The easy way to learn Turkish
Simple Present Tense
- Positive
| 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 |
The simple present tense is the equivalent of 'I...' in English, for example 'I go', or 'I leave'. It is used to describe actions carried out regularly as well as general statements, and is sometimes used to ask a request.
To make this tense in Turkish, we must add a suffix after this verb.
The rules to do this are;
1) If the verb ends in a vowel, simply add -r. (oyna = play, oynar = plays)
2) If the verb is just 1 syllable, add -er/ar according to vowel harmony. (koy = put, koyar = puts)
3) If the verb is 2 or more syllables, add -ir/ır/ur/ür'. (konuş = speak, konuşur = speaks)
However
Most verbs that end in either L or R take the -ir ending even if they are just one vowel.
Here is a list of the verbs that take this ending;
gel, al, bil, var, gör, kal, bul, öl, ver, ol, san, dur, vur
examples - 'gelir' = ' comes', 'alır' = 'takes'.
After adding the simple present suffix, we must then add the personal ending on to that accordyng to vowel harmony. They are as follows;
I..... - '....im' (or ım/um/üm)
you....(singular/familiar) - '....sin' (or sın/sun/sün)
he/she/it.... - (no personal ending)
we.... - '....iz' (or ız/uz/üz)
you....(plural/polite) - '....siniz' (or sınız/sunuz/sünüz)
they.... - '....ler' (or ...lar)
So , to make a present simple sentece first check if the word ends in a vowel, and then how many syllables it has and add the appropriate suffix. Then check it is not one of the words listed above that break the rules. After that add the personal ending.
examples
i go = gid-er-im
you stay - kal-ır-sın
he/she/its puts - koy-ar
we come - gel-ir-iz
you play - oyna-r-siniz
they talk - konuş-ur-lar
Asking questions with the simple present tense
To turn this tense into a question, eg do you go, add the question marker -mi before the personal ending and change according to vowel harmony.
examples
do i read? - okur muyum ?
do you go? - gider misin ?
does he stay? - kalır mı?
do we think? - düşünür müyüz ?
do you suppose? - sanır mısınız ?
do they come? - gelirler mi ? (to say 'do they...?', the question marker always comes after the personal ending).
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