TURKISH LESSON - Present Continous Tense

Present Continuous Tense - Indicative Mood

Forming the Infinitive of Turkish Verbs

To form the Infinitive of Turkish Verbs -mek or -mak is added to the verb stem.

An example of the positive form of a Turkish verb is - gelmek - to come - where the verb root is - gel- - come - while the suffix -mek signifies - to - ie. gel-mek - to come

almak - to take - where the verb root is - al- - take - while the suffix -mak signifies - to - ie. al-mak- to take

The choice of adding -mek or -mak is bound by the Rules of Vowel Harmony

There is a separate form for the negative verb

The negative is characterized with the negative particle -me- or -ma (according to vowel harmony rules) added to the positive verb stem. Thus the negative verb root becomes gelme- not come - and alma- not take

By adding the infinitive suffix -mek or -mak we arrive at the negative verbs - gelme-mek - not to come - and - alma-mak - not to take
ie gelmemek - not to come - and almamak - not to take

This method of forming the negative is true for ALL VERBS in Turkish

Examples of the Formation of the Positive and Negative Verbs

Examples of the E-Dotted Group

For verbs of the E-Dotted Group with e i ö ü in verb stem the suffix -mek signifies the positive verb and -memek signifies the negative of the verb.

Applying Vowel harmony rules then -mek is added to verbs whose final root vowel is -e

vermek - to give
vermemek - not to give

(includes all negative verbs as the negative verb stem always end in -me)

Applying Vowel harmony rules then -mek is added to verbs whose root vowel is -i

bilmek - to know
bilmemek - not to know

Applying Vowel harmony rules then -mek is added to verbs whose root vowel is -ö

görmek - to see
görmemek - not to see

Applying Vowel harmony rules then -mek is added to verbs whose root vowel is -ü

gülmek - to laugh
gülmemek - not to laugh

Examples of the A-NoDots Group of Verbs

Applying Vowel harmony rules then -mak is added to verbs whose root vowel is -a

yapmak - to do, make, perform
yapmamak - not to do

(includes all negative verbs as the negative verb stem always end in -ma)

Applying Vowel harmony rules then -mak is added to verbs whose root vowel is -ı

ağrımak - to ache
ağrımamak - not to ache

Applying Vowel harmony rules then -mak is added to verbs whose root vowel is -o

kopmak - to snap
kopmamak - not to snap

Applying Vowel harmony rules then -mak is added to verbs whose root vowel is -u

kurumak - to dry
kurumamak - not to dry

Formation of the Present Continuous Tense

For verbs of the A-NoDots Group with a ı o u in verb stem the suffix -mak signifies the positive verb and -mamak signifies the negative of the verb.

The Present Continuous Tense takes the form of doing, saying etc.

The Tense sign of the Present Continuous Tense is -iyor- -ıyor- -üyor- -uyor- which is added to the verb root. The tense endings are completed by adding the personal suffixes.

The Personal Endings -Present Continuous
-iyorum - I am --ing
-iyorsun - You are --ing
-iyor - He, She, It is --ing
-iyoruz - We are --ing
-iyorsunuz - You are --ing
-iyorlar - They are --ing

The first letter -i- of -iyor- is subject to vowel harmony with the verb stem's final vowel.

The Tense Sign -iyor- can be likened to the English Tense sign -ing.

Examples of the Present Continuous Tense

Examples of the E-Dotted vowel group of Verbs

vermek to give - becomes - veriyor giving
vermemek not to give - becomes - vermiyor not giving

bilmek to know - becomes - biliyor knowing
bilmemek not to know - becomes - bilmiyor not knowing

görmek to see - becomes - görüyor seeing
görmemek not to see - becomes - görmüyor not seeing

gülmek to laugh - becomes - gülüyor laughing
gülmemek not to laugh - becomes - gülmüyor not laughing

Note that the final vowel of any verb stem is dropped when adding -iyor in order to keep two vowels apart.

This applies to ALL NEGATIVE Verbs - in both the A-UnDotted Vowel and the E-Dotted Groups - as they all end in a vowel of the -me or -ma negative particle.

As an example see bilme-mek becomes bil-m-iyor in table above.

Examples of the A-NoDots group of Verbs

yapmak to do, make, perform - becomes - yapıyor doing.. etc.
yapmamak not to do.. etc - becomes - yapmıyor not doing.. etc.

ağrımak to ache - becomes - ağrıyor aching
ağrımamak not to ache - becomes - ağrımıyor not aching

kopmak to snap - becomes - kopuyor not snapping
kopmamak not to snap - becomes - kopmuyor not snapping

kurumak to dry - becomes - kuruyor drying
kurumamak not to dry - becomes - kurumuyorr not drying

Note that the final vowel of any verb is dropped when adding -iyor in order to keep two vowels apart.

