In the past two weeks, we began to learn Turkish grammar but only simple tenses. We just learnt the present tense and a little bit about past tense, and they are basically adding different suffix to the verb to show the tense, such as “d” or “yor”, which is similar to English grammar structure. But besides that, I did some exploration about simple tenses in Turkish and some of that are very different from English.
- The present tense. Used to represent an action in the current state, an ongoing action, or an upcoming action.
For example: Ben televizyon izlemek çok istiyorum.
(I want to watch TV very much [now]. Action in the current state.)
Çocuklar şarkı söylüyor.
(The children are singing. Action in progress.)
Bu akşam babamın evine gidiyorum.
(I'm going to Dad's home tonight. The action is happening soon.)
- Broad tense. Used to express habitual, regular actions or requests, blessings and other tone. (broad literal meaning: actions done in the past, now and in the future are still likely to be done.)
For example: Her sabah parka gider.
He goes to the park every morning. Habitual action.)
İlkbaharda çiçerler açar.
(Flowers bloom in spring. Regular action.)
Kapı açar mısınız?
(Could you please open the door? The tone of the request.)
- Long-term tense. Represents a continuous action from the past to the present. There are overlaps with broadness, but the difference is that there is no clear explanation for whether the action will last in the future. It is mostly used for official speeches.
Çin ve Türkiye gibi gelişmekte olan ülkeler hızlı ilerlemektedir.
(Developing countries like China and Turkey are developing rapidly. The past development has continued to the present.)
- Past tense. As the name implies, it represents the past action, and the action has ended when speaking. Like yo hice algo in Spanish or J'ai fait qqch in French
Üç gün önce sinemaya gittim.
I went to the cinema three days ago
However, unlike English, there are two other cases of Turkish past tense:
(1) past reporting. Emphasize that past actions are not personal experiences, because this tense is widely used in biography.
Dün gece şehrin doğusunda kar yağmış.
（It's said that it snowed in the east of the city yesterday.）
(2) emphasis in the past. Emphasize that the past actions are not personal experiences, but is truth.
Dün gece şehrin doğusunda kar yağmıştır.
(it snowed in the east of the city yesterday! ——I didn't see it with my own eyes, but maybe according to the snowman I saw today, I'm sure it really snowed in the east of the city yesterday.)
- Future tense. As the name suggests, what happens in the future.
Onlar birkaç ay sonra Amerika’ya yerleşecek.
(They will immigrate to the United States in a few months.)
Comments