITIVES: (İSİM FİİLLER)

 51

This is unfortunately one of the hardest topics in Turkish: Gerunds and Infinitives.

In Turkish, each phrase has only one conjugated verb. That’s why, the other words must be
turned into nominal words (nouns, adjectives, etc). Gerund & infinitive suffixes are used for
this purpose.

In English, you can make a gerund from a verb adding “-ing” to the root and an infinitive by
putting “to” in front of the verb root. However, in Turkish, there are three set of suffixes for
this purpose:

i. -ış, -iş, -uş, -üş ii. -me, -ma iii. -mek, -mak

The first groups are mostly gerunds and the last one is mostly infinitives. But the one in the
middle can be used as both gerunds and infinitives depending on the sentence.
Unfortunately there are no distinct rules to select the correct suffix for making a gerund or
infinitive, it all depends on experience.

NOTE###:

The suffix “-me”, ”-ma” is not the same as the negations suffixes you have used earlier. After
the gerund / infinitive suffixes, there usually comes a personal suffix. For example:

gel-me-m (my coming) yap-ma-n (your doing) [not you’re doing]

On the other hand, after the negation suffix, there should be a tense suffix.

gel-me-di-m (I didn’t come) yap-ma-(y)acak (he / she / it will not do).

Since the verbs are transformed into actions and states, now they can be possessed by the
pronouns by using the possessive suffixes. This feature allows you to assess that action or
state to the pronoun with a single suffix:

Benim bekle-me-m (my waiting) Senin yazman (your writing) Onun eğlenmesi (his / her / its
having fun)

Although this does not sound correct in English, when you try to place it in a sentence, you
will understand how Turkish people construct their rather complex sentences:

Bizim çalışmamız lazım (lit. Our studying is necessary) [corr. We need to study]

Ben senin sevmeni istiyorum. (lit. I want your loving / liking) [corr. I want you to like / love]

Onların içmeleri önemli. (lit. Their drinking is important) [corr. It is important for them to drink]
52
 53

Verbs: Aorist

Aorist / Simple Present Tense (Geniş Zaman)

In Turkish, the aorist tense is used for talking about habits, hobbies, near future plans and
even for requests. In this sense, for many cases the aorist tense can be thought as
equivalent to the simple present tense.

The Positive Form

For the positive case the suffix depends on the root of the verb. The root of a verb in Turkish
is the part left when you subtract -mek/-mak from the infinitive state.

Reminder Infinitive: istemek Root of the Verb: iste

 54

Case 1

If the root of the verb ends with a vowel;

you just need to add -r to the end of the root.

Tense Personal Entire

Pronoun Stem Suffix Suffix Sentence Meaning

Ben iste -r -im Ben I want.

isterim.

Sen iste -r -sin Sen You want.

istersin.

O iste -r O ister. He / she / it

wants.

Biz iste -r -iz Biz isteriz. We want.

Siz iste -r -siniz Siz You want.

istersiniz.

Onlar iste -r -ler Onlar They want.

isterler.

Case 2

If the root of the verb ends with a consonant and is one syllable;

In harmony with the last vowel of the root, the tense suffix may be -ar or -er.

Verb Root Tense Suffix Conjugated Verb Meaning

sev- -er sever (He) loves.

yaz- -ar yazar (He) writes

 55

Case 3

if the root of the verb ends with a consonant and it more than one syllable;

Using 4-way vowel harmony, the suffix -Ir is attached.

Verb Tense Suffix Conjugated Verb Meaning

calış- -ır çalışır (She) works

unut- -ur unutur (He) forgets

getir- -ir getirir (It) brings

Irregularities

1. 13 single syllable verbs take the tense sign as -ir -ır -ür -ur. Yes, there are
only 13 irregular verbs, and only in this tense :) These verbs are: almak,
bilmek, bulmak, durmak, gelmek, görmek, kalmak, olmak, ölmek, sanmak,
vermek, vurmak
2. There are 3 verbs ending in -t where -t is mutated into -d when the aorist suffix
is added. These are gitmek (to go), etmek (to do) and tatmak (to taste).

