Some Auxiliary (Helping) Verbs
There are two main auxiliary verbs in Turkish:
- etmek - to do, to make, to perform
- olmak - to be, to become, to happen, to occur
etmek - cannot be used alone as a verb. It is an auxiliary verb used with nouns. For example:
telefon emek - to telephone, dans etmek - to dance, ŞikÂyet etmek - to complain, tereddÜt etmek - to hesitate, zannetmek - to suppose, sabretmek - to be patient, affetmek - to pardon, seyretmek - to watch, kaydetmek - to lose, hissetmek - to feel, etc.
(1) The Verb etmek - to do/to perform
This verb is used to make verbs from nouns of foreign import into Turkish:
- izole etmek - to isolate, to insulate
- fişi izole ettim - I isolated the plug.
etmek is also used with many Arabic and Persian words to form verbs where none exist in modern Turkish:
- teşekkür (arabic) - a thanking
- teşekkür etmek - to thank someboby
- teşekkür ederim - (I) thank you
It should be noted that many arabic words do not follow the rules of vowel harmony within themselves but any Turkish suffixes added will always be governed by the final vowel in the word, although there are a few exceptions to this. One we have already met saat hour saatler hours.
Sometimes in Turkish there are two words in general use for the same meaning, one Arabic using - etmek - to form its verb, whilst the Turkish rooted word will follow normal rules of conjugation.
- tamir etmek - (arab)- to repair
- onarmak - (turk) - to repair
The policy has been to attempt to gradually purify the language by replacing foreign words with a native Turkish vocabulary, but it should be realized that there are many words in daily use where both Arabic or Turkish vocabulary may be used. eg
- kara - black - (turk)
- siyah - black - (arab)
- yıl - year - (turk)
- sene - year - (arab)
More about - etmek
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According to the Redhouse it has nine meanings:
- 1- to do, make - ayıp etmek ; kâr etmek - To be a shame ; to make a profit
- 2- to do well or wrong - Ne iyi ettin. - How well you did!
- 3- to reach (a time) - Ay sonunu etmek - To reach the end of the month
- 4- to deprive (someone) of (something) - Bu iş beni sağlığımdan etti. (-den etmek) - This job wore me out.
- 5- to equal, make - Dört üç daha yedi eder. - Four plus three makes seven
- 6- to be worth - O kitap yüz elli lira eder. - That book is worth 50 lira.
- 7- to amount to, make - Toplam sekiz dolar ediyor. - The total amounts to 8 dollars
- 8- to wrong, treat (someone) unjustly - Bana neler etti. - What (bad things) he did to me.
- 9- to soil or wet (one's underpants, bed etc.) - donuna etmek ; yatağına etmek
Single Syllable Verb Roots with etmek
If verbs are formed with a single syllable root then etmek is affixed directly to that root, which if it ends in a consonant will generally double that consonant.
- af - pardon - (arabic)
- affetmek - to beg pardon
- affedersiniz! - Pardon!
-
- ret - a refusal - (arabic)
- This being an arabic root takes a doubled "d" when adding a verb form
- reddetmek - to refuse
- reddederim! - I refuse!
..And even more about - Etmek
The following contribution was written by one of our Turkish readers.
Etmek - is essentially an auxiliary verb in Turkish, which helps the completing of other verbs.
The very basic meaning though, when it is used alone, is - to do - or - to commit - (like intihar etmek - to commit suicide)...
For this usage, here goes a example...
Ben ettim, sen etme nolur... I did, (but) please you, dont! - Here the meaning is quite negative, what has been "done" has a negative implication, so it actually bears a meaning of committing something bad or negative as it does with usages alone.
The second main usage is to be an auxiliary word for the compund verb structures and used quite frequently like the following examples, in which it can mean anything complementary...
kastetmek - to intend,to mean
bahsetmek - to mention
terketmek - to leave, to quit
yardım etmek - to help, to aid
kabul etmek - to accept
farketmek - to notice, to realize.... and very many others...
