Turkish Grammar Tips & Hints

Compilation of Grammar Hints & Notes on the English Turkish Duolingo Skill
Tree
Compiled by SoroushiForoushi

Table of Contents
Basics
HO 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 ka?
Saat kata?
Postpositions
Type 1 Postpositions
Type 2 Postpositions
With or without? (Instrumental)
Adjective Formation
Instrumental Case
Instrumental Pronouns
Questions - 2

2
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
Kanc
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, Declaratve
Suggestions, Questions
ki
Ki
POSSESSIVE KI
RELATIVE CLAUSE KI
KI AS A CONJUNCTION
KI IN SPECIAL PHRASES
IRREGULAR FORMS
Reflexive Pronouns
REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS: (KEND)
Example#:
Gerunds
GERUNDS AND INFINITIVES: (SM FLLER)
NOTE###:
Verbs: Aorist
Aorist / Simple Present Tense (Geni 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: (GEN ZAMANIN HKAYES)
Positive Form
Negative Form
Question Form
While&When (-iken)
Can
Can
Cant
Must/Should/Have to
Meli/Mal
Zorunda
Narrative past -mi
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

Basics

HO 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

3rd Person

Onlar

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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!

imek

to drink

Drink!

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:
souk elma --The cold apple
souk bir elma -- A cold apple
Elma souk -- 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 shouldnt pose too big of a challenge.

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!

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

-(y)

o,u

-(y)u

e,i

-(y)i

a,

-(y)

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

Turkish, Nominative

Turkish, Accusative

English

elma

elmay

apple

gazete

gazeteyi

newspaper

st

st

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

kitab

book

aa

aac

tree

kpek

kpei

dog

This means:

pb
td
k
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
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.

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This is the other form of vowel harmony found in Turkey suffixes. Basically if the final vowel
is front (i, e, , ) use -ler. If it is back (a, , 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

ay

bear

aylar

bears

ku

bird

kular

birds

kurbaa

frog

kurbaalar

frogs

kpek

dog

kpekler

dogs

hindi

turkey

hindiler

turkeys

men

menu

menler

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.

, -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.

11

-lAr,

3rd pl.

-DIrlAr

(Onlar)

They are happy.

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 t k s 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 lets 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

(Onlarn) kedisi

Their cat

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

Turkish

English

13

(Benim) aslanm

My lion

(Senin) aslann

Your lion

(Onun) aslan

His/Her/Its lion

(Bizim) aslanmz

Our lion

(Sizin) aslannz

Your lion

(Onlarn) aslan

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) pastalarm

My cakes

(Onun) limonlar

His/Her/Its lemons

(Sizin) portakallarnz

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) adm

(Benim) adm

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:

Selcens dog: Selcenin kpei

zges cats: zgenin 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.

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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 yemei. 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: Selcenin kpei var

zge has cats: zgenin kedileri var
I do not have water: Benim suyum yok
You do not have milk: Senin stn 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!

16

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, , t, k, f, h, s, and (We
use Fstk ahap or "Efe Paa ok 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

kpek

dog

kpekte

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

on bir

11

iki

on iki

12

yirmi

20

drt

otuz

30

be

krk

40

alt

elli

50

yedi

altm

60

sekiz

yetmi

70

dokuz

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

yz

100

bin

1000

milyon

1000000

Verbs: Present continuous 1

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

19
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)

alyorsun [alyor-sun] (you are taking)
dyorlar [dyor-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. 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:

20

Word 1

Word 2

Noun Compound

English

doum

gn

doum gn

birthday

tavuk

su

tavuk suyu

chicken broth

balk

orba

balk orbas

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

ky

kyden

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? Dont be! You are doing
great so far! Just remember that Turkish isnt as complicated as you think, and it will be easy.
It is different from English, but it much more regular and isnt 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 /. 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

apka

apkaya

to the hat

domates

domatese

to the tomato

fare

fareye

to the mouse

fareler

farelere

to the mice

kpek

kpee

to the dog

Good job and see you in the next lesson!

What time is it?

23
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 ka?
1) The phrase Saat ka? 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 ka?

What time is it?

Saat be.

It is 5 o'clock.

Be

It is 5.

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

Turkish

English

Saat ka?

What time is it?

Saat be buuk.

It is 5:30.

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

English

Saat ka?

What time is it?

Saat bei on geiyor.

It is 5:10.

Saat drd on drt geiyor.

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

Saat ka?

What time is it?

Saat yediye var.

It is 6:57.

Saat altya on var.

It is 5:50.

24
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 ka?

What time is it?

Saat on krk.

It is 10:40.

