There are 5 fundamental tenses in Turkish.

These are:
1. Present simple tense (Geniş zaman)
2. Present continuous tense (Şimdiki zaman)
3. Future tense (Gelecek zaman)
4. Past tense with -di (-di'li geçmiş zaman) --> Regular past tense
5. Past tense with -miş (-miş'li geçmiş zaman) --> Also called the story
past tense
In the basic grammar lessons, we will cover the present continuous tense and the
future tense. Rest will be covered in the intermediate level lessons.

To start with, let's review some verbs we'll use in the following lessons and their
meanings:
gelmek --> to come
gitmek --> to go
okumak --> to read
kapatmak --> to close
koşmak --> to run
aramak --> to call
konuşmak --> to talk
vermek --> to give
kaynamak --> to boil
çalışmak --> to work
yemek --> to eat
beklemek --> to wait

The meaning of tenses are given using some suffixes. There are some important
properties common to all these suffixes denoting tense:
 The suffix for tenses is added right after the verb root if the verb is
positive, or after the negating suffix if the verb is negative.
 The present tense for of 'to be' comes after the suffix for tense.
o Therefore, the order becomes: verb root + (negative) + tense +
present tense to be
o This is different only for the regular past tense, where past tense
form of to be is used.
1. Present continuous tense (Şimdiki zaman)
The suffix for present continuous tense is -iyor. Present continuous tense is used,
very much like the one in English:
 To tell what you are currently doing
o I am working now. --> Şimdi çalışıyorum.
o I am eating ice cream. --> Dondurma yiyorum.
 To tell something you will do in the close future
o Wait, I'm coming in 5 minutes. --> Bekle, 5 dakika içinde
geliyorum.

Present continuous tense is used only for verbs, it is not meaningful for nouns and
adjectives.

Present continuous tense of a verb is constructed this way:

verb root + (negative) + iyor + present tense to be

If the verb you want to add the suffix -iyor ends with a vowel, drop the last vowel and
add -iyor. Otherwise, just simply add -iyor. Be careful about the vowel harmony rules
for the 'i' of -iyor. Let's see how a verb is put into present continuous tense on the
following examples:
gel-iyor --> geliyor --> he is coming
git-iyor-im --> gidiyorum --> i am going
oku-iyor --> okuyor --> he is reading
kapat-iyor-iz --> kapatıyoruz --> we are closing
koş-iyor --> koşuyor --> he is running
ara-iyor-sin --> arıyorsun --> you are calling
konuş-iyor --> konuşuyor --> he is talking
ver-me-iyor --> vermiyor --> he is not giving
ye-me-iyor --> yemiyor --> he is not eating
gel-me-iyor-siniz --> gelmiyorsunuz --> you are not coming (plural you)

And let's see how present continuous tense is used with different cases of person.

English Turkish

to come --> gelmek

 i am coming (ben) geliyor-im --> geliyorum

you are coming (sen) geliyor-sin --> geliyorsun

he \ (o) geliyor
she | is coming
it /

we are coming (biz) geliyor-iz --> geliyoruz

you are coming (siz) geliyor-siniz --> geliyorsunuz

they are coming (onlar) geliyor-ler --> geliyorlar

In the basic grammar lessons, we will cover the present continuous tense and the
future tense. Rest will be covered in the intermediate level lessons.

To start with, let's review some verbs we'll use in the following lessons and their
meanings:
gelmek --> to come
gitmek --> to go
okumak --> to read
kapatmak --> to close
koşmak --> to run
aramak --> to call
konuşmak --> to talk
vermek --> to give
kaynamak --> to boil
çalışmak --> to work
yemek --> to eat
beklemek --> to wait

The meaning of tenses are given using some suffixes. There are some important
properties common to all these suffixes denoting tense:
 The suffix for tenses is added right after the verb root if the verb is
positive, or after the negating suffix if the verb is negative.
 The present tense for of 'to be' comes after the suffix for tense.
 o Therefore, the order becomes: verb root + (negative) + tense +
present tense to be
o This is different only for the regular past tense, where past tense
form of to be is used.
2. Future tense (Gelecek zaman)
The suffix for future tense in Turkish is -ecek. There are not two different cases like in
Englishwill and is going to. Future tense is always constructed using the suffix -ecek.
The uses of the Turkish future tense is just like a union of the uses of will and going
to in English.
 To express any action that will take place in the future.

