CHAPTER 1

TURKE
A. Basic Information
At first, the Turkish language can seem very hard to get a grasp on due to its many
differences to the English language. However, you will soon realise that due to the
rules of grammar never changing it is actually quite easy once you get the hang of it!
There are 4 points that you need to know about the Turkish language:
1.

Word Order
Perhaps the hardest thing to learn is word order, as it is almost the direct
opposite of English. For example, in English we would say 'I am going to the
shop with my friend'.
In Turkish we would say 'With my friend to the shop I am going'. See how it's
the opposite way around?
The basic rule for word order in Turkish is generally subject + object +

verb , for example;

The cat wanted food = kedi (the cat) yemek (food) istedi (wanted).
2.

Gender
Another difference between English and Turkish is that there is no gender;
he/she/it are all counted as the same, which can be quite confusing sometimes!
'He', 'She' and 'It' are all the same word in Turkish - ' O'. So the sentence 'O
gidiyor' can mean either 'It is going' or 'He is going' depending on the context.

3.

Suffixes
Unlike English, suffixes are used for almost everything in Turkish. By adding
a suffix onto the root word you can completely change the meaning of the word.
Words such as 'my, from, to, with, in, before' and many more are all added to the
root word rather than being a seperate word on their own. For example - 'from

my house' - 'evimden'.

4.

Vowel Harmony

The last point to explain here is vowel harmony. Vowel harmony means that
when a suffix is added, its vowels will sometimes change depending on what the
last vowel of the root word was. This makes it easy to pronounce. This is quite a
hard topic to get your head around at first so click on vowel harmony for more
detail.

Days, Months and Seasons

Numbers

Personal Pronouns

Personal Pronouns are words put before a verb to show the person or thing who is doing
the act. For example, in the sentence 'I went to the beach', the personal pronoun would be 'I'.
In the sentence 'His bike', the personal pronoun would be 'His'.
Personal pronouns are not used as widely in Turkish as they are in English, and can be
left out altogether. This is because personal endings are put on the end of a verb showing who
the subject is, therefore there is not always a need to add a personal pronoun.
For example, 'I went home' in Turkish is 'Ben eve gittim'. Both the parts in blue show
who the subject is, meaning we can remove one and still know, making the sentence 'Eve
gittim'. Likewise, 'My cat' is 'Benim kedim', and can be shortened to simply 'kedim'. This is
why the personal pronouns are not always used.
The main reason for using personal pronouns is for emphasisim, for example 'Benim
kedim', (emphasising the fact its yours. not someone elses).
Here are some personal pronouns;
Ben - I
Sen - You
(singular/familiar)
O - He/she/it
Biz - We
Siz - You (plural/polite)
Onlar - They
Beni - Me
Seni - You
(singular/familiar)
Onu - Him/her/it
Bizi - Us
Sizi - You (plural/polite)
Onlar - Them
Benim - My
Senin - Your
(singular/familiar)

Onun - His/her/its
Bizim - Our
Sizin - Your
(plural/polite)
Onlarn - Their
Bana - To me
Sana - To you
(singular/familiar)
Ona - To him/her/it
Bize - To us
Size - To you
Onlara - To them
Bende - In me
Sende - In you
(singular/familiar)
Onda - In him/her/it
Bizde - In us

Plurals

Sizde - In you
(plural/polite)
Onlarda - In them
Benden - From me
Senden - From you
(singular/familiar)
Ondan - From him/her/it
Bizden - From us
Sizden - From you
(plural/polite)
Onlardan - From them
Kendim - Myself
Kendin - Yourself
(singular/familiar)
Kendi - Himself/herself/

To make the plural of a word, simply add either '-ler' or '-lar' as a suffix depending on vowel
harmony.
If the last vowel in the word is e/i// add -ler
If the last vowel in the word is a//o/u add -lar
Examples
Car -Araba
Cars - Arabalar

