Present simple tense in Turkish (geniş zaman)

The present simple tense shows a habitual action that someone has done in the past, still does now and will continue to do in the future. The simple present tense is called as 'geniş zaman' in Turkish. The suffix -(e/i)r is added to the root of the verb. These endings change to ''-ar, -er, -ır, -ir, -ur, -ür, -r'' depending on the vowel harmony rules.

How to form the present simple tense

The 3 forms of the present simple tense are:

• Positive form
• Negative form
• Question form

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Positive form

To form a positive verb in the present simple tense, the suffix '-(e/i)r' is added to the verb root and then personal suffix is added. The suffix -(e/i)r changes according to the following rules:

Verb root + -(e/i)r + personal suffix

1. Verbs ending with a vowel

If the verb ends with a vowel: add only '-r'.

• Oku (read) -> Sabahları gazete okurum. (I read a newspaper in the morning.)
• Ağla (cry) -> Bebekler genelde ağlar. (Babies usually cry.)
• Ara (call) -> Annem beni her gün arar. (My mother calls me everyday.)

2. Verbs with one syllable

• If the verb has one syllable: add '-ar' or 'er'
• If the vowel of this syllable is 'a' or 'e' and if the verb ends with 'l', 'n' or 'r' add: '-ir'

• Sor (ask) -> Derste soru sorarım. (I ask a question in the lesson.)
• Çiz (draw) -> Arkadaşım resim çizer. (My friend draws a picture.)
• Gel (come) -> Her hafta bize gelirler. (They come to our house every week.)

3. Verbs with more than one syllable

If the verb has more than one syllable: add one of the following endings according to the vowel harmony rules: '-ır', '-ir', '-ur', -'ür'

• Kullan (use) -> Saç kurutma makinesi kullanırım. (I use a hair dryer.)
• Öğren (learn) -> Çocuklar bizden daha hızlı öğrenirler. (Children learn quicker than us.)
• Gör (see) -> Her gün beni görürler. (They see me everyday.)

Negative form

 According to the last vowel of the verb root, the negative suffix '-mez' or '-maz' is used after the verb root except for the pronouns 'I and we'. 

Verb root + -mez/-maz +personal suffix

Example with 'almak' (to buy)

• Ben almam. (I don't buy.)
• Sen almazsın. (You don't buy.)
• O almaz. (He/she/it doesn't buy.)
• Biz almayız. (We don't buy.)
• Siz almazsınız. (You don't buy.)
• Onlar almazlar. (They don't buy.)

Example with 'gelmek' (to come)

• Ben gelmem. (I don't come.)
• Sen gelmezsin. (You don't come.)
• O gelmez. (He/she/it doesn't come.)
• Biz gelmeyiz. (We don't come.)
• Siz gelmezsiniz. (You don't come.)
• Onlar gelmezler. (They don't come.)

Question form

Questions in the simple present tense are formed by adding the suffix '-mi' after the present simple tense suffix.

verb root + -(i/e)r + -mi + personal suffix