Future tense is used only for verbs, it is not meaningful for nouns and adjectives.

Future tense of a verb is constructed this way:

verb root + (negative) + ecek + present tense to be

When you want to append the suffix -ecek to a verb that ends with a vowel, you add
the fusion consonant 'y' between the verb and the suffix to separate the two vowels.
Otherwise, just simply add the suffix -ecek. Be careful about the harmony rules
though, as always. Let's see how future tense is obtained using some example verbs:
gel-ecek --> gelecek --> he will come
git-ecek-im --> gideceğim --> I will go
oku-ecek-sin --> okuyacaksın --> you will read
kapat-ecek-iz --> kapatacağız --> we will close
koş-ecek-siniz --> koşacaksınız --> you will run (plural you)
ara-ecek-ler --> arayacaklar --> they will call
konuş-me-ecek --> konuşmayacak --> he will not talk
ver-me-ecek-sin --> vermeyeceksin --> you will not give

To see the use of future tense with different cases of person, check the following table:

English Turkish

to close --> kapatmak

i will close (ben) kapatacak-im --> kapatacağım

 you will close (sen) kapatacak-sin --> kapatacaksın

he \ (o) kapatacak
she | will close
it /

we will close (biz) kapatacak-iz --> kapatacağız

you will close (siz) kapatacak-siniz --> kapatacaksınız

they will close (onlar) kapatacak-ler --> kapatacaklar

Question Sentences
Question sentences in Turkish can be classified into two groups like in English:
1. Yes-no questions
2. Regular questions
There are also question tags, i.e. questions of the form "You are coming, aren't you?".
In this lesson, we will see how these different types of questions can be asked in
Turkish.
Before looking at how questions are constructed, let's see the question words in
Turkish.

English Turkish

what? ne?

who? kim?

which? hangi?

where? nere?

when? ne zaman?

how? nasıl?
 how many? kaç tane?

how much? ne kadar?

how often? ne sıklıkla

Now, let's see how different types of question sentences can be constructed.
1. Yes-no questions
In Turkish, yes-no questions are constructed with the question suffix '-mi'. It is
important to note, however, the question suffix -mi is written separate from the word
it is appended to. You can ask at this point: "Why is it a suffix instead of a separate
word if it is written separately?". The reason question suffix -mi is regarded as a suffix
is that it has to satisfy the major and minor vowel harmony rules for the word it is
appended to. Let's see some example sentences demonstrating the use of the question
suffix -mi.
A. This is a book. --> Bu bir kitap.
B. Is this a book? --> Bu bir kitap mı? (Note how the regular sentence is turned into a
yes-no question sentence by the addition of the question suffix -mi)
A1. Yes, this is a book. --> Evet, bu bir kitap.
A2. No, this is not a book. This is a notebook. --> Hayır, bu bir kitap değil. Bu bir
defter.

A. His name is Ahmet. --> Onun adı Ahmet.

B. Is his name Ahmet? --> Onun adı Ahmet mi?
A1. Yes, his name is Ahmet.
A2. No, his name is not Ahmet. His name is Mehmet. --> Hayır, onun adı Ahmet
değil. Onun adı Mehmet.
A3. No. His name is Mehmet. --> Hayır. Onun adı Mehmet.