Saat dokuz elli.

It is 9:50.

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

English

Saat ka?

What time is it?

Saat onu eyrek geiyor.

It is 10:15.

Saat sekize eyrek var.

It is 7:45.

Saat kata?
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 kata?

At what time?

Saat onda.

At 10.

Saat iki buukta.

At 2:30.

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

English

Saat kata?

At what time?

Saat onu be gee.

At 10:05.

Saat biri eyrek gee.

At 1:15.

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

English

Saat kata?

At what time?

Saat on bire eyrek kala.

At 10:45.

Saat dokuza be 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!

26

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 isnt too bad, right? We will include several of these in this lesson. Here are some
examples.
Main

Location

(Pro)nouns

English

ev

house

Noun
i

Combination
inside

evin iinde

English
inside the
house

sen

kitap

you

book

arka

st

behind

top

senin

behind

arkanda

you

kitabn

above

stnde

the book,
on top of
the book

kitap

book

zeri

top

kitabn

above

zerinde

the book,
on top of
the book

hastane

hospital

front

hastanenin

in front of

nnde

the
hospital

Type 2 Postpositions

27
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 (doru). We have included 4 here.
hari and srasnda These are two postpositions that require the nominative case. Hari
has the meaning except. Srasnda has the meaning during.
Main

Location

(Pro)nouns

English

Noun

yaz

summer

srasnda

during

Combination

English

yaz srasnda

during
summer

akam

dinner

srasnda

during

yemei

akam

during

yemei

dinner

srasnda
ben

hari

except

ben hari

except
for me

kar

snow

hari

except

kar hari

except
for snow

hakknda 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
mahalle

biz

English

Noun

neighborhood

hakknda

we

hakknda

Combination
about

about

English

mahalle

about the

hakknda

neighborhood

bizim

about us

hakkmzda
annem

my mother

gibi

like

annem gibi

like my
mother

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!

28

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

st

stl

with milk

stsz

wthout milk

peynir

peynirli

with cheese

peynirsiz

without cheese

tuz

tuzlu

with salt

tuzsuz

without salt

elma

elmal

with

elmasz

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

retmenimiz

retmenimizle

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.
Singular

English

Plural

English

30

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

object)

mothers
(direct
object)

Ablative

anneden

from the mother

annelerden

from the
mothers

Locative

annede

in/on/at the

annelerde

mother
Instrumental

anneyle

with the mother

in/on/at the
mothers

annelerle

with the
mothers

Singular

English

Plural

English

Nominative

ku

bird

kular

birds

Genitive

kuun

"of the bird"

kularn

"of the birds"

"bird's"

"birds'"

Dative

kua

to the bird

kulara

to the birds

Accusative

kuu

bird (direct

kular

birds (direct

object)

object)

Ablative

kutan

from the bird

kulardan

from the birds

Locative

kuta

in/on/at the bird

kularda

in/on/at the
birds

Instrumental

kula

with the bird

Instrumental Pronouns

benimle
seninle
onunla
bizimle

kularla

with the birds

31

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 retmen

Is Alex a

retmendir.

teacher.

midir?

teacher?

Mutluyum.

I am happy.

Mutlu muyum?

Am I happy?

Arkamdasn.

You are behind

Arkamda msn?

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

kouyor.

my house.

kouyor mu?

my house?

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

33
Nur Trke veya ngilizce 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 byk m yoksa kk m?

Evim byk m, kk m?
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
Aunt

Turkish, Maternal
teyze (also used to refer to

Turkish, Paternal
hala

old women in general)

Uncle

day

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

Yamur yamyor.

It is not raining.

Yamur yamyor mu?

Is it not raining?

Baheye gelmiyorum.

I am not coming to the garden.

Biz parkaya gitmiyor muyuz?

Are we not going to the park?

Ne sylyorsun?

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

Yap

yor

um

Word
Yapmyorum

English
I am not
doing.

de

mi

yor

sunuz

demiyorsunuz

You are not

paying.

Yr

yor

mu

yuz

Yrmyor

Are we not

muyuz?

walking?

36

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 dont remember -DA). After the
consonants p, , t, k, f, h, s, and , this suffix will take the form -A. In all other cases, it will
have the form of -cA. Here are some examples:
Root

Language

English

Macar

Macarca

Hungarian

Trk

Trke

Turkish

in

ince

Chinese

Arap

Arapa

Arab/Arabic

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

Turkish, unlike English (normally), distinguishes between nationalities and languages. That
means that Trk refers to things and people who are from Turkey. Trke 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. Amerikal 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!