Example:

● Ben giderim. (I go)

● Sen gidersin. (You go)
● O gider. (He / she / it goes)

The Question Form

The question form of verb in the aorist tense has the structure below:

Root + Tense Suffix + SPACE + Question Suffix + Personal Suffix

Note:

The Tense Suffix in the question form follows the same rules in the positive form. In other
words, the tense suffix may be -r, -ar, -er, -ir, -ır, -ur or -ürdepending on how the root of the
verb ends.

Let’s take the verb gitmek (to go) as an example.

 56

Root of Tense Question Personal Conjugated

Pronoun "gitmek" Suffix SPACE Suffix Suffix Verb

Ben git- -er mi- -y-im gider

miyim?

Sen git- -er mi- -sin gider misin?

O git- -er mi- gider mi?

Biz git- -er mi- -y-iz gider miyiz?

Siz git- -er mi- -siniz gider

misiniz?

Onlar* git- -er mi- gider mi?

There are a few points that needs to be stressed on for this example.

The extra letter -y- in the conjugation for “Ben” and “Biz” is called the buffer letter which is a
topic of another subject. But in the question form, they will always be there. If you have no
information on buffer letters, you can try to learn it as this way.

There is an alternative way of conjugating the verbs for “Onlar” such as:

Root + Tense Suffix + Plural Suffix (-ler / -lar) + SPACE + Question Suffix.

Both conjugations are correct.

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Negation 3

Negative Form of the Aorist

To make the verb negative in the aorist tense, you can follow the structure below:

Root + Negation Suffix (-mA) + Personal Suffix

The table below gives some examples on how this is done:

Personal Suffix
Pronoun for Negation istemek sevmek yazmak

Ben -m istemem sevmem yazmam

Sen -zsIn istemezsin sevmezsin yazmazsın

O -z istemez sevmez yazmaz

Biz -yIz istemeyiz sevmeyiz yazmayız

Siz -zsInIz istmezsiniz sevmezsiniz yazmazsınız

Onlar -zlar istemezler sevmezler yazmazlar

Pronoun Personal Suffix for Negation değiştirmek gitmek

Ben -m değiştirmem gitmem

Sen -zsIn değiştirmezsin gitmezsin

O -z değiştirmez gitmez

Biz -yIz değiştirmeyiz gitmeyiz

Siz -zsInIz değiştirmezsiniz gitmezsiniz

Onlar -zlar değiştirmezler gitmezler

Would&Used to (-rdi)
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TALKING ABOUT OLD HABITS: (GENİŞ ZAMANIN HİKAYESİ)

If you want to talk about old habits, i.e. thing used to be done regularly but not any more, you
need to combine the aorist tense and the simple past tense. It makes perfect sense because
the aorist tense is the tense you need to usecurrent habits and you carry this information to
the past by combining it with the simple past tense.

Positive Form

The structure for talking about old habits is given below:

Verb Root + Aorist Suffix + Past Tense Suffix + Personal Suffix

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Some examples are given in the table.

Aorist Past
Verb T. T. Personal Conjugated
Root Suffix Suffix Suffix Form Meaning

Ben oku- -r -du -m okurdum I used to

read.

Sen ye- -r -di -n yerdin You

used to
eat.

O iç- -er -di N/A içerdi He / she

/ it used
to drink

Biz yap- -ar -dı -k yapardık We used

to do.

Siz sev- -er -di -(n)ız severdiniz You

used to
love.

Onlar* ol- -ur -du -lar olurdular / They

olurlardı used to
be.

Negative Form

When you want to talk about something that you did not used to do but started doing lately,
this is the structure you need to set.