A. This is my house. --> bu benim evim

B. Is this your house? --> Bu senin evin mi?
A1. Yes, this is my house. --> Evet, bu benim evim.
A2. No, this is not my house. This is my mother's house. --> Hayır, bu benim
evim değil. Bu annemin evi.
2. Regular questions
Regular questions are the ones constructed using the question words listed above and
the answers to these questions are not simply yes or no. In English, there is a certain
word order for regular question sentences. The question word comes first, and the
rest of the sentence elements follow it. In Turkish, however, questions are
constructed in a quite different way. To learn how to construct a question, a simple
way is to follow the following steps. This will work in most cases:

1. Construct the answer sentence.

2. Locate the word or phrase that is the actual answer to the question.
3. Just replace that word or phrase with the appropriate question word.

Let's apply this on an example. The question we want to ask is, "Who is this?".

1. The answer sentence will be something like "This is my brother. --> Bu benim
kardeşim."
2. The answer to the question is the phrase "my brother --> benim kardeşim".
3. Replace this phrase with the question word "who --> kim" and the question sentence
becomes "Bu kim?".

To summarize, a question sentence has the same word order as a regular sentence.
The difference is that the part of the sentence that is asked is replaced by the
appropriate question word. The question word takes all the suffixes of the word it is
replaced for.
Consider the sentence "Ahmet eve gidiyor. --> Ahmet is going home."
Who is going home? --> Kim eve gidiyor? (Ahmet in the regular sentence is replaced
by who. The rest of the sentence is the same.)
Where did Ahmet go? --> Ahmet nereye gitti? (ev in the regular sentence is replaced
by nere. Note that the question word nere also takes the suffix -e of the word ev and
becomes nereye, meaning 'to where')
What is Ahmet doing? --? Ahmet ne yapıyor? (The phrase 'eve gidiyor' in the original
sentence is replaced by "ne yapıyor --> what's he doing")

Note that to make a question sentence asking a verb, we use :

"What + to be (in the appropriate tense) + object + to do (in the appropriate tense)"
Ex1: What are you doing?
Ex2: What did Ahmet do?
In Turkish, this structure becomes:
"Object + ne + yapmak (in the appropriate tense and person)"
Ex1: (Sen) ne yapıyorsun?
Ex2: Ahmet ne yaptı?
This is simply the regular sentence where the action is replaced by "ne + yapmak",
which is consistent with our rule for constructing question sentences.

3. Question tags
Question tags are the questions of the form:
You are home, aren't you?
He did his homework, didn't he?
Mehmet will come today, won't he?

Constructing question phrases in Turkish is very simple and straightforward. You just
add "değil mi" at the end regardless of the sentence. The translations for the question
tags above are then:
Evdesin, değil mi?
Ödevini yaptı, değil mi?
Mehmet bugün gelecek, değil mi?

Imperatives - Let
Making a verb imperative for the second singular person (sen), is the same as it is
done in English. Just use the plain verb without any suffix or change. When you want
to order something to a single person listening to you, you just say the plain verb.
Examples:
Come! --> Gel!
Go! --> Git!
Read! --> Oku!
Sit down! --> Otur!
Stand up! --> Kalk!
However, different from English, there is an imperative form for different cases of
person. Let´s see now how these are constructed:

Personal Pronoun Suffix

 Ben No first person singular form

Sen - (no suffix)

O -sin

Biz No first person plural form

Siz -in

Onlar -sinler

Now, let´s see the meaning of each case using the verb to go (gitmek).

Case Meaning

(sen) git go! (singular, to a single person)

(o) git-sin --> gitsin let him go (not like "allow him to go", this has the
meaning that you want him to go in an imperative
way)

(siz) git-in --> gidin go! (plural, to multiple people)

(onlar) git-sinler --> gitsinler let them go (again, the meaning is not like "allow them
to go", gitsinler means that you want them to go and
you are expressing this in an imperative way)

As you can see, a commonly used clause, "let´s", is included in the imperative
definition. If you want to say "Let´s go to the movie", it becomes "Sinemaya gidelim"
in Turkish. Now, let´s see how the example verbs we used above are made imperative
with respect to different cases of person.