Book - Kitap
Books - Kitaplar

Boy - Erkek
Boys - Erkekler

Thing - ey
Things - eyler

Telling The Time

To ask 'what is the time?' in Turkish, we must say 'saat ka?'.
It is 2 o'clock - saat iki
It is 5 o'clock - saat be
It is 11 o'clock - saat on bir
Past the hour
To tell the time past the hour, the hour comes first followed by either -(y)i//u/ depending on
vowel harmony. (The -(y) is only added if the last letter is a vowel). Then add the minutes,
then 'geiyor'.
To say 'quarter past...', simply put 'eyrek' (quarter) where the minutes would go.
The formula for telling the time 'past the hour' therefore is;
saat + hour + -(y)i + minute + geiyor
examples
saat bei on geiyor (10 past 5)
saat yirmi be geiyor (25 past 3)
saat on ikiyi eyrek geiyor (quarter past 12)
To the hour
To tell the time to the hour, the hour comes first followed by either '-(y)e/a' depending on
vowel harmony. (The -(y) is only added if the last letter is a vowel again). Then add the
minutes, then 'var'.
Once again, to say 'quarter to', put 'eyrek' (quarter) where the minutes would go.
The formula for telling to time 'to the hour' therefore is;

saat + -(y)e/a + minute + var

examples
saat + hour + -e/a + minute + var
saat yediye yirmi var (20 to 7)
saat on bire be var (5 to 11)
saat dokuza eyrek var (quarter to 9)
Half past
To say 'half past....' add 'buuk' after the hour.
examples
half past 4 - drt buuk
half past 10 - on buuk
half past 12 - yarm (simply meaning 'half', this is used for 'half past 12')
To say 'at' a certain time such as 'at half 8', the same formulas are used but with a different
ending.
The formula for 'at...past...' is;
hour + -(y)i + minute +gee
examples
alt on gee = at 10 past 6
ikiyi eyrek gee = at quarter past 2

The formula for 'at....to...' is;

hour +-(y)a/e +minute + kala
examples
dokuza be kala = at 5 to 9
sekize eyrek kala = at quarter to 8
at 8 o'clock = sekizde
at half 4 = drt buukta

Turkish Alphabet

The Turkish alphabet contains 29 letters, 8 of which are vowels and 21 of which are
consonants.
Here is the alphabet, with the vowels in red and the consonants in black;

abcdefghijklmnoprstuvyz

Pronounciation
Turkish is generally quite easy to pronounce, mainly because unlike English, words are said
just as they are written and every letter (with the exception of - '') are pronounced. The
unfamiliar letters are pronounced as follows:
- 'ch' (as in 'church')

- 'uh' (as in but)

c - 'j' (as in jealous)

- 'er' (as in burn)

- silent but lengthens the vowel before

- 'sh' (as it shut)

- 'ooh' (as in few)

Examples :
eker (sugar) is pronounced 'she-ker'

kadn (woman) is pronounced 'ka-duhn'

gz (eye) is pronounced 'gurz'

utanga (shy) is pronounced 'utan-gach'

almak (to work) is pronounced 'chalush-mak'

cuma (friday) is pronounced 'juma'

souk (cold) is pronounced 'so-ook'

Useful Phrases

B. Other Grammar

Asking Questions
To turn this tense into a question, such as 'Am I English?' or 'Are you alright?' we must add
the question marker '-mi?' after the adverb, then add the personal suffix after that.
Examples
'Am i happy? = 'Mutlu muyum?'
'Are you tired?' = 'Yorgun musun?'
'Is he alright?' = 'yi mi?'
'Are we here?' = 'Burada myz?'
'Are you happy?' = 'Mutlu musunuz?'
'Are they Turkish?' = 'Trkler mi?'
('They' is the exception as the marker always comes last).
With questions in the past tense, simply add 'mi....' to the adverb, then add the personal suffix.
Examples
'Were you tired?' = 'Yorgun muydun?'
'Were they alright?' = 'yi miydiler?'
etc

'Can.../Can't...'

Yet again, a suffix is used to express this tense in Turkish. This suffix depends on vowel harmony just
like the others.
If the last letter in a verb is;

e/i// - the suffix is '-(y)ebilir'

a//o/u - the suffix is '-(y)abilir'

The (y) is only used if the last letter in the verb is a vowel.

The only letter in the suffix which changes with vowel harmony is the 'e/a', '-bilir' will always stay
the same.

Examples
gidebilir - it can go
yapabilir - it can do
yryebilir - it can walk
anlayabilir - it can understand
To make these into personal sentences, for example 'I can go', or 'You can stay', we must then add a
personal suffix. These are the same as the 'To Be' personal suffixes;

'I can...' - '...ebilirim'

'You can...' (singular/familiar) - '....ebilirsin'
'He/She/It can...' - '...ebilir'
'We can...' - '...ebiliriz'
'You can...'(plural/polite) - '...ebilirsiniz'
'They can...' - '...ebilirler'

Examples
I can go - gidebilirim
You can stay - kalabilirsin

It can be - olabilir
We can play - oynayabiliriz
You can write - yazabilirsiniz
They can walk - yryebilirler

'Can't...'
To say 'I can't...' in Turkish, we add a different suffix to the verb.
The suffix is;

e/i// - the suffix is '-(y)eme'

a//o/u - the suffix is '-(y)ama'

Again, the (y) is only used if the last letter in the verb is a vowel.