37

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

imek

to drink

uyu

uyumak

to sleep

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

Trke konumak ok kolay. Speaking Turkish is very easy.

38

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

alt

altnc

sixth

drt

drdnc

fourth

Kanc
Turkish has a word that is pretty hard to translate into English. This wordkanc would be
which in English, but only in reference to which (number)th. Hangi is used in all other
situations. For example:
Kanc kedi? Which cat? (the first, second, or third?)
Hangi kedi? Which cat? (the brown, white, or tan one?)

39

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 (-d, -di, -du, -d, -t, -ti, -tu and -t). Selecting the
right suffix is determined by the 4-way vowel harmony and consonant harmony rules, which
should be very simple by now.
Personal
Pronoun

Verb

Tense

Personal

Conjugated

Suffix

Suffix

Verb

Meaning

Ben

yapmak

-t

-m

yaptm.

I did.

Sen

almak

-d

-n

aldn.

You
took /
bought.

yemek

-di

N/A

yedi.

He/she/it
ate.

Biz

gelmek

-di

-k

geldik.

We came
/ arrived.

Siz

imek

-ti

-niz

itiniz.

You
drank.

Onlar

gitmek

-ti

-ler

gittiler.

They
went.

40

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 itiniz 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 dont 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. unlar krmz 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. Thats 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 byk bir kaleydi.
Lets 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

Ben

gen

-ti

-m

gentim

I was young.

Sen

yal

-(y)d

-n

yalydn

You were old

Meaning

(age).

41

dn

-d

N/A

dnd

It was
yesterday.

Biz

yeni

-(y)di

-k

yeniydik

We were new.

Siz

gzel

-di

-niz

gzeldiniz

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 gen miydim? (Was I young?) Sen yal mydn? (Were you old?) Siz gzel
miydiniz? (Were you beautiful?)

42

Future Tense
Future Tense
Talking about future is really easy in Turkish because you wont 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

a, , o, u

-acak

e, i, ,

-ecek

Example

Meaning

Ko-

He/she/it

acak.

will run.

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.) Syle-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 . You will see the examples
in the table below:

Verb

Tense

Personal

Conjugated

Suffix

Suffix

Verb

Meaning

Ben

olmak

-acak

-m (-im)

olacam

I will be.

Sen

istemek

-ecek

-sin (-sn)

isteyeceksin

You will
want.

beklemek

N/A

bekleyecek

He/she/it

43

(y)ecek
Biz

deitirmek

-ecek

will wait.
-iz (-z)

deitireceiz

We will
make
change.

Siz

deimek

-ecek

-siniz (-

deieceksiniz

snz)
Onlar

gelmek

-ecek

-ler (-lar)

You will
change.

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 isteyeceim

Ben isteyecek miyim?

Will I want?

Sen olacaksn

Sen olacak msn?

Will you be? (sg.)

O gidecek

O gidecek mi?

Will he / she / it go?

Biz yiyeceiz

Biz yiyecek miyiz?

Will we eat?

Siz diyeceksiniz

Siz diyecek misiniz?

Will you say? (pl.)

Negation 2
Past Negative for Verbs
The conjugation formula for the negative form is shown below:
VERB ROOT + NEGATION SUFFIX + TENSE SUFFIX + PERSONAL SUFFIX

44
Since this the negation always ends with a vowel, either -e or -a, the selection of the Tense
Suffix is narrowed down to -d or -di in the negative form. Since this is very straightforward,
we will give you only a couple of examples.
Yamur yamad. (It didnt rain) Beklemedik. (We didnt wait) Yaamadm. (I didnt live)

Past Negative Copula

For the negation of the noun sentences, the word deil is used. The Tense Suffix is always
-di in this case.
NOUN / ADJECTIVE + SPACE + DEL + -D + PERSONAL SUFFIX.
For example: Ben gen deildim. (I wasnt young) Sen yal deildin. (You werent old) O
dn deildi. (It wasnt 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.

45

Examples:
Positive

Negative

Ben isteyeceim

Ben istemeyeceim

Sen olacaksn

Sen olmayacaksn

O gidecek

O gitmeyecek

Biz yiyeceiz

Biz yemeyeceiz

Siz diyeceksiniz

Siz demeyeceksiniz

46

Suggestion
Suggestions, Declaratve
Turkish once again uses a special suffix for what is called the optative. This suffix is (y)AlIm. This literally translates as lets 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)alm/-(y)elim
Here are some examples:
Infinitive

Suggestion

English

okumak

okuyalm

Let's read. We should read.

gitmek

gidelim

Let's go. We should go.

yemek

yiyelim

Let's eat. We should eat.

konumak

konualm

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

okuyalm

Okuyalm m?

