Turkish Language - The Simple Present Tense - Positive(1) Habitual Action(2) Consent or Willingness(3) Uncertain FuturePositive FormSome Examples - the tense sign is -rSome Examples - the tense sign is -ir -r -r -urThe Positive Interrogative FormTranslation of - "used to.."Proverbs - "Ataszler"The Simple Present Tense is also known as the Aorist (Boundless) Tense in some grammar books.It is known as the Geni Zaman - Wide Tense - in Turkish grammar.It does not specify a time of the present, past or future.This tense is known as the Wide Tense Tense in Turkish grammatical terms as it signifies an unbounded time situation. In Turkish it is called Geni Zaman - The Wide Tense. It is also considered as a gentle tense and is used as a polite imperative or polite request. The three uses of the Simple Present are as follows:(1) Habitual ActionThis tense is used where verbs are required to signify a timeless situation in meaning:Her gun denizde yzerim. - I swim in the sea every day.Aye hanm dondurmay cok sever. - Miss Ayshe likes ice cream a lot.Her gece eve dnerim. - I come back home every night.Her gn dzenli olarak tra olur. - He shaves regularly each day.Genelikle et yeriz. - Generally we eat meat.Her hafta sonunda futbol oynarlar. - They play football every weekend.In the sentences above there is no indication of future, past or present time. The tense then is used to denote action that is habitual or ongoing.Thanks to Nurcan Akaltun ifti for corrections to the above section - JG - May 2008. (2) Consent or WillingnessThe tense also shows consent or willingness.Kapy aar msnz? - Would you open the door please? - [a polite request.]Buna bakar msnz? - Would you look at this please - [a polite command.]Evet, onu yaparm. - Yes, I will do the job - [a willing consent.]ki gecelik bir oda tutarz - We will take a room for two nights.In Turkish - would you..? and please.. - are not translated as it is inherent within the tense itself. This tense is a polite tense.The Polite CommandBakar msnz? - Would you look, please?This is the polite way to get attention of a waiter or any person. It is similar to the Welsh - Look you? - in that it is not rude.The Polite RequestBir ay rica ederim - A tea, please - [Lit: I request a tea.]Pencereyi kapatr msnz? - Would you close the window, please?This is the polite way of asking questions or giving minor orders to strangers.The Polite ConsentBen onu yaparm - I'll do it.This is a nice way of accepting the responsibility of something.(3) Uncertain FutureThe Simple Present is also used for future events which are not timed.Saatin altnda seni beklerim - I'll be waiting under the clock for you.Parkn yanndaki bankay tabii ki bulursunuz - You'll find the bank all right, next to the Park.Yarn ofiste buluuruz - We'll see each other in the office tomorrow.Positive FormThe tense sign is -r which is added directly to the verb stem as follows:Single Syllable VerbsFor verbs of one syllable which end in a consonant - the positive tense sign is -ar or -er. There are some exceptions to this general rule. This tense is the only one which shows some irregularity in its formation.Exceptions to Single Syllable VerbsSome 13 single syllable verbs take the tense sign as -ir -r -r -ur these verbs are listed below.Multi Syllable VerbsFor verbs consisting of more than one syllable the tense sign is -ir -r -r -ur - according to Vowel harmony.Verb Stems Which end in a vowelFor all verbs ending in a vowel the tense sign is -r-. The Personal suffixes are added to the tense sign to complete the verb in number..Single Syllable Verb Root ending in a consonantIn this case -ar or -er is added after dropping -mak or -mek

yapmakto do, to makekesmekto cut

yaparmI dokeserimI cut

yaparsnyou dokesersinyou cut

yaparhe doeskeserhe cuts

yaparzwe dokeserizwe cut

yaparsnzyou dokesersinizyou cut

yaparlarthey dokeserlerthey cut

The Five Verbs which Show Consonant MutationRemember also that the five verbs that soften their final -t to -d when a vowel is added in the suffix:

gitmekto gogiderhe goes

etmekto doederimI do

tatmakto taste oftadarlarthey taste of

ditmekto shreddidersinyou shred

gtmekto nourishgderimI nourish..

Exceptions to Single Syllable VerbsThese 13 single syllable verbs are exceptions as they form the tense with -ir or -r or -ur or -r.Aide memoir: All these verb stems end in -r or -l - except one - sanmak.

