Turkish/Aorist

The aorist, or geniş zaman (broad tense) in Turkish, very roughly corresponds to the English present simple. Its formation is quite irregular, and its usage is also quite difficult to grasp, making this tense quite a challenge for new learners.

Formation

Affirmative

Verbs ending in vowels

The easiest case is when the verb stem ends in a vowel, where the suffix simply becomes -r, followed by the usual personal endings.

Verb stem + r + personal ending

solumak ben solurum I inhale sen solursun you inhale o solur he/she inhales biz soluruz we inhale siz solursunuz you inhale onlar solur(lar) they inhale

Multi-syllable verbs ending in consonants

In all multi-syllable verbs ending in consonants, the suffix -ır/ir/ur/ür is used, obeying 4-way vowel harmony, followed by the usual personal endings.

Verb stem + appropriate form of ır + personal ending

eritmek ben eritirim I melt sen eritirsin you melt o eritir he/she melt biz eritiriz we melt siz eritirsiniz you melt onlar eritir(ler) they melt

yorulmak ben yorulurum I get tired sen yorulursun you get tired o yorulur he/she gets tired biz yoruluruz we get tired siz yorulursunuz you get tired onlar yorulur(lar) they get tired

Single-syllable verbs ending in consonants

Most single-syllable verbs take the ending -ar/er in the aortist, but there are around 16 irregular verbs ending in r, l or n that take -ır/ir/ur/ür instead, a list of which is found below. The two verbs etmek and gitmek undergo consonant voicing, as in the present tense.

Verb stem + appropriate form of ar + personal ending

bakmak ben bakarım I look sen bakarsın you look o bakar he/she looks biz bakarız we look siz bakarsınız you look onlar bakar(lar) they look

düşmek ben düşerim I fall sen düşersin you fall o düşer he/she fall biz düşeriz we fall siz düşersiniz you fall onlar düşer(ler) they fall

ederim	I do
giderim	I go

The Exceptions

almak	to buy
bilmek	to know
bulmak	to find
denmek	to be said
durmak	to stop
gelmek	to come
görmek	to see
kalmak	to stay
olmak	to be
ölmek	to die
sanmak	to think/beleive
varmak	to arrive
vermek	to give
vurmak	to hit
yenmek	to be eaten

While this list of exceptions is based on the official Turkish dictionary by TDK, the actual forms used by speakers may vary.

Speakers tend to avoid the three exceptional verbs ending in n. The double passive forms denilmen and yenilmek are used instead of denmek and yenmek, and sanmak is often replaced with its synonym zannetmek in the aorist, except for the idiomatic phrases sanırsam and sanırım, reducing the list size down to 12.

Negative

The negative form of the aorist is -ma(z)/me(z), very different from the affirmative form. -mez version of the suffix is most often pronounced /mæz/ rather than /mez/, the e being pronounced similar to the a in trap.

Verb stem + appropriate form of ma(z) + personal ending

gitmek
ben gitmem	I don't go
sen gitmezsin	you don't go
o gitmez	he/she doesn't go
biz gitmeyiz	we don't go
siz gitmezsiniz	you don't go
onlar gitmezler	they don't go

Interrogative

The question particle comes between the suffix and the personal ending like usual, regularizing the negative version in 1. person singular and plural.

döner miyiz	Do we return?
kalkmaz mıyız	Don't we leave?

Usage

Present

While the present tense -yor is used for habitual events directly witnessed or observed by the speaker, the Aorist is used to express general rules and principles instead.

• Tavşanlar otla beslenir. Rabbits eat plants.
• İman mutluluk getirir. Faith brings happiness.
• Burada sigara içilmez. Smoking isn't allowed here.
• Ali çok konuşmaz. Ali doesn't speak that much.

Turning these into the Present would turn them into general observations, rather than definitive rules.

• Tavşanlar otla besleniyor.
• İman mutluluk getiriyor.
• Burada sigara içilmiyor.
• Ali çok konuşmuyor.

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