Shall we read? Should we read?

gidelim

Gidelim mi?

Shall we go? Should we go?

47

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:
Kurbaa hasta. -- The frog is sick. Hasta kurbaa -- The sick frog
--BUT-Kurbaa sokakta. -- The frog is on the street. Sokakta kurbaa -- 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 kurbaa -- The frog (which is/that is) on the street iedeki su -- The water (which
is/that is) in the bottle Parktaki kadn -- 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
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.

48

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: yi 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 dn and bugn. It becomes dnk and bugnkrespectively. These mean
yesterdays and todays.

49

Reflexive Pronouns
REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS: (KEND)
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

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 yaptn? (Did you make this yourself?) Ahmet arabay kendisi srer. (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:
Trkeyi kendi kendime reniyorum. (I am learning Turkish by myself).

Gerunds
GERUNDS AND INFINITIVES: (SM FLLER)

50
This is unfortunately one of the hardest topics in Turkish: Gerunds and Infinitives.
In Turkish, each phrase has only one conjugated verb. Thats 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. -, -i, -u, - 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 youre doing]
On the other hand, after the negation suffix, there should be a tense suffix.
gel-me-di-m (I didnt 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 elenmesi (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 almamz lazm (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]
Onlarn imeleri nemli. (lit. Their drinking is important) [corr. It is important for them to drink]

51

52

Verbs: Aorist
Aorist / Simple Present Tense (Geni 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

53

Case 1
If the root of the verb ends with a vowel;
you just need to add -r to the end of the root.

Pronoun

Stem

Ben

iste

Tense

Personal

Entire

Suffix

Suffix

Sentence

-r

-im

Ben

Meaning
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

54
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

cal-

-r

alr

(She) works

unut-

-ur

unutur

(He) forgets

getir-

-ir

getirir

(It) brings

Irregularities
1.

13 single syllable verbs take the tense sign as -ir -r -r -ur. Yes, there

are only 13 irregular verbs, and only in this tense :) These verbs are:
almak, bilmek, bulmak, durmak, gelmek, grmek, kalmak, olmak, lmek,
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, -r, -ur or -rdepending on how the root of the
verb ends.
Lets take the verb gitmek (to go) as an example.

55

Root of

Tense

Pronoun

"gitmek"

Suffix

Ben

git-

-er

mi-

-y-im

gider miyim?

Sen

git-

-er

mi-

-sin

gider misin?

git-

-er

mi-

Biz

git-

-er

mi-

-y-iz

gider miyiz?

Siz

git-

-er

mi-

-siniz

gider

SPACE

Question

Personal

Conjugated

Suffix

Suffix

Verb

gider mi?

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.

56

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

yazmazsn

-z

istemez

sevmez

yazmaz

Biz

-yIz

istemeyiz

sevmeyiz

yazmayz

Siz

-zsInIz

istmezsiniz

sevmezsiniz

yazmazsnz

Onlar

-zlar

istemezler

sevmezler

yazmazlar

Pronoun

Personal Suffix for Negation

Ben

-m

deitirmem

gitmem

Sen

-zsIn

deitirmezsin

gitmezsin

-z

deitirmez

gitmez

Biz

-yIz

deitirmeyiz

gitmeyiz

Siz

-zsInIz

deitirmezsiniz

gitmezsiniz

Onlar

-zlar

deitirmezler

gitmezler

Would&Used to (-rdi)

deitirmek

gitmek

57

TALKING ABOUT OLD HABITS: (GEN ZAMANIN HKAYES)

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

58

Some examples are given in the table.

Ben

Aorist

Past

Verb

T.

T.

Personal

Conjugated

Root

Suffix

Suffix

Suffix

Form

Meaning

oku-

-r

-du

okurdum

I used to

-m

read.
Sen

ye-

-r

-di

-n

yerdin

You
used to
eat.

i-

-er

-di

N/A

ierdi

He /
she / it
used to
drink

Biz

yap-

-ar

-d

-k

yapardk

We used
to do.

Siz

sev-

-er

-di

-(n)z

severdiniz

You
used to
love.

Onlar*

ol-

-ur

-du

-lar

olurdular /

They

olurlard

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:
Verb

Negation

Aorist

Past

Personal

Conjugated

Root

Suffix

Suffix

T.

Suffix

Form

59

Suffix
Ben

ol-

-ma

-z

-d

-m

olmazdnz

Sen

oku-

-ma

-z

-d

-n

okumazdnz

ye-

-me

-z

-di

N/A

yemezdi

Biz

i-

-me

-z

-di

-k

imezdik

Siz

yap-

-ma

-z

-d

-(n)z

yapmazdnz

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

Ben

Verb

Aorist

Question

T.