Personal gelmek - to gitmek - to okumak - to oturmak - to kalkmak - to

Pronoun come go read sit down stand up
 sen gel git oku otur kalk

o gelsin gitsin okusun otursun kalksın

siz gelin gidin okuyun oturun kalkın

onlar gelsiler gitsinler okusunlar otursunlar kalksınlar

There is no first person singular or first person plural form of the imperatives, but
there is another form called wish clause that gives a similar meaning for the first
person singular and plural. Note that only the first person singular and first person
plural forms of the wish clause are used in practice. Here is how the wish clause is
constructed:

Personal Pronoun Suffix

Ben -eyim

Biz -elim

Case Meaning

(ben) git-eyim --> gideyim let me go

(biz) git-elim --> gidelim let´s go

Personal gelmek - to gitmek - to okumak - to oturmak - to kalkmak - to

Pronoun come go read sit down stand up

Ben Geleyim gideyim okuyayım oturayım kalkayım

Biz Gelelim gidelim okuyalım oturalım kalkalım

Degrees of Adjectives
Comparatives and superlatives are constructed in a very straightforward way in
Turkish. Besides these, there is a special way of making adjectives stronger in Turkish
and this is not very trivial. I this lesson, we will cover all these topics.
1. Comparatives
1.1. More, Less
Comparative of an adjective is obtained by adding the word "daha" before the
adjective. We can say that daha is the word for more and all adjective comparatives
are constructed like 'more clever' (not like faster).
faster --> daha hızlı
slower --> daha yavaş
more intelligent --> daha zeki
more hardworking --> daha çalışkan
more beautiful --> daha güzel

If you want to say less beautiful or less hardworking, then replace the
word 'daha' with 'daha az'.
less fast --> daha az hızlı
less intelligent --> daha az zeki
less hardworking --> daha az çalışkan
less beautiful --> daha az güzel

Now, let's see how the comparative form of an adjective is used in sentences.
I am beautiful. --> (Ben) güzelim.
I am more beautiful. --> (Ben) daha güzelim.
You are more beautiful. --> (Sen) daha güzelsin.
She is more beautiful. --> (O) daha güzel.

This is a fast car. --> Bu hızlı bir araba.

This is a faster car. --> Bu daha hızlı bir araba.
This car is faster. --> Bu araba daha hızlı.

1.2. More than

If you want to compare two nouns with respect to an adjective, the structure used in
English is as follows:
noun1 is more adjective than noun2
Ex1: Ahmet is more hardworking than Mehmet.
Ex2: I am more intelligent than you.
The structure to express the same meaning in Turkish is as follows:
noun1 noun2-den daha adjective
Ex1: Ahmet Mehmet'ten daha çalışkan. (Note that the ' sign is used to separate
private names from their suffixes)
Ex2: Ben senden daha zekiyim.

Now, let's see a few example sentences with this expression.

- Beril is beautiful. --> Beril güzel.
- Gökçe is more beautiful. --> Gökçe daha güzel.
- Gökçe is more beautiful than Beril. --> Gökçe Beril'den daha güzel.
- He is more hardworking than me. --> O benden daha çalışkan.
- My car is faster than your car. --> Benim arabam senin arabandan daha hızlı.
- US is larger than Turkey. --> Amerika Türkiye'den daha büyük.

1.3. As ... as
If you want to say that two nouns are equal with respect to an adjective, the strıctıre
used in English is:
noun1 is as adjective as noun2
Ex1: Beril is as beautiful as Gökçe.
Ex2: I am as beautiful as you.
The structure to express the same meaning in Turkish is as follows:
noun1 noun2 kadar adjective.
or
noun1 de noun2 kadar adjective
Both of these expressions have the same meaning, you will understand the very
slight difference as you see them used. One point to note here is that if noun2 is a
simple pronoun (like ben, sen, bu, şu) then it is used in possessive form (like benim,
senin, bunun, şunun).
Ex1: Beril de Gökçe kadar güzel.
Ex2: Ben de senin kadar güzelim.
Now, let's see a few example sentences with this expression.
- Beril is beautiful. --> Beril güzel.
- Gökçe is also beautiful. --> Gökçe de güzel. (de means 'also', 'as well')
- Gökçe is as beautifl as Beril. --> Gökçe de Beril kadar güzel.
- He is as hardworking as me. --> O da benim kadar çalışkan.
- My car is as fast as your car. --> Benim arabam da senin araban kadar hızlı.
- US is almost as large as China. --> Amerika neredeyse Çin kadar büyük.
(neredeyse means almost)