Then we must add the personal endings.

With the exception of 'I' and 'We', the personal endings all begin with '-(y)emez'/'-(y)amaz' and then
have the same personal endings as the 'To Be' tense.

'You can't...' (singular/familiar) - '...(y)emezsin' or '...(y)amazsn'

'He/She/It can't...' - '...(y)emez' or '...(y)amaz'
'You can't...' (plural/polite) - '...(y)emezsiniz' or '...(y)amazsnz'
'They can't...' - '...(y)emezler' or '...(y)amazlar'

'I can't...' - '...(y)emem' or '...(y)amam'

'We can't...'- '...(y)emeyiz' or '...(y)amayz'

Examples
I can't go - gelemem
You can't stay - kalamazsn
It can't give - veremez
We can't walk - yryemeyiz
You can't say - soyleyemezsiniz
They can't do - yapamazlar

Consonant Changes
When a suffix starting with a vowel is added to a root word that ends in some certain letters,
the last letter of the root word must change into a different letter to keep the pronounciation
smooth.
These letters are:

Examples
For these examples we will use the '-(i)m' (my....) suffix.
The '-(i//u/)' is only used if the last letter is a consonant, otherwise just 'm' is added.

Bed - Yatak
My bed - Yatam
Cupboard - dolap
My cupbard - dolabm
Plug - tka

My plug - Tkacm
Dog - Kpek
My dog - Kpeim
Wolf - Kurt
My wolf - Kurdum
In some cases, the last letter of a root word can change the first letter of an added suffix. The
letters which can change this are;

K/p//f /t/h/b/s/
When a suffix beginning with 'd' is added to one of these above letters, the first letter of the
suffix changes from 'd' to 't'. This occurs in suffixes such as '-den/-dan' (from) and '-de/-da'
(in/at/on).

If you have trouble remembering these consonants, try and remember this phrase -

Charlie Found He Kould Put Strong Sheds Together

(Many thanks to Neil Avery for this!)

Examples
Bed - Yatak
From the bed - Yataktan
Dog - Kpek
On the dog - Kpekta

'If....'
A suffix is added on to a verb to express the English word 'If'. The suffix is;

'-se / sa'
(see vowel harmony to know which to use)
The word 'eser' is sometimes used at the start of a conditional sentence and simply means 'if',
but this doesn't have to be used as the suffix will show it is a conditional sentence.
The formula to make this tense is;

verb + -se/sa + personal ending

It takes the same personal endings as the past tense which are;

examples (verb + -se/sa + personal ending)

gel + se + m = if i come
oku + sa + n = if you come
bil + se = if he knows
git + se + k = if we go
anla + sa + nz = if you understand
oku + sa + lar = if they read
This can also be used with the present continuous tense

Examples (verb + present continuous + -se/sa + personal)

gel + iyor + sa + n = geliyorsan = if you are coming
oku + yor + sa + m = okuyorsam = if i am reading
gel + mi + yor + sa + n = gelmiyorsan = if you are not coming
etc

It can also be used with 'var' and 'yok';

'varsa' = 'if there is....'
'yoksa' = 'if there isn't'

examples
araba varsan = if there is a car
para yoksa = if there is no money

The conditional tense can also be used with the 'to be' tense. It uses the same personal
endings but if placed after a vowel, you must change it into 'yse/ysa'.

examples
hastaysam = if i am ill
yorgunsan = if you are tired
mutluysak = if we are happy
iyi deilsen = if you are not alright

'Let's...'
To say 'Let's....', two suffixes need to be added onto the verb base.

1) The first suffix is '-(y)e/a-' (the 'y' is only used if the last letter is a vowel)
2) The second suffix is the personal ending.

= -(y)e/a- +

* For he/she/it, there are two choices.

Either;
The first suffix '-(y)e/a' is used and no personal ending e.g gel-e (let him go)

or
The first suffix is left out and just the personal ending is used e.g gel-sin (let him go)
** 'They' is similar; either gel-e-ler or gel-sinler is used.

examples
Let me come - gel-e-yim
Let me take - al-a-ym
Let you come - gel-e-sin
Let him come - gel-e or gel-sin
Let's come- gel-e-lim
Let you come - gel-siniz
Let them come - gel-sinler or gel-e-ler
This suffix can be used for a number of meanings. The most common meaning is 'let's...' or 'let me....'.