Personal

Conjugated

Root

Suffix

Suffix

Suffix

Suffix

Form

sev-

-er

mi-

-(y)di

-m

sever
miydim?

Sen

ol-

-ur

mu-

-(y)du

-n

olur
muydun?

oku-

-r

mu-

-(y)du

N/A

okur
muydu?

Biz

ye-

-r

mi-

-(y)di

-k

yer miydik?

Siz

i-

-er

mi-

-(y)di

-(n)z

ier
miydiniz?

Onlar*

yap-

-ar

m-

-(y)d

-lar

sevmezdiler
/
sevmezlerdi

Please note that, in case of Onlar the structure is a little bit inverted.

60

61

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 yapacam.

(cooking is at the same time with sleeping)

I'll cook when you sleep: Sen uyuyunca ben yemek yapacam.
(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: ocukken ikolata yerdim.

62

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.

Alamak

Alayabiliriz

We can cry.

Grmek

Grebilirsiniz

You can see.

Dayanmak

Dayanabilir

He/She/It can endure.

Cant
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.

Alamak

Alayamayz

We can't cry.

Grmek

Gremezsiniz

You can't see.

Dayanmak

Dayanamaz

He/She/It can't endure.

Must/Should/Have to
Meli/Mal

63
In Turkish there is one suffix that means all of the the above words. This is -mAlI. It obeys 2way and 4-way vowel harmony, as expected. It will only ever have two forms -mal and -meli.
This suffix attaches to verb roots and is followed by the personal endings. The negatve
suffix may also be added before the personal endings. Here are some examples:
Turkish Infinitive

Can

English

olmak

Olmalym.

I must/have to/should be.

devam etmek

Devam etmemeliyiz.

We must/should not continue.

katlmak

Katlmal.

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 deil. If negated, personal endings
attach to deil and not zorunda. Here are some examples:
Turkish Infinitive

with zorunda

English

gtrmek

Gtrmek zorundasn.

You must/have to take.

dans etmek

Dans etmek zorunda deilim.

I do not have to dance.

komak

Komak zorundayz.

We must/have to run.

Keep in mind: in the negative, this has the meaning does not have to.

64

Narrative past -mi

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 + -mI + personal endings. It has 4-way
vowel harmony.
Here are some examples:
Turkish

Reported Past

Infinitive

Tense

English

yapmak

yapmm

I did.

zlemek

zlemisin

You missed.

bymek

bym

He/She/It grew.

bilmek

biliyormu

He/She/It knows. (with

uncertainty)

vurmak

vurmuuz

We hit/shot

silmek

silmisiniz

You wiped/deleted

65

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
eer. 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

yapyorsan

if you were doing/making

geliyorsanz

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

geleceksen

if you (will) come

5). ###Past Reality###

66

Turkish

English

yaptysak

if we did/made

geldeyseniz

if you came

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

English

yapsaydk

if only we had done/made

gelseydin

if only you had come

67

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

yazdm kitap

The book (that) I wrote/am writing/write

pir

piirdiiniz yemek

The food (that) you cooked/are

cooking/cook

git

gittii 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

Yazdm kitab okudun mu?

Did you read the book that I wrote?

Piirdiiniz yemei

We will eat the food that you made.

yiyeceiz.

68

Gittii restoran hi gzel

The restaurant that she went to was not good

deildi.

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) geldiini duymadm.

I did not hear (that) you came.

Selcen (benim) yazdm sevmemi

Selcen did not like what I wrote/am

writing.

(Ben) (sizin) sinemaya gittiinizi

I think that you went/are going to the

dnyorum.

cinema.

Seni grdm iin 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

Gne doduunda gitmeliyiz.

We must leave when the sun rises.

ok yemek yediimden tokum.

I am full because I ate a lot.

Passive
Passive Voice

69
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 4way vowel harmony. Here are some examples:
Infinitive

Passive Infinitive

English

yapmak

yaplmak

to be made

vermek

verilmek

to be given

dnmek

dnlmek

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

sylemek

sylenmek

to be said

When (-ince)

70
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 yapacam.

(cooking is at the same time with sleeping)

I'll cook when you sleep: Sen uyuyunca ben yemek yapacam.
(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: ocukken ikolata yerdim.

71

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 bete parkaya giden

The man (who is) going to the park at five

adam

o'clock

Kitab yazan kadn

The woman (who is) writing the book

Yeni evrilen kitap

The book which/that was recently translated

"Bir vurmakla aa devrilmez."