The Turkish Verb to be Positive

The verb to be is used in sentences to describe a state of being The house is blue. Mehmet was ill. It will be a quick journey. If it is a big house. If it had not been out of sight.

Turkish Verb "to be"

The verb "to be" is a defective verb "imek" whose stem was "i-" which is found in four forms of vowel harmony "i ı u u." It also mutates to "-y" in the past and other forms when being suffixed to a word. This is no longer important in learning Turkish, but it does give the reason for many of the suffixes in modern use for the verb "to be".

Turkish Verb to be Positive I am, you are

The Verb to be takes the form of a suffix in Turkish. It is subject to Vowel Harmony. Consonant Mutation occurs in 3rd person suffixes d ↔ t when added to words terminating in hard consonants [ç f h k p s ş t.] The buffer letter -y- is used when this suffix to a word which terminates in a vowel.

Hastayım. [hasta yım] I am ill. Hastayız. We are ill. Mutlusun. You are happy. Mutlu bir kadınsın. You are a happy lady. Yorgundurlar. [yorgun-durlar] They are tired. Yorgunuz. [yorgun-uz] We are tired. Evim kırmızıdır. My house is red. Kırmızı bir evdir. It is a red house. Paltom uzundur. My overcoat is long. Uzun bir paltodur. It is a long overcoat. Köpeğim küçüktür. My dog is small. Küçük bir köpektir. It is a small dog. Cadde geniştir. The road is wide. Geniş bir caddedir. It is a wide road. Kedim mutludur. My cat is happy. Kediniz kahverengi renkliydir. Your cat is brown coloured. Odam boştur. [boş-tur] My room is full. Odam doludur. [dolu-dur] My room is big. Mor renkli bir evdir. It is a purple coloured house. Ev mor renkliydir. The house is coloured .

Third Person Plural is very often omitted in conversation. It only for emphasis and for public advice, notices and warnings or stating fact: Apples are fruit. Elma meyvedir. [meyve-dir]

A Turkish Public Notice showing the use of -dir/-tir
Here is the use of -dir in a Public Notice.	İtifaye çikişidır [çikiş i-dir] araç park etmek yasaktır. [yasak-tır] It is the fire-station exit parking is forbidden.

Turkish to be Past Tense - I was, you were

The past tense endings are use in all persons although sometime the -ler/-lar of the plural forms is omitted in conversation. Buffer Letter -y-is used in the formation of the past tense for Verb stems which end in a vowel. This is to keep the final vowel of the verb stem separated by mutating the first vowel of the past tense endings -idim etc to -ydim etc. As every person suffix in the past tense begins with a -d then it follows that every person can be subject to consonant mutation to -t when added to a word ending in an unvoiced hard consonant.

Turkish to be Past tense Suffixes
Person	Suffix	Consonant Mutated	After Vowels
I was	-dim -dım -düm -dum	-tim -tım -tüm -tum	-ydim -ydım -ydüm -ydum
you were	-din -dın -dün -dun	-tin -tın -tün -tun	-ydin -ydın -ydün -ydun
he/she/it was	-di -dı -dü -du	-ti -tı -tü -tu	-ydi -ydı -ydü -ydu
we were	-dik -dık -dük -duk	-tik -tık -tük -tuk	-ydik -ydık -ydük -yduk
you were	-diniz -dınız -dünüz -dunuz	-tiniz -tınız -tünüz -tunuz	-ydiniz -ydınız -ydünüz -ydunuz
they were	-diler -dılar -düler -dular	-tiler -tılar -tüler -tular	-ydiler -ydılar -ydüler -ydular

Turkish Vowel Harmony Verb to be

Both the present and past obey the rules of vowel harmony, which are summed up as follows:

Turkish Verb to be - A-UnDotted Vowels Final vowel -a or -ı is followed by -ı in suffix. yaşlıyız [yaşlı-yız] we are old yaşlıydık [yaşlı-ydık] we were old hastayım [hasta-yım] I am ill hastaydım [hasta-ydım] I was ill Final vowel -o or -u is followed by u in suffix. bir vazodur [vazo-dur] it is a vase. bir vazoydu [vazo-ydu] it was a vase. yorgunsun [yorgun-sun] you are tired. yorgundun [yorgun-dun] you were tired.