However it can also be used with questions to mean 'shall i....'. To make a question out of it, simply
add the question marker -'mi' and change accordingly with vowel harmony.

examples
shall i come = gel-e-yim mi?
shall we wait = bekle-ye-lim mi?
etc

Possession
In Turkish, possession is shown by adding a suffix onto the noun. Possissive adjectives before the
noun can also be used, but are mostly used for special emphasis. However, it is very important that
these are learnt because it can make learning the suffixes easier.

These adjectives are :

Benim - My
Senin - Your (familiar or singular)
Onun - His/her/Its
Bizim - Our
Sizin - Your (formal or plural)
Onlarn - Their

Suffixes
Following vowel harmony, the suffixes change depending on what the last vowel was. This table
shows which suffix should be used for which vowels, for example if the noun is 'el' (hand), the last
vowel is an 'e' and therefore 'my hand' would be 'elim'.

The letters in brackets are only used if the last letter is a consonant, apart from 'onun-his/her/its' where
the 's' is used if the last letter is a vowel.

Examples
Look at the table and see if you can work out how these suffixes fit with the nouns.
My car - (Benim) arabam
Your house - (Senin) evin
His garden - (Onun) bahesi
Our friend - (Bizim) arkadamz
Your mother - (Sizin) anneniz

Their cat - (Onlarn) kedileri

For some words, adding a suffix starting with a vowel changes the last consonant of a noun. These
letters that change are k-g, p-b, and -c. So, for the word 'kpek' (dog), 'My dog' would become
'Benim kpeim'. For the word 'Dolap' (cupboard), 'Your cupboard' would become 'Senin dolabn'.

Suffixes
Suffixes are used very widely in the Turkish language and are often added on to words where
in the equivalent English language they would be a seperate word.
In most suffixes the rules of vowel harmony apply and therefore the vowels in it might have
to change (e.g '-ler/lar' - choose '-ler' if the last vowel in the base words is either 'e/i//' and 'lar' of the last vowel is either 'a//u/o'.

If the suffix contains a (y) or (n), it is only used if the last letter is a vowel.
If the suffix contains a (i), it is only used if the last letter is a consonant.

Here are some of the most common suffixes;

'-ler/lar' = 's' (kediler = cats)
'-de/da' = 'in/at/on' (evde = in the house, evlerde = to the houses)
'-den/dan' = 'from' (evden = from the house)
'-(y)e/a' = 'to' (eve = to the house)

'-siz/sz/suz/sz' = 'without...' (stsz = without milk)

'-li/l/lu/l)' = 'with/containing...' (ekerli = with sugar)
'-le/la' = 'with...' (annemle = with my mum)
'-(n)in/n/un/n' = 's/of (annemin evi = my mums house)

'-(i//u/)m' = 'my' (kedim = my cat)

'-(i//u/)yorum' = 'i am....ing' (gidiyorum = i am going)
'-(i//u/)yordum' = 'i was....ing' (gidiyordum = i was going)

'-(y)im/m/um/m' = 'i am..' (mutluyum = i am happy)

'-(y)dim/dm/dum/dm' = 'i was...' (i was happy = mutluydum)
'-(y)eceim/acam' = 'i will...' (i will go = gideceim)
'-meyeceim/mayacam' = 'i will not...' (i will not go = gitmeyeceim)
'-mem' = 'i don't' (i don't go = gitmem)
'-emem' = 'i can't' (i can't go = gidemem)
'-(y)ebilirim = 'i can' (i can go = gidebilirim)
'-miim/m m/muum/mm' = 'apparently i..' (apparently i went = gitmiim)
'-(y)elim = let's...' (let's go = gidelim)
'-sem' = 'if i...' (if i go = gitsem)

'-den/dan beri' = 'since' (iten beri = since work)

'-dikten sonra' = 'after...ing' (geldikten sonra = after coming)
'-den/dan sonra' = 'after' (iten sonra = after work)
'-den/dan nce' = 'before' (iten nce = before work)
'-meden/madan' = 'without' (gelmeden = without coming)
'-(y)erek/arak' = 'by...ing' (yryerek = by walking)
'-ince/nc/uncu/nc' = 'on...ing' (gidince = on going)
'-ken' = 'whilst...ing'

'-meyi/may' = 'to....' (yzmeyi seviyorum = i love to swim)

'-meye/maya' = 'to....' (yazmaya baladm = i started to write)
'-(y)e/a ihtiya var' = i need...
'-meli/mal' = must (gelmeliyim = i must go)
'-en/an' = 'the one who/...who...' (giden = the one who goes)
'-dii' = '....which...' (sevdii adam = the man which she loves)

Other suffixes
'-dii gibi' = just as/like
'-dii halde' = although
'-dii iin' = due to/because
'-dii kadar' = as far as
'-dii zaman' = when
'-diinde' = when
'-diinden baka' = apart from
'-(y)e/a gre' = according to
'-mektense/maktansa' = 'rather than'

'-in altnda' = under

'-in nnda' = in front of
-'in arkasnda' = behind
'-in yaninda' = beside

'There is../There isn't..'

