Present simple tense in Turkish (geniş zaman)

How to form the present simple tense

The 3 forms of the present simple tense are:

• Positive form
• Negative form
• Question form

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