2. Superlatives
Superlatives are also straightforward in Turkish, like it is in English. Instead of 'the
most', you use 'en', and all superlatives are constructed using this word.
the fastest --> en hızlı
slower --> en yavaş
the most intelligent --> en zeki
the most hardworking --> en çalışkan
the most beautiful --> en güzel

Now, let's see how the superlative form of an adjective is used in sentences.
I am beautiful. --> (Ben) güzelim.
I am more beautiful. --> (Ben) daha güzelim.

When you want to use the superlative form in a sentence, there are two different
cases:
I am the most beautiful. --> (Ben) en güzelim. (This has the meaning of describing
yourself, like an answer to the question "What are your traits?")
I am the most beautiful. --> En güzel benim. (This has the meaning of the answer to
the question "Who is the most beautiful?")

I am the most beautiful girl. --> En güzel kız benim.

I am the most beautiful girl in this class. --> Bu sınıftaki en güzel kız benim.
You are the most beautiful girl in this class. --> Bu sınıftaki en güzel kız sensin.
She is the most beautiful girl in this class. --> Bu sınıftaki en güzel kız o.

3. Making an adjective stronger

3.1. Very
In English, when you want to make an adjective stronger, you use the word 'very'.
Saying very fast is a stronger statement than just saying fast. The same method is
applied also in Turkish, and the word for very is 'çok'. Hence:
very fast --> çok hızlı
very slow --> çok yavaş
very intelligent --> çok zeki
very hardworking --> çok çalışkan
very beautiful --> çok güzel
You are very beautiful. --> (Sen) çok güzelsin.
She is a very beautiful girl. --> (O) çok güzel bir kız.
This girl is very beautiful. --> Bu kız çok güzel.
3.2. Too
Another way of making an adjective stronger, but this time giving the
meaning extreme, is to use the word too. Saying something is too fast gives the
meaning that it is extremely fast and should be slower. The word for too in Turkish is
'fazla'.
too fast --> fazla hızlı
too slow --> fazla yavaş
too intelligent --> fazla zeki
too hardworking --> fazla çalışkan
too beautiful --> fazla güzel
We are too fast. --> (Biz) fazla hızlıyız.
This car is too fast. --> Bu araba fazla hızlı.
3.3. Other ways
A third way commonly used in Turkish (which is not seen in English) to make an
adjective stronger is adding a modified form of the first syllable before the
adjective. Important points to note here are:
 There is not a rule for how this first syllable should be modified, which
makes this rule hard to learn.
 This gives the same meaning as using the word 'very' and makes the
adjective stronger.
 All adjectives can't be made stronger using this method, and there is not
a rule to understand for which adjectives this method can be used. A group of
adjectives you can always use this method is colors, to express that the color is
strong. However, there is no rule to exactly say which adjectives can be made
stronger like this.
 Because there is not a well-defined rule, it will be very difficult to go
over adjectives and see what the stronger form of each adjective is. I think you
 should not try to learn this for each adjective at this step. The best strategy
here would be to note that there is a rule like this and when you see it used,
you will understand what it means. In your sentences, you simply can use
'çok + adjective' instead and you will be clearly understood.
Let's see some examples to this rule:
hızlı --> fast
hıphızlı --> very fast
sarı --> yellow
sapsarı --> very yellow, strong yellow
mavi --> blue
masmavi --> very blue, strong blue
beyaz --> white
bembeyaz --> very white, strong white
çabuk --> quick
çarçabuk --> very quick
kalın --> thick
kapkalın --> very thick