The third usage is to utilize the foreign words, possibly transitionary words... For better understanding, here are a few examples.
Bunu da download edelim. - Let's download this as well. - (download etmek - to download)
Some words are very well settled in the language but the auxiliary hints the foreign origin.
Arkadaşlarımla saatlerce muhabbet ettim. - I conversed with my friends for hours. - (Muhabbet is an Arabic word, meaning conversation)
Arabayı tam buraya park etmiştim. - I had just parked my car right here. (Park etmek - to park)
And there is another point that to mention...
Since - etmek - is an auxiliary, it is used like the auxiliary verbs in English. See the following example...
English: Are you coming to the party tonight? - Yes I am.
Turkish: Bu aksamki partiye geliyor musun?; - Evet geliyorum.
Here, the English short answer includes only - I am - without the verb - coming. Turkish, however, has to include the - geliyorum - part since it does not include an auxiliary like the - to be - verb form of English.
Another example...
English: Did you accept this after all? - Yes I did.
Turkish: Herşeye rağmen kabul ettin mi onu? - Evet ettim.;
The short answer in English is - I did - without the verb - accept - just like the short answer in Turkish is - ettim - without - kabul.
So when - etmek - is used, it is used like an auxiliary.
About Vowel Harmony - Auxiliary Verb is Not Affected
etmek being a verb in its own right does not change its own vowels when so affixed to a foreign root.
When it is used as an auxiliary to nouns of more than one syllable then it is written separately and conjugated in the normal manner:
Some examples of Transitive Verbs
Transitive verbs have a Direct object
- teslim -a delivering - (arabic)
- teslim etmek - to deliver
- Mektubu teslim ettim - I delivered the letter
- Koliyi teslim ettirdiniz - you delivered the parcel
-
- tamir - a repairing - (arabic)
- tamir etmek - to repair
- Onu tamir etsek - If we repair it
- Onu tamir edemem - I can't repair it
-
- kontrol - a checking - (eng. fr.)
- kontrol etmek - to check
- Onu kontrol ettiler -They checked it
- Onu kontrol edebilir misiniz? - Would you check it?
- ret - a refusing - (arabic)
- reddetmek - to refuse
- Onu reddedeceğiz - We shall refuse it
- Onu reddedelim - Let's refuse it
-
- takdir - an appreciation - (arabic)
- takdir etmek - to appreciate
- Ahmet, onu takdir etti - Ahmet appreciated it
- Ali, onu takdir edememiş - Ali couldn't have appreciated it
Note - that etmek - to do, to perform, to make - forms verbs which are transitive (ie verbs which have a direct object), whereas the use of olmak - to be, to become causes the same verb to be intransitive (ie. a verb which does not have an object).
The Passive can be formed with the Passive of etmek - edilmek but is often replaced by the The verb of olmak - to become - or its Passive Form - olunmak - to become - without any change in meaning.
(2) The Verb - olmak - to be/become
This verb meaning to be or to become is also used as an auxiliary with foreign loan words. It is also attached directly to single syllable roots or written separately when used with roots of more that one syllable. It does not change its own vowels as it is a verb in its own right. One of its most important auxiliary functions is its use as the Future Tense and Potential Mood of the Compliment to be..
- hazır - ready
- hazırım - I am ready
- hazır olacağım - I shall be ready - (Future)
-
- zengin - rich
- zenginsiniz - you are rich
- zengin olsaydınız - if you had been rich - Conditional
-
- yoksul - poor
- O yoksul - he is poor
- O yoksul olabilir - he may be poor - Potential
Some Examples
If we now shew the examples from etmek - the transitive auxiliary verb form above, but with the auxiliary verb as edilmek - the intransitive auxiliary verb - then we can see that the sense has become Passive as opposed the Active sense
Example of Intransitive Verbs
- teslim -a delivering
- teslim etmek - to delivered - (Transitive form takes an object)
- Ali, mektubu teslim etti (Active Sense) - Ali delivered the letter.
