Verbs in Turkish

In Turkish there are two kinds of verbs:

       1. Transitive verbs: take an object  (anla -understand, sev -love, bul -find, yap -make...)

• Ben seni anlıyorum. -> I understand you. (Seni:you is an object)
• Anahtarı buldular. -> They found the key. (Anahtarı:the key is an object)

       2. Intransitive verbs: take no object (gül -laugh, uyu -sleep, öl -die...)

• Onlar gülmedi. -> They didn't laugh.
• Kedi uyuyor. ->The cat is sleeping.

Infinitive in Turkish

The infinitive is the mood of the verb without any conjugation. In order to make a the Turkish infinitive, the suffix -mak or -mek is added to the verb root according to the last vowel of the verb root. 

• ağlamak (to cry), gülmek (to laugh), okumak (to read), görmek (to see)...

Have a question?

Take online language lessons with a professional teacher

1. Native & verified teachers
2. Free trial lesson
3. Learning materials included

Ayça K.

Hatice Ç.

Özlem V.

Günay M.

Nazlıcan Y.

Tuğçe K.

ALİ K.

Özge A.

Dilara G.

Gözde Ç.

Sign up for free

Turkish verb conjugation and tenses

There are 4 main tenses in the Turkish language:

• The present continuous tense (şimdiki zaman)
• The present simple tense (geniş zaman )
• The past tense (geçmiş zaman)
• The future tense (gelecek zaman) 

Verb's suffixes

Verbs are conjugated according to suffixes. This makes the conjugation different than English or other Roman and Latin languages.

The different suffixes are:

• Personal suffixes (indicate the personal pronoun like "me, you, he,...")
• Tense suffixes: present, past or future tense
• Voice suffixes: causative, passive, reflexive, reciprocal

Causative verbs in Turkish

Causative verbs are verbs that explain how a person or a thing makes something happen (verbs with an obligated indirect object like to make something, to get something,...). In Turkish, a causative verb is formed by adding a specific suffix to the verb.

Examples

• pişirmek (to cook something)
• güldürmek (to make someone laugh)
• anlatmak (to make someone understand)

Passive verbs in Turkish

The passive voice is used  to emphasize the action and the object of a sentence. The passive voice is formed by adding specific suffixes. The passive suffixes are: ''-n, -in, -il''

Examples

• hazırlanmak (to be prepared)
• okunmak (to be read)
• gezilmek (to be visited) 

Reflexive verbs in Turkish

In English, the words myself, oneself,... are used in combination with reflexive verbs. In Turkish, the suffix -(i)n shows that the subject and the object are the same in a sentence. The reflexive mood is only used with certain verbs.

Examples

• giyinmek (to dress oneself)
• kurulanmak (to dry oneself)
• gezinmek (to stroll oneself)

Reciprocal verbs in Turkish

The reciprocal verb gives a meaning of an action that is done together with another person. In English one would say `one another`. In Turkish, the suffix -(i)ş is used to provide this meaning. The reciprocal mood can only be used with certain verbs.

Examples

• öpüşmek (to kiss each other)
• araşmak (to call each other)
• buluşmak (to meet up with someone)