Verb Root + Negation Suffix + Aorist Suffix + Past Tense Suffix + Personal Suffix

How to apply this form is provided in the table below:

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Past
Verb Negation Aorist T. Personal Conjugated
Root Suffix Suffix Suffix Suffix Form

Ben ol- -ma -z -dı -m olmazdınız

Sen oku- -ma -z -dı -n okumazdınız

O ye- -me -z -di N/A yemezdi

Biz iç- -me -z -di -k içmezdik

Siz yap- -ma -z -dı -(n)ız yapmazdınız

Onlar* sev- -me -z -di -ler sevmezdiler

/
sevmezlerdi

Question Form

The question form for this combined tense is given below:

Verb Root + Aorist Suffix + SPACE + Question Suffix + Past Tense Suffix + Personal Suffix
+?

Past
Verb Aorist Question T. Personal Conjugated
Root Suffix Suffix Suffix Suffix Form

Ben sev- -er mi- -(y)di -m sever

miydim?

Sen ol- -ur mu- -(y)du -n olur

muydun?

O oku- -r mu- -(y)du N/A okur

muydu?

Biz ye- -r mi- -(y)di -k yer miydik?

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Siz iç- -er mi- -(y)di -(n)ız içer

miydiniz?

Onlar* yap- -ar mı- -(y)dı -lar sevmezdiler

/
sevmezlerdi

Please note that, in case of “Onlar” the structure is a little bit inverted.
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While&When (-iken)

We use -iken for "while"; for an action happening in a period or interval of time. So verb+iken
should be translated using while, but not using when (short action or consequence, check -
ince skill).

e.g.:

● I'll cook while you are sleeping: Sen uyurken ben yemek yapacağım.(cooking
is at the same time with sleeping)
● I'll cook when you sleep: Sen uyuyunca ben yemek yapacağım. (cooking
starts when the other person falls asleep)

However, when we indicate the period of time without a verb, we also use -iken and this
should be translated using when:

e.g.: I used to eat chocolate when I was a child: Çocukken çikolata yerdim.
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Can

Can
In order to express ability in Turkish, you must use the suffix -(y)Abil along with the aorist
tense. This is actually a compound of a verb, -(y)A, and bilmek in the aorist. Here are some
examples:

Turkish Infinitive Can English

Yapmak Yapabilirim I can do.

Gitmek Gidebilirsin You can go.

Ağlamak Ağlayabiliriz We can cry.

Görmek Görebilirsiniz You can see.

Dayanmak Dayanabilir He/She/It can endure.

Can’t
Remember how the can used bilmek? To negate this, you will have to instead use the
negative suffix -mA. This means you will use the verb, -(y)A, and the negative aorist
personal endings. Here are some examples:

Turkish Infinitive Can English

Yapmak Yapamam I can't do.

Gitmek Gidemezsin You can't go.

Ağlamak Ağlayamayız We can't cry.

Görmek Göremezsiniz You can't see.

Dayanmak Dayanamaz He/She/It can't endure.

Must/Should/Have to
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Meli/Malı
In Turkish there is one suffix that means all of the the above words. This is -mAlI. It obeys 2-
way and 4-way vowel harmony, as expected. It will only ever have two forms -malı and -meli.
This suffix attaches to verb roots and is followed by the personal endings. The negatıve
suffix may also be added before the personal endings. Here are some examples:

Turkish Infinitive Can English

olmak Olmalıyım. I must/have to/should be.

devam etmek Devam etmemeliyiz. We must/should not continue.

katılmak Katılmalı. He/She/It must participate.

Keep in mind: in the negative, this implies something that must not be done.

Zorunda
To express the ideas “must” and “have to” you can also use the construction: infinitive +
(zorunda + personal endings). This is negated with değil. If negated, personal endings
attach to değil and not zorunda. Here are some examples:

Turkish Infinitive with zorunda English

götürmek Götürmek zorundasın. You must/have to take.

dans etmek Dans etmek zorunda değilim. I do not have to dance.

koşmak Koşmak zorundayız. We must/have to run.

