TURKISH LESSON
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Wide Tense (Geniş Zaman) Negative Tense

 

Habitual Situations

The negative of the Simple Present tense translates as:

  1. I don't go to work on Saturdays.
  2. He doesn't like ice cream.
  3. We don't keep a pet.
  4. They never take a holiday.

THE INFINITIVE - a grammatical description

In grammar, the infinitive is the form of a verb that has no inflection to indicate person, number, mood or tense.

It is called the infinitive because the verb is usually not made finite, or limited by inflection.

The infinitive is often used as the citation form, as for many languages this is the basic form of a verb which is usually presented in dictionaries. In language classes, children are sometimes taught to think of it as the name of the verb threfore it is a noun. eg: To swim is exhilarating. - or - Swimming is exhilarating.

The Negative Wide Tense - Olunsuz Geniş Zaman - 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.
But the Negative Wide Tense - Olumsuz Geniş Zaman - Infinitive is - gelmez - does not come.

The Negative Wide Tense - Olumsuz Geniş Zaman - is based on this Infinitive ending with the sign -mez.

Formation of the Negative

Simple Present - Wide Tense - Geniş Zaman - Timeless - Tense

The negative tense sign is -z which is added to the negative verb stem -as an example:

gitmemek - not to go - then adding -z to the verb stem after dropping -mek we arrive at: gitmez - does not come - to which the personal endings are added

Some Examples of The Simple Present - Negative

The Wide Tense - Olumsuz Geniş Zaman - Negative Infinitive - gitmez - not to go

Note Changes in First Persons Plural and Singular

gitmem - NOT gitmezim - I don't go
gitmeyiz - NOT gitmeziz - We don't go

Note that the first persons I and we drop the -z when adding the personal endings to the negative verb stem, all other persons preserve the -z

  1. gitmem - I don't go
  2. gitmezsin - you don't go
  3. gitmez - he doesn't go
  4. gitmeyiz - we don't go
  5. gitmezsiniz - you don't go
  6. gitmezler - they don't go

Some examples

  1. bilmemek - not to know how to
  2. Bilmem ki - I don't know (that)
  1. tanımamak - not to know somebody
  2. Beni tanımazsınız - You don't know me
  3. Beni tanımaz mısınız? - Don't you know me?
  1. içmemek - not to drink
  2. O bira içmez - He doesn't drink beer - (generally)
  3. Mehmet, bira içmez mi? - Doesn't Mehmet drink beer? - (usually?)

Bullet Pencil 1kb*** If you were to use Accusative Case - birayı - in the example above , the object becomes a definite object, but here we are talking about generally the drinking of beer.

  1. O birayı içmez. - He doesn't drink the beer.
  2. Mehmet birayı içmez mi? - Doesn't Mehmet drink the (or that) beer?
Thanks to Bahaddin Cankurt for this correction - jg. March 2006
  1. konuşmamak - not to talk
  2. Onun hakkında konuşmayız - We don't talk about it
  1. giymemek - not to wear
  2. Genellikle bir şapka giymez misiniz? - Don't you generally wear a hat?
  1. seyretmemek - not to watch
  2. Televizyonu seyretmezler - They don't watch the television (in particular)
  3. Televizyon seyretmezler - They don't watch television (generally)

*** See note above for Definite and Indefinite Objects.

Note the two words meaning - to know how to.. to know someone.. in Turkish:

  1. bilmek - to know how to..
  2. yüzme biliyorum - I know how to swim
  1. tanımak - to know somebody
  2. Ali, beni tanıyor - Ali knows me

There can be some differing ways to say the same thing in Turkish - for instance:
Do you know how to play football?
To ask - Exactly? - Futbol oyamasını biliyor musun?
Or to ask - Particular? - Futbol oynamayı biliyor musun?
Or to ask - Generally speaking? - Futbol oynama biliyor musun?

About the use of - istemek - to want

Bullet Pencil 1kbNote that - İstemek - "to want" - has its verb object in the Subject Case - ie: Ending in -mak or -mek.

This is exactly the same in English:

  1. It seems that Mehmet wants TO run as well. - Mehmet de koşMAK istiyormuş
  2. I want TO read. - okuMAK istiyorum

The Interrogative - Simple Present Tense Negative

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.

Interrogative - Examples

The Negative Interrogative
  1. bakmamak - not to look
  2. Bakmaz mıyım? - Don't I look?
  1. kalmamak - not to stay
  2. Kalmaz mısın? - Don't you stay?
  1. bitirmemek - not to finish
  2. Bitirmez mi? - Doesn't he finish?
  1. yazmamak - not to write
  2. Yazmaz mıyız? - Don't we write?
  1. koşmamak - not to run
  2. Koşmaz mısınız? - Don't you run?
  1. yürümemek - not to walk
  2. Yürümezler mi? - Don,t they walk?

Some More Examples

  1. Her gün saat beşte seni görmez miyim? - Don't I see you every day at five o'clock?
  2. Londra'da oturmaz mısınız? - Don't you live in London?
  3. Ali bey bir bankada çalışmaz mi? - Doesn't Ali Bey work in a bank?
  4. Hepimiz bir parti sevmez miyiz? - Don't we all love a party?

Translation of - didn't used to..

If the past tense endings are added to the Wide Tense (Geniş Zaman) 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 :

Some examples

  1. Sık sık buraya gelmezdim. - I didn't used to come here very often
  2. Genç iken o kadar gülmezdin - You didn't used to laugh very much when you were young.
  3. Kuşadada kalırken denizde yüzmezdi - He never used to swim in the sea when staying at Kuşadası.
  4. 1950 yıldan önce Türkiyede kola içilmezdi. - Cocoa-cola did not used to be drunk in Turkey before 1950.
  5. Derslerimiz bittikten sonra yerterli zaman için beni beklemezdiniz - You didn't used to wait long enough for me after school finished.
  6. Tatilde kamp yaparken o kadar iyi uyumazdılar - They didn't used to sleep very well while on holiday while camping.

The Negative Question form: didn't you used to..?

  1. Gitmez miydim? - Didn't I used to go?
  2. Hatice'yi sevmez miydin? - Didn't you used to love Hatice?
  3. Ummaz mıydı? - Didn't he used to hope?
  4. Açmaz mıydık? - Didn't we used to open
  5. Kazmaz mıydınız? - Didn't you used to dig?
  6. Çıkmaz mıydılar? - Didn't they used to go out?
  7. Her gün seni görmez miydim? - Didn't I used to see you every day?
  8. Londra'da oturmaz mıydın? - Didn't you used to live in London?
  9. Bıkmaz mıydık? - Didn't we used to get fed up?
  10. Atlara binmez miydiniz? - Didn't you used to ride horses?

  11. 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

  12. Soğan satmaz mıdılar? - Didn't they used to sell onions?

Note: oturmak means - to sit (down) - or - to live (at a place)

  1. Ali İstanbul'da oturur - Ali lives in Istanbul
  2. Ben, mavi sandalyede oturuyorum - I am sitting in the blue chair

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

In conversational Turkish the Past Imperfect Tense will often be used:
  1. Yıllar önce Manisa'da çalışıyordum - Many years ago I was working in Manisa
  
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