'There is...'
- To say 'there is....', or to say that something exists we use the word ' var' after the word.

'There isn't...'
- To say 'there is....' or to say that something doesn't exist we use the word ' yok' after the word.

examples
araba var = there is a car
odada bir masa var = there is a table in the room
kedi yok = there isn't a cat

masada bir kitap yok = there isn't a book on the table

We can also use the words 'var' and 'yok' to show that we have something. We do this by adding the
word after a possessive sentence.

The literal translation into English of this would be 'my ...... exists' or 'my ...... doesn't exist'.

examples
kedi = cat
kedim = my cat
benim kedim var = i have a cat (my cat exists)
senin evin var = you have a house
onun araba yok = he doesn't have a car

'There was../There wasn't..'

To say 'there was.....' or 'there wasn't.....', we must use 'var' or 'yok' in the past tense by adding the past
suffix '-di'. This will then change to vowel harmony to become;

'vard' and 'yoktu'

examples
araba vard = there was a car
araba yoktu = there wasn't a car

Questions with Var/Yok

To ask a question, for example 'is there a car?', we must add the question marker.
'.....var m?' = 'is there......?'
'.......yok mu?' = 'isn't there.......?'

examples
is there a car? = araba var m?

is there not a car? = araba yok mu?

bahede kedi var m? = is there a cat in the garden?
senin kedin var m? = do you have a cat?
onun kalemi yok mu? = doesn't he have a pen?

Turkish Slang
When learning another language it's important to make sure you learn at least a little bit of
slang, otherwise you won't have a clue what some people are talking about!
Here is a list of some Turkish slang and the English translation;

MSN / Text Turkish Slang!

If you talk to Turkish people on MSN or other messenger services, these might come in
handy!

C. Tenses

Future Tense
suffix to say 'I will...' is 'Ben ...(y)eceim'
Just like with the present tense and the future tense, the ending will change according to vowel
harmony.

If the last vowel in the verb is e/i//, then the suffix will be '-(y)eceim'
If the last vowel in the verb is a//o/u, then the suffix will be '(y)acam'

(the 'y' in the bracket is only used if the last letter in the verb is a vowel.)
(to emphasise the sentence, eg 'I will go, you will not', add the personal pronoun before the verb eg
'ben gideim, sen gitmeyeceksin')

Personal endings
I will... = '...(y)eceim' or '...(y)acam'
You will...(singular/familiar) = '...(y)eceksin' or '...(y)acaksn'
He/She/It will... = '...(y)ecek' or '...(y)acak'
We will... = '(y)eceiz' or '...(y)acaz'
You will...(plural/polite) = '...(y)eceksiniz' or '...(y)acaksnz'
They will... = '...(y)ecekler' or '...(y)acaklar'

Examples
Come - Gel
I will come - Geleceim
Be - Ol
You will be - Olacaksn
Drink -
He will drink - ecek
Want - ste

We will want - steyeceiz

Walk - Yr
You will walk - Yryeceksiniz
Jump - Atla
They will jump - Atlayacaklar

Future negative tense

To make the future negative tense, simply add '-me/ma' after the verb then add the appropriate
personal ending.

Examples
I will not come - Gel - me - yeceim
You will not jump - Atla - ma - yacaksn
etc

Asking questions in the future tense

We add the question marker '-mi' (or 'm/m/mu) after the future suffix to make a sentence into a
question.
To ask a positive question in the future tense, you must follow this formula;

verb + future suffix + mi +personal ending

Examples
Gel + ecek + mi + yim = Gelecek miyim? = Will I come?
Otur + acak + m + sn = Oturacak msn? = Will you sit?
+ ecek + mi = ecek mi? = will he drink?
Gel + me + yecek misin? = Will you not come?
etc
(to say 'will they...?', the question marker '-mi' always comes at the end of the sentence after the
personal ending
Example
Gel-ecek-ler mi? = Will they come?