Keep in mind: in the negative, this has the meaning “does not have to.”
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Narrative past -miş

Reported Past Tense

Turkish has a uncommon, but not unique, feature, which is a reported past tense. This past
tense is used for things that one did not experience, see, or witness oneself. This concept
does not exist in English, and is normally presented in different ways (e.g. apparently, it
seems, they say that…). This means, the lesson that you have already learned (-DI) is used
for things that the speaker has seen or witnessed. In this lesson, you should translate
sentences using the simple past tense or present perfect.

The reported past tense is formed with: the verb root + -mIş + personal endings. It has 4-way
vowel harmony.

Here are some examples:

Turkish Reported Past

Infinitive Tense English

yapmak yapmışım I did.

özlemek özlemişsin You missed.

büyümek büyümüş He/She/It grew.

bilmek biliyormuş He/She/It knows. (with

uncertainty)

vurmak vurmuşuz We hit/shot

silmek silmişsiniz You wiped/deleted

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If (Conditional&Subjunctive)

The writing of this Tips and Notes has been heavily inspired by
http://www.turkishlanguage.co.uk/conditional.htm. Check it out.

The conditional/subjunctive voice is formed by adding the suffix -sA. It can attach to basically
any tense, with having two versions in the past. These areoptionally introduced with the word
eğer. Here is an explanation, tense by tense:

1). ##Simple Actual Conditional### This has the meaning of “if X (were to)verb…”. It is
formed by adding -(y)sA with the personal endings for the past tense (this means, you
should use -k for biz).

Turkish English

yapsam if I (were to) do/make

gelsek if we (were to) come

2). ###Present Continuous###

Turkish English

yapıyorsan if you were doing/making

geliyorsanız if you were coming

3). ###Simple Habitual###

Turkish English

yaparsa if he/she/it does/makes

gelirseler if they come

4). ###Future Intention###

Turkish English

yapacaksam if I (will) do/make

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geleceksen if you (will) come

5). ###Past Reality###

Turkish English

yaptıysak if we did/made

geldeyseniz if you came

Past Unreality
The past reality is often preceded with the word keşke, which means if only.

Turkish English

yapsaydık if only we had done/made

gelseydin if only you had come

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Non-Future Object Part.

-DIk
-DIk or the object participle is one of the most different things from English that you will find
in Turkish. This being said, if you are able to master it, Turkish people will normally be quite
impressed. It has a non-future tense (meaning that it can be translated as past or present
tense). This participle has three main functions in Turkish.

To form this participle, you will use the following formula:

Verb Root + (I)DIk + Possessive Endings + (the Appropriate Case, if needed)

It follows both consonant harmony and 4-way vowel harmony. Here are some examples of
the participle in the nominative case:

Turkish Turkish with Obj.

Root Part. English

yaz yazdığım kitap The book (that) I wrote/am writing/write

pişır pişirdiğiniz yemek The food (that) you cooked/are

cooking/cook

git gittiği restoran The restaurant (that) he/she/it went/is

going/goes to

THE OBJECT PARTICIPLE AS AN ADJECTIVE

Like the examples seen above, when these participles are used as an adjective, they are
translated as relative clauses in English. This participle can be used to describe things as a
relative clause when they are not the subject of that relative clause. The participle used for
relatives clauses in which the reference noun is the subject will be described later in the tree.
Here are some examples in full sentence form:

Turkish with Obj. Part. English

Yazdığım kitabı okudun mu? Did you read the book that I wrote?
 69

Pişirdiğiniz yemeği We will eat the food that you made.

yiyeceğiz.

Gittiği restoran hiç güzel The restaurant that she went to was not good
değildi. at all.