- (Transitive with mektubu in the objective case.)
- teslim edilmek - to be delivered - (Intransitive form - takes no object)
- dün teslim edildi - It was delivered yesterday.
- (Intransitive - no object)
- mektup teslim edildi - The letter has been delivered
- (Passive with edilmek and mektup as the subject) or
These examples shows that the main verb can also be made passive by the use of edilmek - to be performed - the passive form of etmek itself.
Further examples with - edilmek
- tamir - a repairing
- tamir edilmek - to repair (passive)
- O tamir edilecek - It (as subject.) will be repaired
- O tamir edilemedi - (ed-il-e-me-di) - It (as subject) could not have been repaired
- kontrol - a checking
- kontrol edilmek - to be checked
- O kontrol edildi - It has been checked
- Onu kontrol edilebilcek mi? - (ed-il-ebil-ecek mi?) - Can it be repaired?
-
- ret - a refusing
- reddedilmek - to be refused
- Ben, reddedildim - I was refused
- O, reddedilinca - On it being refused
-
- takdir - an appreciation
- takdir edilmek - to be appreciated
- Ahmet, takdir edildi - Ahmet was appreciated
- Ali, takdir edilecek - Ali will be appreciated
The Passive use of olmak
When used with loan word to form verbs it gives the sense of being in a state of..
- pişman - a regretting
- pişman oldum - I regret/I was sorry - Lit: I was sorry
-
- fena- bad/ill
- fena oluyorum - I feel ill
-
- memnun - pleased
- memnun oldum - I'm pleased - Lit: I was pleased
(3) Other Verbs Used as Auxiliaries
These include:
- yapmak - to do as an action
- gelmek - to come
- kalmak - to remain/stay
- bulunmak - to be found/to be - (passive of bulmak)
- eylemek - to carry out - (equates with etmek) but not common.
- demek - to say
- dilemek - to wish
- söylemek - to speak
- durmak - to stop
- vermek - to give - (used as an Accelerative Auxiliary)
- yazmak -to write - (but means - "almost to.." - when used as an auxiliary verb) - düşeyazdım - I almost fell
The usage of each of these verbs as auxiliaries is discussed below:
eylemek can be used as a substitute for etmek and serves the same purpose. It is usually restricted to the written word and is seldom used in conversation
Continuative Verbs
kalmak and durmak are used to form a continuing action of the main verb giving the sense to keep on doing.. or to remain in a condition of..
To form the Continuative Verb the Infinitive of kalmak or durmak is added directly to the Subjunctive Root of the main verb. The Subjunctive Root is formed by suffixing -e or -a to the basic Verb Stem yüzmek to swim yüze- Subjunctive stem. Then with the direct addition of kalmak to remain:
- yüzekalmak - to keep on swimming
- Yüzekaldı - He kept on swimming
-
- alakalmak - to keep on taking
- Alakalacağım - I will keep on taking
-
- durakalmak - to keep on stopping
- Durakalıyorsun - You keep on stopping
-
- bekleyedurmak - to keep on waiting
- Bekleyedurabilecek misiniz? - Will you be able to keep on waiting?
The Accelerative Verb
The verb - vermek - to give - can also be added to the subjunctive verb stem and in this case it gives a sense of urgency and speed of action to the main verb. In this case - vermek - loses its meaning - to give.
- koşmak - to run
- koşuvermek - to hurry up and run
- yazmak - to write
- yazıvermek - to scribble/scrawl
- koşuveriniz! - hurry up and run! - Imperative
- içkisini içiverdi - he gulped his drink down
- gelivereceğim - I'll dash along and come
When adding the Accelerative - vermek to a verb then the vowel of the subjunctive ending -e narrows to -i or -ü thus: (güle becomes gülüverin and kese becomes kesİverin), while that of the subjunctive ending -a narrows to -ı or -u thus: (baka becomes bakıverin and tuta becomes tutuverin)
