Professional Documents
Culture Documents
A Beginner-Friendly Guide To Turkish Verb Conjugation 2
A Beginner-Friendly Guide To Turkish Verb Conjugation 2
I. Person / Subject
In Turkish, different suffixes are added to a verb based on the person/subject it alludes to. Since the
verb of the sentence already contains a personal pronoun through the suffix it takes, personal
pronouns aren’t usually used in sentences. Vowels in the suffixes change based on the vowel
harmony.
I’ll provide rules and examples for this below when talking about the tenses.
Whether the subject is singular or plural impacts the suffix the verb will get. I’ll provide examples
for this later on in this article.
III. Politeness Level
In Turkish, we use the plural “you” both as it’s used in English, and also as a polite, formal way of
naming or referring to someone. The Turkish verb conjugation rules for the plural “you” also apply
to the polite “you.”
IV. Tense
Tenses are the most confusing of all. I’ll make a Turkish verb conjugation chart for each tense,
including the person/subject suffixes. I highly recommend that you prepare your own reference file
using those charts, so that you can find all of the Turkish verb conjugation information in one
place.
The thing about the verb “to be” in Turkish is that there isn’t a word for it like there is in English
(“am,” “is,” “are”). Instead, the suffixes imply the meaning.
Please note that the third person singular pronoun doesn’t have to take the suffix; you can leave it
blank. The third person plural pronoun doesn’t have to take the whole suffix, either; it can take
only the plural suffixes -ler and -lar.
B. Modal Verbs
In Turkish, there aren’t separate words for the modal verbs. To form modal verbs, certain suffixes
are added to the verbs. For example:
Can
In Turkish, we express “can” using the suffix -abil or -ebil. We add the appropriate one to the verb
root based on its last vowel. -abil and -ebil can be used with any tense, but are usually used with
the present simple tense. If the verb ends with a vowel, then the buffer y is added before the -abil or
-ebil suffix.
Examples:
Must
In Turkish, we express “must” using the suffixes -malı or -meli, which are added to the verb root.
The simple present tense is used for the actions that we do all the time. Here are the rules for
Turkish present tense conjugations:
1. The following suffixes are added to the verb root for verbs ending with a vowel:
2. The following suffixes are added to the verb root for verbs that have one syllable and end with a
consonant:
3. The following suffixes are added to the verb root for verbs that have more than one syllable and
end with a consonant:
Please also note that sometimes helping words such as etmek and olmak are combined together
with other words like kaybolmak and seyretmek. These verbs don’t follow this rule; instead, the
rule that applies to the helping verbs etmek and olmak is used.
If the verb root ends in a vowel, the vowel at the end is dropped and the following suffixes are
added. The suffixes shown below also are used for verbs ending with a consonant:
E. Past Tense
To use the correct rule for past tense conjugations, you need to check the last vowel and the last
letter of the verb. Study this Turkish conjugation table to see what we mean:
Last vowel of the verb root
a/ı e/i o/u ö/ü
If the If the If the If the
very last If the very very last If the very very last If the very very last If the very
letter of last letter letter of last letter letter of last letter letter of last letter
the verb of the verb the verb of the verb the verb of the verb the verb of the verb
root is root root is root root is root root is root
Person
one of contains one of contains one of contains one of contains
these the rest of these the rest of these the rest of these the rest of
letters: the letters: the letters: the letters: the
ç/f/h/k/s/ consonants. ç/f/h/k/s/ consonants. ç/f/h/k/s/ consonants. ç/f/h/k/s/ consonants.
ş/t/p. ş/t/p. ş/t/p. ş/t/p.
“I”
-tım -dım -tım -dım -tum -dum -tum -dum
(Ben)
“You”
-tın -dın -tın -dın -tun -dun -tun -dun
(Sen)
“He /
she /
-tı -dı -tı -dı -tu -du -tu -du
it”
(O)
“We”
-tık -dık -tık -dık -tuk -duk -tuk -duk
(Biz)
“You”
-tınız -dınız -tınız -dınız -tunuz -dunuz -tunuz -dunuz
(Siz)
“They”
-tılar -dılar -tiler -diler -tular -dular -tüler -düler
(Onlar)
Below are some examples that will help you understand the Turkish conjugation for the past tense
better:
F. Future Tense
There are two words that have an exception: demek (“to say,” “to tell”) and yemek (“to eat”). The
letter e changes to i, and then the above-mentioned suffixes are added. For example:
Creating the negative form of “to be” is simple. The word değil means “not,” and it takes the
personal suffix. Let me explain it with examples:
H. Interrogation
Let’s look at the present form of “yes or no” questions. Here are the words that turn a sentence into
a closed question. I said “words” because they’re not suffixes, but separate words, which don’t
mean anything when used alone.