Turkish Verb to be - The E- Dotted Vowels Final vowel -e or -i is followed by i in suffix. bir deredir [dere-dir] it is a stream bir dereydi [dere-ydi] it was stream zenginsin [zengin-sin] you are rich zengindin [zengin-din] you were rich Final vowel -ö or -ü is followed by ü in suffix. bir gözdür [göz-dür] it is an eye. bir gözdü [göz-dü] it was an eye. Türk'türler [Türk'-türler] they are Turkish. Türk'tüler [Türk'-tüler] they were Turkish.

Turkish Consonant Mutation Verb to be

The present and past tense suffixes which begin in -d- undergo consonant mutation -dir becomes -tir and all the past tense suffixes beginning in -di become -ti after a final hard consonant the letters ç f h k p ş s t

Suffixes are not fixed directly to Proper Names, an apostrophe comma is used to separate the suffix from a name or title:

Turkish Verb to be Present and Past Tense Examples

Turkish to be Positive Interrogative - Am I?, Are you?

Asking questions, the interrogative particle -mi? is used to form questions. It is placed after the word it affects, and has the positive or negative present tense personal endings added here are the forms showing vowel harmony:

Turkish Interrogative Present to be
Turkish "to be" Questions Present Positive
am I?	mıyım? miyim? muyum? müyüm?
are you?	mısın? misin? musun? müsün?
is he/she/it? (fam.)	mı? mi? mu? mü?
is he/she/it? formal, public	mıdır? midir? mudur? müdür?
are we?	mıyız? miyiz? muyuz? müyüz?
are you?	mısınız? misiniz? musunuz? müsünüz?
are they? (fam.)	-lar mı? -ler mi? -lar mu? -ler mü?
are they? formal, public	mıdırlar? midirler? mudurlar? müdürler?

Except for the 3rd person form -lar mi? the Positive form of the Interrogative is written separately from the word it affects, but obeys the rules of Vowel Harmony. The longer forms which end in -dir are more formal and are used in instructions and public notices. They are not usually used in general conversation.

Turkish Present to be Positive Question Examples

Note that the question part is written separately from the verb but still obeys vowel harmony rules.

Turkish Past to be Interrogative - Was I?, Were you?

The Past tense personal endings are added to the question particle -mi and obeys Vowel harmony but is written separately.

Turkish to be Question Past Positive
Turkish to be Questions Past Positive
was I?	mıydım? miydim? muydum? müydüm?
were you?	mıydın? miydin? muydun? müydün?
is he/she/it?	mıydı? miydi? muydu? müydü?
were we?	mıydık? miydik, muyduk? müydük?
wer you?	mıydınız? miydiniz? muydunuz? müydünüz?
are they?	mıydılar? miydiler? muydular? müydüler?

Note the use of the Buffer Letter -y- in the formation of the Past Tense Questions. This is to keep the final vowel of the question tag -mi by mutating the first vowel of the Past Tense endings -idim etc to -ydim etc.

Turkish Past Tense Positive Question Examples

Note that the question part is written separately from the verb but still obeys vowel harmony rules.

The Turkish Future will be

The Future of the verb "to be" is lacking in Turkish. It place is taken by the Future Tense of the Verb olmak to be, to become.

Refer to Future Tense webpage.

Yarın hazır olacağım. I will be ready tomorrow. Er geç zengin olacaksın. You will become rich sooner or later. Bu gece parti çok güzel olacak. It will be a great party tonight. All these are "state of being" sentences but Turkish uses the verb olmak to become to convey the future of the verb to be

 

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