This applies to ALL POSITIVE Verbs. (in both A-Nodots and E-Dotted Groups).

As an example see kuru -mak becomes kur -uyor and ağrı -mak becomes ağr -ıyor in table above.

And ALL NEGATIVE STEMS lose their final stem vowel as they end in the negative particle -me or -ma.

Conjugation Examples

The positive verb is gelmek - gel -mek - to come.

The vowel of Gelmek (A verb of the E-Dotted group)is -e- therefore the tense sign begins with Dotted i -iyor-

The infinitive verb ending -mek is dropped from the verb stem and -iyor- is added together with the personal endings to form the tense.

geliyorum - I am coming
geliyorsun - you are coming
geliyor -he is coming
geliyoruz - we are coming
geliyorsunuz - you are coming
geliyorlar - they are coming

The negative is similarly formed:

The negative verb is gelmemek - gelme -mek - not to come

All Negative Verb roots that end in a vowel as in:
gelmemek - gel -me -mek - not to come
also drop this final vowel from the vowel stem so that when the tense sign -iyor- is added two vowels do not occur together. (gelmeiyorum is incorrect).

The Rule is that Negative Verbs drop the final vowel of the root along with -mek or -mak.

gelmmek - not to come

gelmiyorum - I am not coming
gelmiyorsun - you are not coming
gelmiyor - he is not coming
gelmiyoruz - we are not coming
gelmiyorsunuz - you are not coming
gelmiyorlar - they are not coming

Positive Verbs with Verb Root ending in a Vowel

The positive verb is beklemek - bekle -mek - to wait, to expect.

The root of this verb is bekle- but we must also drop this final vowel -e before adding the tense sign-iyor- in order that two vowels do not occur together. (bekle -iyorum would be incorrect)

The Rule is that he final vowel of verb stem is dropped along with -mek or -mak

beklemek - to wait, to expect

bekliyorum - I am waiting
bekliyorsun - you are waiting
bekliyor - he is waiting
bekliyorsunuz - you are waiting
bekliyoruz - we are waiting
bekliyorlar - they are waiting

Some Further Conjugation Examples

A verb of the A-UnDotted Group ending in a consonant

A verb of the A-UnDotted Group therefore the tense sign also begins with an UnDotted ı viz. -ıyor-

bakmak - to look, to look at

bakıyorum - I am looking
bakıyorsun - you are looking
bakıyor - he is looking
bakıyoruz - we are looking
bakıyorsunuz - you are looking
bakıyorlar - they are looking

For verbs of the A-NoDots Group with a i o u in verb stem the suffix -mak signifies the positive verb - while -mamak is used for the negative verb.
The positive verb is bakmak - to see.
The negative verb is bakmamak - not to see

A Verb from the E-Dotted Group

A verb ending in a vowel

yürümek - to walk - is a verb of the E-Dotted Group therefore the tense sign also begins with an dotted ü -üyor-

This verb also has a final vowel in the verb stem which is dropped along with the infinitive sign -mek. The tense sign -üyor- is then added under vowel harmony rules

yürümek - to walk

yürüyorum - I am walking
yürüyorsun - you are walking
yürüyor - he is walking
yürüyoruz - we are walking
yürüyorsunuz - you are walking
yürüyorlar - they are walking

For verbs of the E-Dotted Group with e ı ö ü in verb stem the suffix -mek signifies the positive verb while -memek is used for the negative verb.

The positive verb is yürümek - to walk. The negative verb is yürümemek - not to walk.

An Example of a Negative verb

This example contains vowels of the A-Nodots Group, so the first vowel of -ıyor is also undotted.

The final vowel of the negative particle -ma is also dropped (to keep two vowels apart)

yapmamak - not to do, not to make, not to perform

yapmıyorum - I am not doing
yapmıyorsun - you are not doing
yapmıyor - he is not doing
yapmıyoruz - we are not doing
yapmıyorsunuz - you are not doing
yapmıyorlar - they are not doing

Forming Positive Questions

To form questions the question particle mi? - (which is subject to Vowel harmony) - is used after -iyor. It is written separately and the personal ending is added making a question tag.

However the third person plural is slightly different in that the question particle mi? is always placed last for reasons of ease of pronunciation.

The question particle mi? is subject to vowel harmony so can have four forms mi?, mı?, mu?, mü?. It retains its vowel harmonization even when not attached as a suffix.

A Note about Question Formation Generally

About Questions:
Mİ? MI? Mu? MÜ? - (The Question Particle) - goes after the item that you are questioning: It is NOT always the VERB that is in question.
This is the same for English.