O tok mu?
(“Is he / she / it full?”)
Biz kötü müyüz?
(“Are we bad?”)
3. Verb Modification
I. Passive
Verbs can be made passive by adding n if the verb ends with a vowel:
You can also add ıl, il, ul, or ül depending on the vowel harmony if the verb ends with a consonant
other than l:
Finally, you can add ın, in, un, or ün depending on the vowel harmony if the verb ends with l:
II. Causative
The causative verbs are formed by adding the causative suffix after the verb root according to the
vowel harmony rules.
Add ır, ir, ur, or ür based on the vowel harmony if the verb stem ends with ş or ç:
Most verbs get the following suffixes based on the vowel harmony:
dir, dır, dür, dur, tir, tır, tür, tur
A few mono-syllable verbs ending in k take -it, -ıt, -üt, or -ut suffixes:
There are also some verbs that take the -er and -ar suffixes:
III. Reflexive
You can create a reflexive verb by adding the suffix -in. For example:
1. How is the verb atlamak (“to jump”) conjugated in the first person plural as future tense?
a. Atladım
b. Atlayacağım
c. Atlıyorsunuz
d. Atlayacağız
2. Complete the sentence with the correct present “to be” suffix.
Biz güzel….. (“We are beautiful.”)
a. dik
b. iz
c. eceğiz
d. ıyoruz
a. düm
b. dük
c. üm
d. eceğim
4. Complete the sentence with the correct present continuous tense suffix.
a. tim
b. sın
c. eceğim
d. iyorsun
a. abilirsiniz
b. acaksınız
c. malısınız
d. uyorsunuz
Are you looking for the answer key? If so, you need to read the rest to get to it!
5. Conclusion
How does it feel to learn about those Turkish conjugation rules? Seems like too much info, huh? If
you have combined all the Turkish verb conjugation charts and created a Turkish verbs conjugation
PDF file for yourself, then you can refresh your memory whenever you need to. Furthermore,
make sure to visit our website, TurkishClass101.com, to reinforce what you’ve learned.
Last but not least, here are the answers to the quiz:
E-Mail Address
Join Now
By clicking Join Now, you agree to our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and to receive our email
communications, which you may opt out at any time.
Blog Posts
Popular
Recent
Guide to Turkish Greetings: Ways to Say Hello in Turkish
December 3, 2021
Are you approaching the intermediate level in Turkish? Great job! I hope you realize how
remarkable your accompl...
ALSO ON TURKISHCLASS101
Welcome to the Wild: So, um… Are you The 100 Most Common
Animal Names in … ready to learn … Turkish Adverbs & …
Dogs or cats? Spiders or Okay, so, like, you really In this guide to Turkish
snakes? Learn the most need to know about filler adverbs, TurkishClass101
common Turkish words … words in Turkish. Learn … will introduce you to 100 …
Name
Related Posts
How to Say I Love You in Turkish – Romantic Word List
Do you often feel lonely and sad? Do you long for romance and are willing to do whatever it takes
to meet that specia...
When learning the Turkish language, how to say hello is one of the most essential things you’ll
need to know. You ...
In most cultures, it is custom to express gratitude in some way or another. The dictionary defines
gratitude as f...
Most everyone is familiar with this day, as it is celebrated nearly everywhere the world. Yet, when
exactly is Ap...
See Previous Post
See Next Post
Categories
General Announcements
Learn Turkish
Advanced Turkish
Tips & Techniques
Turkish Alphabet
Turkish Grammar
Turkish Lessons
Turkish Online
Turkish Phrases
Turkish Podcasts
Turkish Words
Living in Turkey
Newsletter
Site Features
Feature Spotlight
Success Stories
Teaching Turkish
Team TurkishClass101
Turkish Culture
Turkish Holidays
Turkish Language
Turkish Translation
Uncategorized