Turkish Language - Wide Tense Negative

Tense
Habitual SituationsNegative Form - Timless TenseSome Examples
of The Simple Present NegativeThe Negative Interrogative
FormSome examplesSaying - "didn't used to"Question- "didn't you
used to?"Proverbs - "Ataszler"

Habitual Situations
The negative of the Simple Present tense translates as:
I don't go to work on Saturdays.
He doesn't like ice cream.
We don't keep a pet.
They never take a holiday.
We'll not see each other for some time.
The simple present tense is used in situations in both the present
and the future that are untimed.

Negative Form - Timless Tense

The Negative Wide Tense tense sign is -mez but it has become
abraded to -me in the first person singular and plural (no doubt
for reasons of daily usage) - So we must accept this as an
irregularity (or intrinsic historical variability of Turkish.)
Let us take the word - gelmek - to come
First of all we must understand that the that the Verbal Negative
Infinitive is - gelmemek - to not come - on which most of the
negative tenses are based. However the Negative Wide Tense
Infinitive is - gelmez - not to come, does not come. This is
based on this infinitive ending with the sign -mez.
The negative tense sign is -z which is added to the negative verb
stem -as an example:
gitmemek - not to go, does not go - then adding -z to the verb
stem after dropping -mek we arrive at: gitmez - not to go, does
not go - to which the personal endings are added:

Some Examples of The Simple Present

Negative
The Wide Tense Negative Infinitive - gitmez - not to go - Note the
changes in First Persons Plural and Singular

gitmem - I don't go - [NOT gitmezim]

gitmezsin - you don't go
gitmez - he doesn't go
gitmeyiz - we don't go - [NOT gitmeziz]
gitmezsiniz - you don't go
gitmezler - they don't go
Note that the first persons gitmem - I and gitmeyiz - We drop
the -z when adding the personal endings to the negative verb
stem, all other persons preserve the -z
tanmamak - not to know somebody
Beni tanmazsnz - You don't know me
Beni tanmaz msnz? - Don't you know me?
imemek - not to drink
O bira imez - He doesn't drink beer [generally?]
Mehmet, bira imez mi? - Doesn't Mehmet drink beer?
- [usually?]
If you were to use Accusative Case - biray - in the example
above , the object becomes a definite object, but here we are
talking about generally the drinking of beer.
O biray imez. - He doesn't drink the beer.
Mehmet biray imez mi? - Doesn't Mehmet drink the
(or that) beer?
konumamak - not to talk
Onun hakknda konumayz - We don't talk about it
giymemek - not to wear
Genellikle bir apka giymez misiniz? - Don't you
generally wear a hat?
seyretmemek - not to watch
Televizyonu seyretmezler - They don't watch the
television [in particular]

 Televizyon seyretmezler - They don't watch television

[generally]
See note above for Definite and Indefinite Objects.
Thanks to Bahaddin Cankurt for his corrections - JG - March 2006

The Negative Interrogative Form

The interrogative is formed by adding the personalized
question particles after the verb stem ending in -z. They
are written separately, but follow vowel harmony rules.
not to
bakmaz
bakmamak
don't I look?
look
mym?/bakmam m?
not to
don't you
kalmamak
kalmaz msn?
stay
stay?
not to
doesn't he
bitirmemek
bitirmez mi?
finish
finish?
not to
don't we
yazmamak
yazmaz myz?
write
write?
not to
don't you
komamak
Komaz msnz?
run
run?
not to
don,t they
yrmemek
Yrmezler mi?
walk
walk?

Some examples
Her gn saat bete seni grmez miyim? - Don't I see you
every day at five o'clock?
Londra'da oturmaz msnz? - Don't you live in London?
Ali bey bir bankada almaz mi? - Doesn't Ali Bey work in a
bank?
Hepimiz bir parti sevmez miyiz? - Don't we all love a party?

Saying - "didn't used to"

If the past tense endings are added to the Wide Tense negative
-mez verb stem then the meaning is habitual in the past. This
translated by - didn't used to ... - in English. However in Turkish
the Simple Present Tense is used with the past tense personal
endings habitual in the past :
Sk sk buraya gelmezdim. - I didn't used to come here very
often

Gen iken o kadar glmezdin - You didn't used to laugh

very much when you were young.
Kuadada kalrken denizde yzmezdi - He never used to
swim in the sea when staying at Kuadas.
1950 ylndan nce (1950'den nce) Trkiye'de kola
iilmezdi. - Coca-cola did not used to be drunk in Turkey
before 1950.
Derslerimiz bittikten sonra yerterli zaman iin beni
beklemezdiniz - You didn't used to wait long enough for me
after school finished.
Tatilde kamp yaparken o kadar iyi uyumazdlar - They
didn't used to sleep very well while on holiday while
camping.

Question- "didn't you used to?"

Gitmez miydim? - Didn't I used to go?
Hatice'yi sevmez miydin? - Didn't you used to love Hatice?
Ummaz myd? - Didn't he used to hope?
Amaz mydk? - Didn't we used to open
Kazmaz mydnz? - Didn't you used to dig?
Soan satmaz mydlar? - Didn't they used to sell onions?
[note that Soan is not in the direct object case nor is it plural in
Turkish, but it is a non-specific object of the family of "onion". In
Turkish "things is" and "people are"]
kmaz mydlar? - Didn't they used to go out?
Her gn seni grmez miydim? - Didn't I used to see you
every day?
Bkmaz mydk? - Didn't we used to get fed up?
Londra'da oturmaz mydn? - Didn't you used to live in
London?
[Note that oturmak means - to sit (down) - or - to live (at a
place)
Ali stanbul'da oturur - Ali lives in Istanbul.]
Ben, mavi sandalyede oturuyorum - I am sitting in the blue
chair.
Atlara binmez miydiniz? - Didn't you used to ride horses?
Note that binmek - to get on, to ride, to board - takes the
Dative Object -e or -a as "movement towards" is implied in the
verb - binmek

A final note on "used to" and "didn't used to"

In conversational Turkish the Past Imperfect Tense will often be
used:
Yllar nce Manisa'da alyordum - Many years ago I was
working in Manisa

Proverbs - "Ataszler"
Turkish Proverbs are usually written in the Wide Tense habitual
tense. Here are some examples in the negative form of the
timeless tense. These translations are not literal showing the
difficulty of such interpretation from Turkish to English.
Bo uval ayakta durmaz.
An empty sack does stand up.
Emek ver, kulak ver, bilgi ver, ama hibir zaman bo verme. [only the final - verme - is negative]
Give labour, ear and knowledge, but never give take notice.
Mum dibine k vermez.
The bottom of a candle sheds no light.
Havlayan kpek srmaz.
A barking dog does not bite.
Kk suda byk balk olmaz.
There are no big fish in small pools.
Yuvarlanan ta yosun tutmaz.
A rolling stone gathers no moss.