Another way to make an adjective stressed and stronger is to repeat it twice. Again,
this is not done with all adjectives and the best way to learn for which adjectives this
rule is applicable is to note when you hear an adjective used like this. Don't be afraid
by these rules, you will learn how to use them if you start reading Turkish texts or if
you speak to native speakers. You can still express yourself without using these
methods for making adjectives stronger. Simply use the word 'çok' before the
adjective. I am giving these rules now so that you know the meaning when you see
such a usage somewhere.
büyük büyük evler --> big houses, the property big is stressed
sarı sarı elmalar --> yellow apples, the property yellow is stressed

There is also another way to stress an adjective and make it stronger. That is, adding
a modified form of the adjective after the original form. This is again an irregular rule
and you don't need to know this completely, just understand it when you see this
usage. Sometimes, an adjective followed by the modified form of that adjective may
have a slightly different meaning.
yaşlı --> old (for people)
yaşlı başlı --> old, mature
eski --> old (for objects)
eski püskü --> very old and useless

Present simple tense (Geniş zaman)

The present simple tense is used, very much ike the one in English:

 To make general statements

o Water boils at 100 degrees. --> Su 100 derecede kaynar.
 To mention things you do regularly
o I run every morning. --> Her sabah koşarım.

Present simple tense is used only for verbs, it is not meaningful for nouns and
adjectives.

Present simple tense of a verb is constructed this way:

verb root + ir or er + present tense to be

The suffix for constructing the present simple tense of a verb is not always the same.
The suffix is sometimes -ir, sometimes -er. This is the only tense with this
irregularity, but there are certain rules that will tell you which one to choose most of
the time. The rules that will help you choose which one of -ir or -er to use as suffix are
as follows:

1. If the verb ends with a vowel, the vowel of the suffix falls and you add
only -r.
o ara-r --> arar --> he calls
o oku-r --> okur --> he reads
2. If the verb has more than one syllable, use -ir
o kapat-ir --> kapatır --> he closes
o konuş-ir --> konuşur --> he talks
3. If the verb has only one syllable:
1. If the vowel of this syllable is 'a' or 'e' and if the verb ends with 'l',
'n' or 'r' then use -ir
 gel-ir --> gelir --> he comes
 ver-ir --> verir --> he gives
 2. Use -er for the other single syllable cases
 git-er --> gider --> he goes
 koş-ar --> koşar --> he runs

Now, let's look at how the present simple tense is used with different personal
pronouns:

English Turkish

Example 1
to come --> gelmek

i come (ben) gelir-im --> gelirim

you come (sen) gelir-sin --> gelirsin

he \ (o) gelir
she | comes
it /

we come (biz) gelir-iz --> geliriz

you come (siz) gelir-siniz --> gelirsiniz

they come (onlar) gelir-ler --> gelirler

Example 2
to talk --> konuşmak

i talk (ben) konuşur-im --> konuşurum

you talk (sen) konuşur-sin --> konuşursun

he \ (o) konuşur
she | talks
it /

we talk (biz) konuşur-iz --> konuşuruz

 you talk (siz) konuşur-siniz --> konuşursunuz

they talk (onlar) konuşur-ler --> konuşurlar

The negative of present simple tense is a little different than just adding the negative-
making suffix -me. Construction of negatives of present simple tense is given in the
table below. The negative-making suffix becomes -mez except for I and we. Moreover,
when negative suffix is used, the present simple tense suffix is not used.

English Turkish

Example 1
to come --> gelmek

i don't come (ben) gel-me-im --> gelmem

you don't come (sen) gel-mez-sin --> gelmezsin

he \ (o) gel-mez --> gelmez

she | doesn't come
it /

we don't come (biz) gel-me-iz --> gelmeyiz

you don't come (siz) gel-mez-siniz --> gelmezsiniz

they don't come (onlar) gel-mez-ler --> gelmezler

Present simple tense is the most irregular tense in Turkish, it's not simple as the
name implies.