Past Continuous Tense

The past continuous tense is the equivalent of 'I was....ing' in English. It describes an action
that was taking place in the past.

To form this tense add the following suffix onto a verb;

'-iyordum' - 'I was...'
eg 'I was coming' - 'Gel-iyordum'
Following the same pattern as the present continuous tense we must change parts of the
ending according to vowel harmony.

If the last vowel in the verb is;

e/i - the suffix will stay '-iyordum'
a/ - the suffix will become '-yordum'
o/u - the suffix will become '-uyordum'
/ - the suffix will become '-yordum'

Personal endings
'-iyordum' - 'I was.....'
'-iyordun' - 'You were....'(singular/familiar)
'-iyordu' - 'He/she/it was.....'
'-iyorduk' - 'We were.....''
'-iyordunuz' - 'You were......(plural/polite)
'-iyorlard' - 'They were.......'

examples
'I was going' = 'Gidiyordum'
'You were staying' = 'Kalyordun'
'He was looking' = 'Bakyordu'

'We were coming' = 'Geliyorduk'

'You were going' = 'Gidiyordunuz'
'They were looking' = 'Bakyorlardi'

Negative tense
To turn this tense negative, eg 'they were not looking', we must add the negative marker
'-me/ma' and change the 'e' to 'i' or the 'a' to ''.

Follow this formula;

verb + negative (mi/m) + past continuous + personal

Bak + m + yordu + m = 'I was not looking'
Git + mi + yordu + n = 'You were not looking'
etc

Present Continuous Tense

The present continuous tense in English would be 'I am.....ing'. To form this tense, you must
add the present progressive suffix '-(i)yorum' to the verb and then add the appropriate ending
depending on vowel harmony.

There are 4 different endings that can be used;

if the last vowel in the verb is e/i - the suffix will be - '-iyorum'
a/ - the suffix will be - '-iyorum'
o/u - the suffix will be - '-uyorum'

/ - the suffix will be - '-yorum'

If the last letter in the verb is already either 'i//u/', just add '-yorum'. If the last letter in the
verb is either 'e/a/o/', change it to 'i//u/' depending on vowel harmony.

For example; 'yemek' = 'to eat'. 'I am eating' = 'yiyorum'.

'okumak' = 'to read'. 'I am reading' = 'okuyorum'.

Personal suffixes for the present progressive tense

-iyorum = i am ...ing
-iyorsun = you are ...ing (singular/familiar)
-iyor = he/she/it is ...ing
-iyoruz = we are ...ing
-iyorsunuz = you are ...ing (plural/polite)
-iyorlar = they are ...ing

Examples
To come = Gelmek
I am coming = Geliyorum
You are coming = Geliyorsun
He is coming = Geliyor
We are coming = Geliyoruz
You are coming = Geliyorsunuz

They are coming = Geliyorlar

Using other words with their suffixes, we can now make sentences.

I am walking to my house = Ev-im-e yryorum

I am coming from the bank = Banka-dan geliyorum
You are staying at my house = Ev-im-de kalyorsun
What are you doing? - Ne yapyorsun?
Where is he going? - Nereye gidiyor?
Why are they coming? - Niye geliyorlar?

Negative present progressive tense

To turn a verb into the present progressive tense, for example 'I am not going', simply add the
negative suffix '-me/ma- after the verb. Then you must change it according to vowel harmony
so that it becomes either -mi/m/mu/m-, then add the appropriate ending.
Examples
I am not coming - Gelmiyorum
You are not staying - Kalmyorsun
He/she/it is not thinking - Dnmyor
They are not asking - Sormuyorlar
etc

Asking questions in the present progressive tense

Examples
Am I staying? - Kalyor muyum?
Are you coming? - Geliyor musun?
Is he/she/it going? - Gidiyor mu?
Are we learning? - reniyor muyum?
Are you walking? - Yryor musunuz?
Are they thinking? - Dnyorlar m?
(for 'they', the question marker always comes at the end after the personal suffix).

