The Turkish conditional: if with -se

The Turkish conditional says “if”, and it is not a separate word but an ending on the verb: gelirsen, play (if you come), yağarsa, play (if it rains), paran varsa, play (if you have money). You can start the sentence with eğer, play (if), but it is optional: the ending does the real work.

For real conditions, things that may well happen, take the aorist (the simple present: gelir, play, yapar, play), add -se or -sa, and finish with a short ending that says who. The if-part comes first, the result second.

How to build the conditional

Start with the aorist form for “he” or “she”: gelir, play (comes), yapar, play (does), okur, play (reads), olur, play (is, becomes). Add -se or -sa. With nothing after it, the form means “if he”, “if she” or “if it”: gelirse, play = if he comes.

• Yağmurrainyağarsaif-it-fallsevdeat-homekalırız.we-stay

  Word by word: rain, if-it-falls, at-home, we-stay.

  If it rains, we’ll stay at home.

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• Ali gelirse bana haber ver.

  If Ali comes, let me know.

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• Otobüs gecikirse taksiye bineriz.

  If the bus is late, we’ll take a taxi.

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The result usually takes the aorist (an offer, a promise, what normally happens) or the future (a firm plan): Yağmur yağarsa evde kalırız, play or …evde kalacağız, play. An order or a request works too: Ali gelirse bana haber ver., play

Vowel harmony: -se or -sa

-se follows two-way harmony: -se after e, i, ö or ü, and -sa after a, ı, o or u. Look at the last vowel of the aorist form, which is the vowel of -ir or -ar: gelir → gelirse, play, okur → okursa, play, görür → görürse, play.

Personal endings: gelirsem, gelirsen…

After -se come the short personal endings, the same ones as after the past -di: -m (ben), -n (sen), nothing (o), -k (biz) and -niz / -nız (siz). For onlar, the -ler / -lar goes before -se: gelirlerse, play (if they come).

As with every Turkish verb, the ending already says who, so ben, play, sen, play and the others are only needed for emphasis: Sen gelirsen ben de gelirim. = If you come, I’ll come too.

Negative: gelmezsen (if you don’t come)

For “if … not”, use the negative aorist -mez / -maz in place of -ir / -ar, then add -se: gelmezsen, play (if you don’t come), yağmazsa, play (if it doesn’t rain). The z always stays, even with ben: gelmezsem, play, although “I don’t come” is just gelmem.

• Acelehurryetmezsenif-you-don’t-dootobüsüthe-buskaçırırsın.you’ll-miss

  Word by word: hurry, if-you-don’t-do, the-bus, you’ll-miss.

  If you don’t hurry, you’ll miss the bus.

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• Yağmur yağmazsa pikniğe gideriz.

  If it doesn’t rain, we’ll go on a picnic.

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• Beğenmezseniz paranızı geri veririz.

  If you don’t like it, we’ll give you your money back.

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Nouns, adjectives, var and yok: yorgunsan, varsa

With nouns, adjectives, place words, var, play and yok, there is no aorist: -se goes straight onto the word. Yorgunsan, play = if you are tired, evdeyse, play = if he is at home, sorun varsa, play = if there is a problem, vaktin yoksa, play = if you don’t have time.

After a vowel, the glue letter y comes in first: hasta → hastaysa, play, evde → evdeysen, play. The person endings are the same short ones.

• Yorgunsan biraz dinlen.

  If you’re tired, rest a little.

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• Sorun varsa beni ara.

  If there’s a problem, call me.

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• Paran yoksa ben öderim.

  If you don’t have any money, I’ll pay.

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• Hastaysan evde kal.

  If you’re sick, stay at home.

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Plans for later: olursa

var, play and yok are about right now. For something that may or may not happen later, use olursa, play, the -se form of olmak (to be, to become): vaktim olursa, play (if I have time), hava güzel olursa, play (if the weather is nice).

• Vaktim olursa akşam sana gelirim.

  If I have time, I’ll come over this evening.

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• Havaweathergüzelniceolursaif-it-ispiknikpicnicyaparız.we-make

  Word by word: weather, nice, if-it-is, picnic, we-make.

  If the weather is nice, we’ll have a picnic.

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• Bir sorun olursa beni ara.

  If anything goes wrong, call me.

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To ask a question, put mi on the result, not on the if-part: Vaktin olursa bize gelir misin?, play = If you have time, will you come over? With a question word there is no mi: Hava kötü olursa ne yapacağız?, play = What will we do if the weather is bad?

• Vaktin olursa bize gelir misin?

  If you have time, will you come over?

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• Hava kötü olursa ne yapacağız?

  What will we do if the weather is bad?

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• Ya yağmur yağarsa?

  What if it rains?

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With other tenses: geliyorsa, geldiyse, gelecekse

-se can also follow the other tenses, to make a condition about what is happening, what has happened or what is planned. It goes after the tense, with the glue letter y after a vowel: geliyorsa, play (if he is coming), geldiyse, play (if he has come), gelecekse, play (if he is going to come).

• Ali geldiyse başlayalım.

  If Ali has arrived, let’s start.

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• Geleceksen bana haber ver.

  If you’re going to come, let me know.

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Wishes and dreams: keşke gelsen

Take the aorist away and the -se no longer describes something likely: gelsen, play is only imagined, a dream rather than a plan. Put -se / -sa straight on the verb stem and start with keşke, play (I wish, if only): Keşke gelsen., play = I wish you would come.

• Keşkeif-onlyzenginricholsam.I-were

  Word by word: if-only, rich, I-were.

  I wish I were rich.

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• Keşke daha çok boş zamanım olsa.

  I wish I had more free time.

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• Senin yerinde olsam o işi kabul ederdim.

  If I were you, I’d accept that job.

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Senin yerinde olsam…, play (if I were in your place) is the set phrase for advice. Imagined ifs like this, and their past form keşke gelseydin, play (I wish you had come), are covered fully in our B2 course.

Common mistakes

A short dialogue

Spot the forms: olursa, play, yağarsa, play, biterse, play (it is the work that finishes, so no person ending), gelirsen, play, verirse, play and vermezse, play. Keşke çalışmasam, play is a wish: no aorist, and the negative is -ma.

Summary