Examples of Question Particle Positioning

Mehmet, is he going home?
Mehmet, eve gidiyor MU? - Question on the verb. (go - gitmek)

Is it home that Mehmet is going to?
Mehmet, eve Mİ gidiyor? - Question on the Object (home - ev)

Is it Mehmet who is going home?
Mehmet Mİ, eve gidiyor? - Question on The subject (Mehmet)

Is the bicycle upsidedown?
The bicycle, is it upsidedown? - (Here the position of the bicycle is in question)
Bisiklet , ters Mİ duruyor?

Is Mehmet playing the violin?
Is it the violin? That he is playing. - (Here - violin - is in question..)
Mehmet, kemen Mİ çaliyor?

NOTE that the verb - çalmak has two equal meanings:

(1) To play a musical instument and
{2) to steal something

O, kemen Mİ çaliyor? .. Could mean - Is it the violin? That he is stealing..
Bir hirsiz arabami çaldı - A thief stole my car......

The Positive - Interrogative

The question tags muyum?, musun? etc are always written separately from the verb itself. The tags do however follow vowel harmony rules even that they are not directly suffixed to the verb stem itself.

gelmek - to come

geliyor muyum? - am I coming?
geliyor musun? - are you coming?
geliyor mu? - is he coming?
geliyor muyuz? - are we coming?
geliyor musunuz? - are you coming?
geliyorlar mı? - are they coming?

Forming Negative Questions

The negative questions are formed in the same manner using the negative verb stem:

Note that the vowel harmonized question tag is still written separated from the verb stem

gelmemek - not to come

gelmiyor muyum? - aren't I coming?
gelmiyor musun? - aren't you coming?
gelmiyor mu? - isn't he coming?
gelmiyor musunuz? - aren't you coming?
gelmiyor muyuz? - aren't we coming?
gelmiyorlar mı? - aren't they coming?

Some Examples

yarın şehre gidiyorum - tomorrow I am going to town
benimle gelmiyor musunuz? - aren't you coming with me?
küçük odada uyuyorlar mı? - are they sleeping in the small room?
evi boyuyor - he is painting the house - ev-i - Lit: the house - (direct object)
evini boyuyor - he is painting his house - ev-i-n-i - Lit: the house of him - (possessed direct object)

From Example (1) above it can be seen that Turkish uses the Present Continuous Tense as a Future Tense (of Intention), just as we do in English - ie. - We are going to Turkey next month - (Future of Intention)

The Direct Object in Turkish

The use of verbs needs an object pointer (grammatically called the Accusative Case) in Turkish which is suffix -i -ı -ü -u or -yi -yı -yü -yu using buffer letter -y- after vowels - see No. 4 above

However if the object pointer follows another suffix then the buffer letter becomes -n- and thus the object pointer suffix is -ni -nı -nü -nu when attached to possessed objects - see No. 5 above.

See Full Discussion on Direct Object

Some examples of Object Pointers (Accusative Case)

Direct Object pointer -i for Simple Noun
evi boyuyorum - ev-i - I am painting the house.

Direct Object pointer -n-i for Extended Noun
evini boyuyorum - ev-i-n-i - I am painting his house.

Direct Object pointer -y-i for Simple Noun
arabayı boyuyorum - araba-y-ı - I am painting the car.

Possessive Pronoun -s-ı plus Direct object pointer -n-ı for Extended Noun.
arabasını boyuyorum - araba-s-ı-n-ı - I am painting his car

Possessive pronoun -ları plus Object Pointer -nı for Extended Noun.
arabalarını boyuyoruz. - araba-ları-n-ı - we are painting their car.

Possessive Pronoun -sı plus Direct object pointer -nı for Extended Noun
arabasını boyuyor musunuz? - araba-s-ı-n-ı - are you painting his car?

Possessive Pronoun -ınız plus Direct object pointer -ı for Extended Noun.
Mehmet, arabanızı boyamıyor mu? - araba-nız-ı - Isn't Mehmet painting your car?

Possessive Pronoun -si plus Direct object pointer -ni for Extended Noun.
kedisini aramıyor muyum? - kedi-s-i-n-i - Aren't I looking for his cat?

Direct Object Pointer-i
Beni istiyor musun? - ben -i - Do you want me?

Direct Object Pointer-i
Seni istemiyor muyum? - sen -i - Don't I want you?

Spelling Exceptions

Only four verbs change their root spelling from -t to -d when adding a vowel :

gitmek - to go - becomes - gidiyorum - I am going
ditmek - to shred - this verb is often used in recipes - becomes - didiyor - he shreds
tatmak - to taste (of) - becomes - tadıyor - it tastes (of..)
etmek - to do/perform - becomes - ediyorum - I am doing etc.

Note: This verb - etmek - includes all verbs containing - etmek such as kaybetmek - to lose and affetmek - to pardon, to excuse

All other verbs retain their original spelling, for instance:

bitmek - to end - bitiyor - it is finishing - (NOT bidiyor)
batmak - to sink - batıyor - it is sinking - NOT badıyor