The Turkish aorist: geniş zaman

The Turkish aorist, in Turkish geniş zaman, play (“the wide tense”), is the tense for habits, general facts and things that are always true: Her sabah kahve içerim, play (I drink coffee every morning), Kediler balık sever, play (Cats like fish). It is close to the English simple present.

It is also the tense of friendly offers, polite requests and quick promises: Çay içer misin?, play (Would you like some tea?), Yarın ararım, play (I’ll call you tomorrow). You already know it from set phrases like Teşekkür ederim, play and Bakar mısınız?, play

What the aorist is for

Use the aorist for what you usually do and for what is generally true. Words like her sabah, play (every morning), genellikle, play (usually), sık sık, play (often) and her zaman, play (always) often come with it. For what is happening right now, use the present continuous -iyor instead.

• Her sabah kahve içerim.

  I drink coffee every morning.

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• Pazar günleri geç kalkarım.

  On Sundays I get up late.

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• Kışın kar yağar.

  It snows in winter.

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• Kedilercatsbalıkfishsever.like

  Word by word: cats, fish, like.

  Cats like fish.

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How to build the aorist: -r, -er or -ir

Take the verb stem (the dictionary form without -mek / -mak) and look at two things: does it end in a vowel, and how many syllables does it have? That gives three groups.

In the second group, the ending has two shapes, like the plural: -er after e, i, ö, ü and -ar after a, ı, o, u.

In the third group, it has four shapes, like the past tense: -ir after e, i, -ır after a, ı, -ur after o, u and -ür after ö, ü.

The 13 exceptions: alır, gelir, olur…

Thirteen one-syllable verbs break the rule: they take -ir / -ır / -ur / -ür instead of -er / -ar. They are among the most common verbs in the language, so it pays to learn them by heart.

Personal endings: gelirim, gelirsin…

After the aorist come the same personal endings as with -iyor: -im (ben), -sin (sen), nothing (o), -iz (biz), -siniz (siz) and -ler (onlar), all following vowel harmony. For o there is no ending at all: okur, play = he reads, gelir, play = she comes.

As in every tense, the ending already says who, so the pronoun is only for emphasis: Ben çay içerim, eşim kahve içer., play = I drink tea, my wife drinks coffee.

Negative: içmem, içmez (I don’t, he doesn’t)

Here is the good news: the negative aorist has no -r rules and no exceptions. Every verb takes -mez or -maz after the stem: gelmez, play, almaz, okumaz, play. Only ben, play and biz lose the z: içmem, play (I don’t drink) and içmeyiz, play (we don’t drink, with a glue y).

• Et yemem.

  I don’t eat meat.

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• Sigara içmeyiz.

  We don’t smoke.

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• Bu otobüs Taksim'e gitmez.

  This bus doesn’t go to Taksim.

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Questions and friendly offers: İçer misin?

For a question, add mi, play after the aorist as a separate word. Its vowel follows the last vowel of the verb, and the personal ending moves onto it: İçer misin?, play (Do you drink?), Gelir misiniz?, play (Do you come? / Would you come?). For o, nothing follows mi: İçer mi?, play

A question in the aorist is also the everyday way to offer, invite or ask politely: Çay içer misin?, play (Would you like some tea?), Bize gelir misin?, play (Would you like to come over?), Kapıyı açar mısın?, play (Could you open the door?). A negative question sounds even warmer: Çay içmez misin?, play (Won’t you have some tea?)

• Kahve içer misin?

  Do you drink coffee? / Would you like a coffee?

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• Çay içmez misin?

  Won’t you have some tea?

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• Kapıyı açar mısın?

  Could you open the door?

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• Bakar mısınız?

  Excuse me! (to a waiter or shop assistant)

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In Türkiye

Tea for every guest

In a Turkish home, office or shop, a guest is offered tea almost at once. A polite first “no, thanks” often just makes the host ask again, so if you’d like one, simply say Çok isterim, play (I’d love one).

Çay içmez misiniz? – Çok isterim, teşekkürler.

Won’t you have some tea? – I’d love some, thanks.

How often: her zaman, bazen, hiç

Words for “how often” usually come early in the sentence, before the verb. hiç, play (never) and hemen hemen hiç, play (hardly ever) need a negative verb: Hiç kahve içmem, play is literally “I don’t drink coffee at all”. nadiren, play (rarely) already means “not often”, so it takes a positive verb.

• Bazen sinemaya giderim.

  I sometimes go to the movies.

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• Nadiren televizyon izlerim.

  I rarely watch TV.

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• Hiçat-allkahvecoffeeiçmem.I-don’t-drink

  Word by word: at-all, coffee, I-don’t-drink.

  I never drink coffee.

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• Hep geç kalırsın!

  You’re always late!

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Promises and quick decisions

When you decide or promise something on the spot, Turkish often uses the aorist where English says “I’ll”: Ben açarım., play (I’ll get it, said when the doorbell rings.) Yarın ararım., play (I’ll call you tomorrow.) For a plan made earlier, use the future -ecek: Yarın arayacağım., play (I’m going to call tomorrow.)

• Merak etme, ben hallederim.

  Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.

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• Akşam sana yazarım.

  I’ll text you in the evening.

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• Bilmem.

  I don’t know. (casual)

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Common mistakes

A short dialogue

Spot the aorist forms: içersin, play, içerim, play, sevmem, play, yapar mısın, play, yapmam, play, olmaz, play, yaparız, play, yaparsınız, play, yürürüz, play, gideriz, play, çıkmam, play, gelir misin, play, yapar, play and isterim, play.

Summary