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 no + personal ending purple ben purple solu inhaler b noum purple no I inhale sen purple solu inhaler b nosun purple no you inhale o purple solu inhaler b nopurple no he/she inhales biz purple solu inhaler b nouz purple no we inhale siz purple solu inhaler b nosunuz purple no you inhale onlar purple solu inhaler b no(lar) purple no 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 no + personal ending purple ben purple erit meltir b noim purple no I melt sen purple erit meltir b nosin purple no you melt o purple erit meltir b nopurple no he/she melt biz purple erit meltir b noiz purple no we melt siz purple erit meltir b nosiniz purple no you melt onlar purple erit meltir b no(ler) purple no they melt ben purple yorul get tiredur b noum purple no I get tired sen purple yorul get tiredur b nosun purple no you get tired o purple yorul get tiredur b nopurple no he/she gets tired biz purple yorul get tiredur b nouz purple no we get tired siz purple yorul get tiredur b nosunuz purple no you get tired onlar purple yorul get tiredur b no(lar) purple no 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 tatmak, etmek and gitmek undergo consonant voicing, as in the present tense.Verb stem + appropriate form of ar no + personal ending purple ben purple bak lookar b noım purple no I look sen purple bak lookar b nosın purple no you look o purple bak lookar b nopurple no he/she looks biz purple bak lookar b noız purple no we look siz purple bak lookar b nosınız purple no you look onlar purple bak lookar b no(lar) purple no they look ben purple düş faller b noim purple no I fall sen purple düş faller b nosin purple no you fall o purple düş faller b nopurple no he/she fall biz purple düş faller b noiz purple no we fall siz purple düş faller b nosiniz purple no you fall onlar purple düş faller b no(ler) purple no they fall ed do/makeer b noim purple no I do gid goer b noim purple no I go tad tastear b noım purple no I taste 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/believe varmak to arrive vermek to give vurmak to hit yenmek to be eatenWhile 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 denilmek 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) no + personal ending purple ben purple git gome darkred nom purple no I don't go sen purple git gomez darkred nosin purple no you don't go o purple git gomez darkred nopurple no he/she doesn't go biz purple git gome darkred noyiz purple no we don't go siz purple git gomez darkred nosiniz purple no you don't go onlar purple git gomez darkred noler purple no 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. dön returner b no mi darkgreen noyiz purple no Do we return? kalk burnmaz darkred no mı darkgreen noyız purple no Don't we leave? Usage Future Turkish/Future Tense Requests Turkish/Imperative and Optitative 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.