Negative questions follow the same formula;

Are you not staying? - kalm yor musun?
Is he not coming? - gelmiyor mu?
etc

Simple Past Tense

The past tense in Turkish is used in exactly the same way as the past tense in English, which is to
express actions done, such as 'I went' and 'I saw'. The suffix used to create this tense is

'-di'
To create a sentence in the simple past tense, follow these rules;

1) Take a verb, such as 'kalmak' - 'to stay' or 'gelmek' - 'to come', and remove the 'mek/mak' leaving
just the verb base.
Example -' Kalmak' To stay', 'Kal' - 'Stay'

2) After the verb, add the past simple suffix '-di'. This will change according to vowel harmony,
becoming either;

-di / -d / -d / -du
(If the last letter in the verb is either k/p//t then the 'd' will become 't' eg ' -ti'/'-tu' etc due to
consonant changes)

examples
Ye = Eat, Yedi = Ate
Kal = Stay, Kaldi = Stayed
Gr = See, Grd = Saw
git = go, gitti = went

3) After adding the past simple suffix, we must then add the personal ending so we know who the
person doing the act was. The personal endings are;

examples
i came = gel-di-m
you saw = gr-d-n
she looked = bak-t
we went = git-ti-k
you put = koy-du-nuz
they stayed - kal-d-lar
Click here to test your Turkish for 'simple past tense' with questions and answers.

Negative Simple Past Tense

To make the past tense into a negative sentence, eg 'I did not stay', use this formula;

verb + -me/ma + past suffix + personal ending

examples
Gel + me + di + m = Gelmedim = I did not come
Kal + ma + d + n = Kalmadn = You did not stay
Gr + me + di = Grmedi = He did not see
(If you want to give special emphasis to the fact that you (not someone else) did something, simply
add the personal pronoun before the verb, eg 'I stayed here, you didn't stay' = 'Ben burada kaldm, sen
kalmadn').

Asking questions in the past tense

To ask a question in the past tense, simply add the question marker '-mi?' after the sentence and
change it to either '-mi/m/m/mu' depending on vowel harmony.

examples
Geldim mi? = Did I come?
Grdn m? = Did you see?
Koymadm m? = Did I not put?
Gitmedik mi? = Did we not go?

Simple Present - Negative Tense

To make the simple present tense into a negative sentence in Turkish, eg I do not go, add the
following endings onto the verb;

-mem - I dont....
-mezsin - You dont...(singular/familiar)
-mez - He/she/it doesnt...
-meyiz - We dont...
-mezsiniz - You dont...(plural/polite)
-mezler - They dont....
(change the vowels in the suffix according to vowel harmony, eg -mam, '-mayz', 'mazlar')

Examples
Gelmem = I dont come
Gitmezsin = You dont go
Kalmaz = He doesnt stay
etc

Asking questions in the negative simple present tense

To ask a question in this tense, add '-mez/maz' after the verb and then add the question marker with
the personal ending.

Examples
Gelmez miyim? - Do I not come?
Kalmaz msn? - Do you (singular/familiar) not stay?
Gitmez mi? - Does he not go?

Kalmaz myz? - Do we not stay?

Gelmez misiniz? - Do you (plural/polite) not come?
Okumazlar m? - Do they not read? *
* (as always with questions, the third personal plural is different and the question marker is always at
the end of the sentence, after the suffix)

Simple Present - Positive Tense

The simple present tense is the equivalent of 'I...' in English, for example 'I go', or 'I leave'. It is used
to describe actions carried out regularly as well as general statements, and is sometimes used to ask a
request.
To make this tense in Turkish, we must add a suffix after this verb.
The rules to do this are;

1) If the verb ends in a vowel, simply add -r. (oyna = play, oynar = plays)
2) If the verb is just 1 syllable, add -er/ar according to vowel harmony. (koy = put, koyar = puts)
3) If the verb is 2 or more syllables, add -ir/r/ur/r'. (konu = speak, konuur = speaks)

However
Most verbs that end in either L or R take the -ir ending even if they are just one vowel.
Here is a list of the verbs that take this ending;

gel, al, bil, var, gr, kal, bul, l, ver, ol, san, dur, vur
Examples - 'gelir' = ' comes', 'alr' = 'takes'.
After adding the simple present suffix, we must then add the personal ending on to that accordyng to
vowel harmony. They are as follows;

I..... - '....im' (or m/um/m)

You....(singular/familiar) - '....sin' (or sn/sun/sn)
He/she/it.... - (no personal ending)
We.... - '....iz' (or z/uz/z)
You....(plural/polite) - '....siniz' (or snz/sunuz/snz)
They.... - '....ler' (or ...lar)

So , to make a present simple sentece first check if the word ends in a vowel, and then how many
syllables it has and add the appropriate suffix. Then check it is not one of the words listed above that
break the rules. After that add the personal ending.