THE OBJECT PARTICIPLE AS A NOUN

Similar to other languages, you can sometimes drop nouns and only use adjectives that
function as nouns in Turkish. This also stands true in Turkish. Also, do you remember the ki
skill, where it was mentioned that Turkish had a more Turkish way to use that as a
subordinate conjunction? This is it. You will need to use the appropriate cases depending on
the use of the participle in the sentence. For example:

Turkish with Obj. Part. English

(Ben) (senin) geldiğini duymadım. I did not hear (that) you came.

Selcen (benim) yazdığımı sevmemiş Selcen did not like what I wrote/am
writing.

(Ben) (sizin) sinemaya gittiğinizi I think that you went/are going to the
düşünüyorum. cinema.

Seni gördüğüm için mutlu oldum I became happy because I saw you!

THE OBJECT PARTICIPLE AS AN ADVERB

When you use the object participle with the locative or ablative cases, they take on a special
meaning. When used with the locative (-DA), it has the meaning of “when,” similar to the
suffix “-IncA.” When used with the ablative, it has the meaning of “because of” or “due to.”
Important: These will not always have these meanings. The locative/ablative case can be
used for other reasons that we have already discussed in the course (e.g. describing
locations or making comparisons). Here are some more examples:

Turkish with Obj. Part. English

Güneş doğduğunda gitmeliyiz. We must leave when the sun rises.

Çok yemek yediğimden tokum. I am full because I ate a lot.

Passive
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Passive Voice
The passive voice is used when you do not want to explicitly state the agent (or the
thing/person doing the action of the verb). This is formed with a suffix attached to the verb
root. This suffix is attached before tense and personal endings. There are three different
suffixes used, depending on the final sound of the verb root.

Verb Roots Ending in Consonants Except for L

Verb roots than end in any consonant except for L will get the suffix -Il. This suffix has 4-
way vowel harmony. Here are some examples:

Infinitive Passive Infinitive English

yapmak yapılmak to be made

vermek verilmek to be given

düşünmek düşünülmek to be thought

##Verb Roots Ending in L##

Verb roots that end in L will get the suffix -In. This suffix has 4-way vowel harmony. Here are
some examples:

Infinitive Passive Infinitive English

bilmek bilinmek to be known

bulmak bulunmak to be found

Verb Roots Ending in Vowels

Verb roots than end in vowels get the suffix -n. There is obviously no vowel harmony for the
suffix, as there is no vowel. There are some examples:

Infinitive Passive Infinitive English

istemek istenmek to be wanted

söylemek söylenmek to be said

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When (-ince)

We use -iken for "while"; for an action happening in a period or interval of time (check
while&when skill). So verb+iken should be translated using while, but not using when (short
action or consequence).

e.g.:

● I'll cook while you are sleeping: Sen uyurken ben yemek yapacağım.(cooking
is at the same time with sleeping)
● I'll cook when you sleep: Sen uyuyunca ben yemek yapacağım. (cooking
starts when the other person falls asleep)

However, when we indicate the period of time without a verb, we also use -iken and this
should be translated using when:

e.g.: I used to eat chocolate when I was a child: Çocukken çikolata yerdim.
 72

Relative Pronouns -(y)An

Relative Pronouns
Turkish itself does not contain relative pronouns in the same way that English has them. A
participle is used instead of a pronoun proper. This is called therelative participle or the
object participle. The suffix has the form *-(y)An and it is attached to the verb root, unless the
verb is negated. In this case, it will have the form “verb root + mA + yAn”. Here are some
examples of how to from the relative participle:

Infinitive Passive Infinitive English

okumak okuyan (who/that/which) is reading/reads

gitmek giden (who/that/which) is going/goes

yazmak yazan (who/that/which) is writing/writes

tercih etmek tercih eden (who/that/which) prefers

When this is used, the same SOV word order is preserved. For example:

Turkish English

Saat beşte parkaya giden The man (who is) going to the park at five
adam o'clock

Kitabı yazan kadın The woman (who is) writing the book

Yeni çevrilen kitap The book which/that was recently translated

"Bir vurmakla ağaç devrilmez."