almakto takealrmI take

bilmekto knowbilirhe knows

bulmakto findbulurhe finds

durmakto stop, haltdururuzwe stop

gelmekto comegelirsinizyou come

grmekto seegrrlerthey see

kalmakto staykalrmI stay

olmakto becomeolursunyou become

lmekto dielrit dies

sanmakto supposesanrzwe suppose

vermekto giveverirsinizyou give

varmakto arrivevarrlarthey arrive

vurmakto hitvururumI hit

Verb Stems which end in a VowelIn this case the Tense sign -r is added after dropping -mak or -mek

demekto say, meananlamakto understand

derimI sayanlarmI understand

dersinyou sayanlarsnyou understand

derhe saysanlarhe understands

derizwe sayanlarzwe understand

dersinizyou sayanlarsnzyou understand

derlerthey sayanlarlarthey understand

Some Examples - the tense sign is -rdemek - der - to sayDnya yuvarlaktr derler - They say the world is round.yemek - yer - to eatHer gn ekmek yeriz - We eat bread every day.beklemek - bekler - to waitHer gn kede beklersiniz, deil mi? - Every day you wait at the corner , don't you?sylemek - syler - to speakHer zaman "hayr'" derler - They say "No" every time. [the word "hayr'" is a Direct Object]

Multi Syllable Vowels Which end in a ConsonantVerbs consisting of more than one syllable in the verb stem take tense sign -ir -r -r -ur according to vowel harmony.

gndermekto sendkazanmakto win

gnderirimI sendkazanrmI win

gnderirsinyou sendkazanrsnyou win

gnderirhe sendskazanrhe wins

gnderirizwe sendkazanrzwe win

gnderirsinizyou sendkazanrsnzyou win

gnderirlerthey sendkazanrlarthey win

Some Examples - the tense sign is -ir -r -r -urkazanabilmek - kazanabilir - to be able to winHer hafta Milli Piyango'yu kazanabilirsin - You can win the lottery every week.-a trmanmak - to climb (to, up to..)Her yl Nemrut Da'na trmanrz - We climb (to)Mount Nemrut every year.Note: - trmanmak - to climb (to, up to) - takes a Dative Object in -a or -e as this verb shows "movement towards"gtrmek - gtrr - to bringMehmet, yemeini her gn evden gtrr - Mehmet, brings his lunch from home every day.beenmek - beenir - to like, approveTrk kahvesini beenirler - They like Turkish coffee.The Positive Interrogative FormThe interrogative is formed by adding the personalized question particles after the simple tense verb stem ending in -r. They are written separately, but follow vowel harmony rules.

bakmakto lookbakar mym?do I look?

kalmakto staykalr msn?do you stay?

bitirmekto finishbitirir mi?does he finish?

yazmakto writeyazar myz?do we write?

komakto runkoar msnz?do you run?

yrmekto walkyrrler mi?do they walk?

Translation of - "used to.."If the past tense endings are added to the Wide Tense Positive -r verb stem then the meaning is habitual in the past. This translated by - used to ... - in English. However in Turkish the Simple Present Tense is used with the past tense personal endings habitual in the past. Sk sk buraya gelirdim. I used to come here very often ** Genken ok glerdin You used to laugh a lot when [Lit: while..] you were young.This is another way of saying: ** Gen olduun zaman ok glerdin. - When you were young you used to laugh a lot. Kuadada (Kuadasnda) kalrken her zaman denizde yzerdi He always used to swim in the sea when staying at Kuadas. Note: Locally people say Kuadada - "in Kuadas" - but grammatically it should be - Kuadasnda - "in Kuadas" 1950 ylndan nce Trkiyede kola iilirdi. Coca-cola used to be drunk in Turkey before 1950. Dersler bittikten sonra uzun zaman/sre beni beklerdin. You always used to wait for me a long time after school finished. Tatilde kamp yaparken hep/daima iyi uyurlard They always used to sleep very well while on holiday while camping.We should note that although iken translates as while in English, it is very often better to translate it as - "when", although this is not literally correct [see * and ** above] Thanks to Nurcan Akaltun ifti for corrections to the above section - JG - May 2008. Proverbs - "Ataszler"Turkish Proverbs are usually written in the Wide Tense habitual tense. Here are some examples in the positive form of the timeless tense. These translations are not literal showing the difficulty of such interpretation from Turkish to English. Acele ie, eytan karr. If you hurry, the devil intervenes. abuk parlayan abuk sner. A flash is quickly extinguished. Damlaya damlaya gl olur. Lakes form drop by drop. Emek ver, kulak ver, bilgi ver, ama hibir zaman bo verme. - [the final - verme - is negative] Give labour, ear and knowledge, but never give notice. [never don't bother..]. Fakirlik ayp deil tembellik ayp. Poverty is no shame but idleness is. Gzel gren gzel dnr. Gzel dnen hayattan lezzet alr. An observer of beauty thinks of beauty. Those who think beauty taste life. yilik eden iyilik bulur. Those who do good find goodness themselves. Ne ekersen onu biersin. You reap what you sow. nce dn sonra syle. Think first, speak later. Salam kafa salam vcutta bulunur. A healthy mind is found in a healthy body. Tok iken yemek yiyen, mezarn kendi kazar. Those who eat when they are full dig their own grave.See Turkish proverbs A to Z - at Wikipedia Website.