Examples
I go = Gid-er-im
You stay - Kal-r-sn
He/she/its puts - Koy-ar
We come - Gel-ir-iz
You play - Oyna-r-snz
They talk - Konu-ur-lar)

Asking questions with the simple present tense

To turn this tense into a question, eg do you go, add the question marker -mi before the personal
ending and change according to vowel harmony.
Examples
Do I read? - Okur muyum ?
Do you go? - Gider misin ?
Does he stay? - Kalr m?
Do we think? - Dnr myz?
Do you suppose? - Sanr msnz? (to say 'do they...?', the question marker always comes after the
personal ending).
.

'To Be' - Negative Tense

This tense is quite simple to make. Simply take an word, such as 'fine' or 'tired', and add the word
'deil'. This is not a suffix, but a word on its own. Then add the same personal endings that you would
for the 'to be - positive tense'.

Examples
'yi deilim' = 'I' am not fine'
'Mutlu deilsin' = 'You are not happy'
'Yorgun deil' = 'He is not tired'
'Trk deiliz' = 'We are not Turkish'
'Yorgun deilsiniz' = 'You are not tired'
'yi deiller' = 'They are not fine'

Past Tense
To turn this into the past tense, such as 'He was not happy', add the past suffix '-di' and then the
personal ending, just like with the 'To be - positive' tense'.

Examples
'yi deildim' = 'I was not fine'
'Mutlu deildin' = 'You were not happy'
Etc.

Asking Questions
To turn this tense into a question, follow this formula;

word + deil + question + personal

Mutlu + deil + mi + sin

= 'Mutlu deil misin?' = 'Are not happy?'

'Mutlu deil miydin?' = 'Were you not happy?'
'Yorgun deil miyim?' = 'Am I not tired?'
'Yorgun deil miydin?'= 'Were you not tired?'
'yi deiller mi?' = 'Are they not alright?'

(For 'they', the question marker comes at the end).

'To Be' - Positive Tense

To say 'I am...', for example 'I am fine', a suffix is used.

Personal pronouns can be used before the adjective but are not necessarily needed as the
suffix will make it clear who the subject is, eg 'I am fine = Ben iyiyim'. The personal
pronouns are usually only used for emphasis.

(the 'y' in brackets is only used if the last letter in the adjective is a vowel, e.g iyiyim,
ktym)

Each of these suffixes change according to vowel harmony.

For example; 'I am....' = '-(y)im'. But, if the last vowel in the adjective is;

'e' or 'i' - stays as 'i' = -(y)im

'a' or '' - changes to '' = -(y)m
'' or ' - changes to '' = -(y)m
'u' or 'o' - changes to 'u' = -(y)um

Examples
'I am fine' = 'yiyim'
'I am happy' = 'Mutluyum'
etc
This is the same with each personal ending, for example;
'I am....' would change to either '-(y)im/m/m/um'
'You are....' would change to either '-sin/sn/sn/sun'
'He/she/it is...' would change to either '-dir/dr/dr/dur' (the '-dir' may change to '-tir'
according to consonant changes)
'You are...' would change to either '-siniz/snz/snz/sunuz'

Examples
Fine = yi
I am fine = yiyim
Bad = Kt
You are bad = Ktusn
Hot = Scak
He is hot = O scak
English = Ingiliz
We are English = Ingiliziz
Young = Gen
You are young = Gensiniz
Turkish = Trk
They are Turkish = Trktrler

'To be' Past tense

To turn this tense into past tense, such as 'I was fine', or 'You were funny', we must add the
past suffix to the adjective which is '-(y)di'.

Just like the other suffixes, this changes according to vowel harmony and becomes either '(y)di/d/d/du'. The 'y' in brackets is only used if the last letter was a vowel. This suffix can
also turn into '-ti/t/t/tu' if the last letter in the word was either 'p/t/k//s//f/h'.
To turn a verb into the past tense, add -(y)di then add the personal suffixes which are;

(don't forget to change the vowels according to vowel harmony)

Examples
'I am fine' = 'yiyim'
'I was fine' = 'yi-ydi-m' = 'yiydim'
'You were happy' = 'Mutlu-ydu-n' = 'Mutluydun'
'It was nice' = 'Gzel-di' = 'Gzeldi'
'We were sad' = 'zgn-d-k' = zgndk'
'You were tired' = 'Yorgun-du-nuz' = Yorgundunuz'
'They were English' = 'ngiliz-di-ler' = 'ngilizdiler'

D. Vocabulary

Useful Words
The following are words that are used quite often in Turkish. The best way to learn these is to print
them out and learn about 10 words a day. This should help you remember them and is a lot easier than
trying to memorise all of them at one time.

Useful Words 2