Past tense with -di (-di'li geçmiş zaman) --> Regular

past tense
There is no suffix for the regular past tense. The only point is that you must use the
past tense form of to be. Be careful about the harmony rules though, as always. The
use of the past tense with -di is almost the same as the English past tense.
  To tell an action that took place in the past.
o He came. --> Geldi.
 To make a statement that was true in the past.
o She was beautiful. --> Güzeldi.

The same way regular past tense is applied to verbs, it can also be applied to nouns
and adjectives using the past tense form of to be. The meaning in this case is the same
as the meaning of 'was' in English.
He was good. --> İyiydi.
I was successful. --> Başarılıydım.

Regular past tense of a word is constructed this way:

word root + (negative) + past tense to be

Let's see how a verb is used in regular past tense on the following examples:
gel-di --> geldi --> he came
git-me-di --> gitmedi --> he did not go
oku-di --> okudu --> he read
kapat-dik --> kapattık --> we closed
koş-din --> koştun --> you ran
ara-diniz --> aradınız --> you called (plural you)
konuş-me-di --> konuşmadı --> he did not talk
ver-me-dim --> vermedim --> I did not give
çalış-ma-dik --> çalışmadık --> we did not work
ye-diler --> yediler --> they ate
bekle-me-diler --> beklemediler --> they did not wait

Note that making the past tense of a verb and making the past tense of a noun or
adjective is the same, but only as long as they are positive. The negative suffix for
verbs is -me, but negatives of nouns and adjectives are constructed using değil. Değil
is not a suffix, it is used as a seperate word. Let's see a few examples to how nouns
and adjectives are expressed in past tense.
She was beautiful. --> Güzeldi.
She was not beautiful. --> Güzel değildi. (Note what we did is just to replace the suffix
-me for verbs with the word değil in the case of nouns and adjectives. The ordering is
still the same. Past tense of to be, which followed -me for verbs, is now put
after değil)
You were not kids. --> Çocuk değildiniz.

Let's see how these personal suffixes are used on some example verbs:

English Turkish

to wait --> beklemek

i waited (ben) bekle-dim --> bekledim

you waited (sen) bekle-din --> bekledin

he \ (o) bekle-di --> bekledi

she | waited
it /

we waited (biz) bekle-dik --> bekledik

you waited (siz) bekledi-niz --> beklediniz

they waited (onlar) bekle-diler --> beklediler

to work --> çalışmak

i worked (ben) çalış-dim --> çalıştım

you worked (sen) çalış-din --> çalıştın

he \ (o) çalış-di --> çalıştı

she | worked
it /

we worked (biz) çalış-dik --> çalıştık

you worked (siz) çalış-diniz --> çalıştınız

 they worked (onlar) çalış-diler --> çalıştılar

Past tense with -miş (-miş'li geçmiş zaman) ==>

Also called the story past tense
To obtain the story past tense of a verb, we append the suffix -miş to the verb. Be
careful about the harmony rules. Past tense with -miş is used:
 To talk about something you learned from somebody else or some other
resource, there is some uncertainty in the statement. If you use the story past
tense when talking about something, it implies that you are not the source of
the information and you shouldn't be responsible for the mistakes.
o I talked to his mother. He went to school. --> Annesiyle
konuştum. Okula gitmiş. (The part about talking to the mother is your
direct experience, so you tell it using regular past tense. However, the
part about he going to school is information you got from the mother, so
you tell it using story past tense.)
 To talk about something you just learned or understood
o Is this your daughter? She is very beautiful. --> Bu senin kızın
mı? Çok güzelmiş. (You just noticed that she is beautiful, and you
express this using story past tense)
 Simple stories are written and told in using this tense.

