Present Tense:
In Turkish language, you will see two different tenses that can be considered as present tense. ‘present continuous tense’ and ‘simple present tense’. Actually, the latter is specifically called aorist.
Turkish doesn’t use continuous tense for the things that English would use continuous tense. That’s why many sources confuse when naming them.
Simple Present Tense – Aorist
By its definition, aorist seems to fit into present tense, but it differs from the simple present tense of English for lots of situation. Some sources consider aorist as simply present tense but you may want to learn the distinct features of aorist (that would greatly help you to understand and have a better idea).
The main suffix of aorist is -r and depending on the verb base that it is attach, -r can transform to -ır,-ir.-er,-ur,-ar. You’ll decide which letter is the best by vowel harmony rules.
Simple Present Tense – Examples:
In Turkish, Simple Present Tense or Aorist is called ‘geniş zaman‘ which literally translates into ‘broad tense‘. Simple Present Tense is used to describe actions that are done ‘almost’ always. My favorite example of it is ‘döner’ which means ‘(thing) that rotates always’. The following example also shows you how a verb can be derived from another verb by adding suffixes.
Sevmek
to love, like
Sevinmek
to rejoice, to be pleased
Sevindirmek
to make someone happy
Sevindirir
s/he makes someone happy
Emre herkesi sürprizleriyle sevindirir
Emre makes everyone happy with his surprises
Examples：
Telefonu öyle tutarsan ekranını kırarsın.
If you hold your cellphone like that, you’ll break the screen.
O tatlıyı çok sever.
He/She/it likes very much sweet things.
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