The easy way to learn Turkish
'I can/I can't...'
| Useful Verbs |
| gelmek - to come |
| gitmek - to go |
| yemek - to eat |
| sevmek - to love |
| yapmak - to do |
| olmak - to be |
| kalmak - to stay |
| istemek - to want |
Yet again, a suffix is used to express this tense in Turkish. This suffix depends on vowel harmony just like the others.
If the last letter in a verb is;
e/i/ö/ü - the suffix is '-(y)ebilir'
a/ı/o/u - the suffix is '-(y)abilir'
The (y) is only used if the last letter in the verb is a vowel.
The only letter in the suffix which changes with vowel harmony is the 'e/a', '-bilir' will always stay the same.
Examples
gidebilir - it can go
yapabilir - it can do
yürüyebilir - it can walk
anlayabilir - it can understand
To make these into personal sentences, for example 'I can go', or 'You can stay', we must then add a personal suffix. These are the same as the 'To Be' personal suffixes;
'I can...' - '...ebilirim'
'You can...' (singular/familiar) - '....ebilirsin'
'He/She/It can...' - '...ebilir'
'We can...' - '...ebiliriz'
'You can...'(plural/polite) - '...ebilirsiniz'
'They can...' - '...ebilirler'
Examples
I can go - gidebilirim
You can stay - kalabilirsin
It can be - olabilir
We can play - oynayabiliriz
You can write - yazabilirsiniz
They can walk - yürüyebilirler
'I can't...'
To say 'I can't...' in Turkish, we add a different suffix to the verb.
The suffix is;
e/i/ö/ü - the suffix is '-(y)eme'
a/ı/o/u - the suffix is '-(y)ama'
Again, the (y) is only used if the last letter in the verb is a vowel.
Then we must add the personal endings.
With the exception of 'I' and 'We', the personal endings all begin with '-(y)emez'/'-(y)amaz' and then have the same personal endings as the 'To Be' tense.
'You can't...' (singular/familiar) - '...(y)emezsin' or '...(y)amazsın'
'He/She/It can't...' - '...(y)emez' or '...(y)amaz'
'You can't...' (plural/polite) - '...(y)emezsiniz' or '...(y)amazsınız'
'They can't...' - '...(y)emezler' or '...(y)amazlar'
'I can't...' - '...(y)emem' or '...(y)amam'
'We can't...'- '...(y)emeyiz' or '...(y)amayız'
Examples
I can't go - gelemem
You can't stay - kalamazsın
It can't give - veremez
We can't walk - yürüyemeyiz
You can't say - soyleyemezsiniz
They can't do - yapamazlar
Click here to test yourself on this section on the Turkish language.