Story past tense of a word is constructed this way:

word root + (negative) + miş + present tense to be

The same way story past tense is applied to verbs, it can also be applied to nouns and
adjectives.
I talked to Kemal about her. She is sick. --> Kemal'le onun hakkında
konuştum.Hastaymış. (You learned that she is sick from Kemal)
Prime minister was in France yesterday. --> Başbakan dün Fransadaymış. (You use
story past tense because you learned this from somebody else or from the news)
Prime minister was not in France yesterday. --> Başbakan dün Fransada değilmiş.
(Remember that negatives of non-verbs are made with değil)

Let's see the use of story past tense on some example verbs.
gel-miş --> gelmiş --> he came
git-miş-siniz--> gitmişsiniz --> you went (plural you)
oku-miş-sin--> okumuşsun --> you read
kapat-miş-ler--> kapatmışlar --> they closed
koş-me-miş--> koşmamış --> he did not run
ara-me-miş-sin--> aramamışsın --> you did not call
konuş-me-miş-ler--> konuşmamışlar --> they did not talk
ver-miş-iz--> vermişiz --> we gave

Finally, let's see how a verb is used in the story past tense with different personal
pronouns.

English Turkish

to wait --> beklemek

i waited (ben) beklemiş-im --> beklemişim

you waited (sen) beklemiş-sin --> beklemişsin

he \ (o) beklemiş
she | waited
it /

we waited (biz) beklemiş-iz --> beklemişiz

you waited (siz) beklemiş-siniz --> beklemişsiniz

they waited (onlar) beklemiş-ler --> beklemişler

1. Must
The best counterpart in Turkish for the meaning of necessity that is given with 'must'
in English is the suffix '-meli'. The skeleton for using a verb with this suffix is as
follows:
verb-meli-to be

I must go --> git-meli-im --> gitmeliyim (note the use of the fusion consonant y)
We must study --> çalışmalıyız (note that the suffix -meli becomes -malı due to
the major vowel harmony)
You must sit down (plural) --> oturmalısınız
 You must go home now. --> Şimdi eve gitmelisin.

We can show how to express the necessity of a verb the for different cases of person:

Personal Pronoun Suffix

Ben -meliyim

Sen -melisin

O -meli

Biz -meliyiz

Siz -melisiniz

Onlar -meliler

2. Have to
The meaning of formal obligation that 'have to' gives in English is best given by the
word'lazım' in Turkish. The structure for using this construct is as follows:
verb-me-possession (blank space) lazım
This might seem confusing, let us explain how this structure works. The suffix -
me allows a verb to be used like a noun, it is similar to a gerund. You might ask at
this point, wasn't the suffix -me used for negating verbs? That is right, but the suffix
for negating verbs and the suffix for using a verb like a noun are the same.
So, okuma can mean either don't read orreading according to the context in
which it is used. In this case, we are concerned about the second meaning. So, in the
phrase okumam lazım, the part okumam means my reading and the
part lazım means required. When we put these together, it becomes my reading is
required and this is what we use for I have to read in Turkish. Let's look at a few
examples to clarify this further:
I have to go to school tomorrow. --> Yarın okula gitmem lazım.
I have to work now. --> Şimdi çalışmam lazım.
We have to get ready. --> Hazırlanmamız lazım.
You have to go. --> Gitmen lazım.
3. Need to
This is very similar to the use of have to, both in meaning and structure. The word we
use to give the meaning of need to is 'gerekiyor'. It is similar to 'have to' in
meaning, so that it can be used interchangeably with have to (lazım). It is similar in
structure, which can be seen in the structural skeleton:
verb-me-posession (blank space) gerekiyor
The following examples will clarify this further:
I need to go home. --> Eve gitmem gerekiyor.
You need to be here at 2. --> Saat ikide burada olman gerekiyor.
You need to sleep early. --> Erken uyuman gerekiyor.
She needs to see a doctor. --> Doktora gitmesi gerekiyor.

4. Want to
The use of want to is logically almost identical to the English counterpart. One
important difference is that you use the verb 'to want' in present continuous tense
instead of present simple. The turkish verb for to want is istemek. The structure
goes as follows:
verb(infinitive) (blank space) istiyor-to be
I want to go. --> Gitmek istiyorum.
I want to sleep. --> Uyumak istiyorum.
I want to take a rest. --> Dinlenmek istiyorum.
I want to go home. --> Eve gitmek istiyorum.
What do you want? --> Ne istiyorsun?
Konuşmak istiyor musun? --> Do you want to talk?