About the verb - to be - Positive

The Verb - "to be"Present Tense only:Past Tense SuffixesVowel

HarmonyConsonant MutationProper namesInterrogative Forms
Present tense positive question examplesInterrogative Past Tense to bePast tense positive question examplesThe Future - will
beOther Tenses in use of "to be"
The verb - to be - is used in sentences to describe a - state of
being
The house is blue
Mehmet was ill
It will be a quick journey
If it is a big house
If it had not been out of sight.

The Verb - "to be"

From the History of Turkish
The verb "to be" is a now defective verb "imek" whose stem was
"i-" which is found in four forms of vowel harmony "i, u,u." It also
mutates to "-y" in the past and other forms when being suffixed to
a word. This is no longer important in learning Turkish, but it does
give the reason for many of the suffixes in modern use for the
verb "to be".
The Verb to be takes the form of a suffix in Turkish. It is subject to
Vowel Harmony Rules and also Consonant Mutation when added to
words ending in a hard consonant. In the present tense only 3rd
person singular has consonant mutation. It follows that for vowel
harmony and consonant mutation the following forms are used.
After hard
Person
consonants
After Vowels
, f, h, k,p, s, , t
-yim, -ym,
I am
-im, -m, -m, -um -ym, -yum
-sin, -sn, -sn,
you are
-sun
he/she/it (-dir, -dr, -dr,
(-tir, -tr, -tr,
is
-dur)
-tur)
-yiz, -yz,
we are -iz ,-z,-z, -uz
-yz, -yuz
you are -siniz, -snz,
After all soft
consonants

-snz, -sunuz
(-dirler, -drlar,
they are
-drler, -durlar)

(-tirler, -trlar,
-trler, -turlar)

The third person -dir suffix changes to -tir when added to hard
consonants - See Consonant Mutation

Present Tense only:

(This not does not apply to the past tense below)
Third Person Plural ending shown in brackets above are very often
omitted in conversation. They are added only for emphasis and for
public advice, notices and warnings. They are also used when
stating an actual fact. [Apples are fruit - Elma meyvedir]
You can see the use of -dir in Public Notices on the page Public
Signs

Past Tense Suffixes

The past tense endings are use in all persons although sometime
the -ler/-lar of the plural forms is omitted in conversation.
Note the use of the Buffer Letter -y- in the formation of the Past
Tense for Verb stems which end in a vowel. This is to keep the final
vowel of the verb stem separated by mutating the first vowel of
the Past Tense endings -idim etc to -ydim etc. As every person
suffix in the past tense begins with a -d then it follows that every
person can be subject to consonant mutation to -t when added to
a word ending in a hard consonant.
Person
I was
you were
he/she/it
was
we were
you were

Suffix
-dim, -dm,
-dm, -dum
-din, -dn,
-dn, -dun
-di, -d, -d,
-du
-dik ,-dk,-dk,
-duk
-diniz, -dnz,
-dnz, -dunuz

Consonant
Mutated
-tim, -tm,
-tm, -tum
-tin, -tn, -tn,
-tun
-ti, -t, -t, -tu
-tik ,-tk,-tk,
-tuk
-tiniz, -tnz,
-tnz, -tunuz

After Vowels
-ydim, -ydm,
-ydm, -ydum
-ydin, -ydn,
-ydn, -ydun
-ydi, -yd, -yd,
-ydu
-ydik, -ydk,
-ydk, -yduk
-ydiniz, -ydnz,
-ydnz, -ydunuz

they
were

-diler, -dlar,
-dler, -dular

-tiler, -tlar,
-tler, -tular

-ydiler, -ydlar,
-ydler, -ydular

Vowel Harmony
Both the present and past obey the rules of vowel harmony, which
are summed up as follows:
Both the present and past obey the rules of vowel harmony, which
are summed up as follows:
The A-Undotted Group
Final vowel -a or - is followed by - in suffix.
yalyz [yal-yz] - we are old
yalydk [yal-ydk] - we were old
hastaym [hasta-ym] - I am ill
hastaydm [hasta-ydm] - I was ill
Final vowel -o or -u is followed by u in suffix.
bir vazodur [vazo-dur] - it is a vase.
bir vazoydu [vazo-ydu] - it was a vase.
yorgunsun [yorgun-sun] - you are tired.
yorgundun [yorgun-dun] - you were tired.
The E- Dotted Group
Final vowel -e or -i is followed by i in suffix.
bir deredir [dere-dir] - it is a stream
bir dereydi [dere-ydi] - it was stream
zenginsin [zengin-sin] - you are rich
zengindin [zengin-din] - you were rich
Final vowel - or - is followed by in suffix.
bir gzdr [gz-dr] - it is an eye.
bir gzd [gz-d] - it was an eye.
Trk'trler [Trk'-trler] - they are Turkish.
Trk'tler [Trk'-tler] - they were Turkish.

Consonant Mutation
The present and past tense suffixes which begin in -d- undergo
consonant mutation -dir becomes -tir and all the past tense

suffixes beginning in -di become -ti after a final hard consonant

the letters f h k p s t

Consonant Mutation - Present Tense and

Past Tense Examples
byktr - it is large
bykt - it was large
gentirler - they are young
gentik - we were young
yavatn - you were slow
abuktunuz - you were quick
sabahtr - it is morning
sabaht - it was morning
bir mektuptur - it is a letter
bir mektuptu - it was a letter
Mehmet' tir - It is Mehmet
Mehmet' ti - It was Mehmet
bir sepettir - it is a basket
bir sepetti - it was a basket
bir virstr - it is a virus
bir virst - it was a virus
felakettir - it is a disaster
felaketti - it was a disaster
bir polistir - it is a policeman

 bir polisti - it was a policeman

Proper names
Suffixes are not fixed directly to Proper Names (words which begin
with a capital letter), an aphostrophe comma is used instead:
Mehmet' tir - It is Mehmet
stanbul' da - In Istanbul
Hkmet' ten - From the Government

Some Examples
zengin - rich
zenginim - I am rich
zengindim - I was rich
yorgun - tired
yorgunum - I am tired
yorgundun - you were tired
pahal - dear, expensive
pahaldr - it is dear
pahalyd - it was dear
kk - small
kktr - it is small
kkt - it was small
hasta - ill
hastayz - we are ill

 hastaydk - we were ill

yal - aged/old
yalsn - you are old
yalyd - he was old
yoksul - poor
yoksuldurlar - they are poor
yoksuldular - they were poor
gen - young
gentirler - they are young
genti - he was young

Interrogative Forms
Asking questions, the interrogative particle -mi? is used to form
questions. It is placed after the word it affects, and has the
positive or negative present tense personal endings added - here
are the forms showing vowel harmony:
"to be" Questions - Present Positive Singular
mym? miyim? muyum?
am I?
mym?
are you?
msn? misin? musun? msn?
is he/she/it? (fam.)
m? mi? mu? m?
is he/she/it? formal,
mdr? midir? mudur? mdr?
public
"to be" Questions - Present Positive Plural
are we?
myz? miyiz? muyuz? myz?
msnz? misiniz? musunuz?
are you?
msnz?
are they? (fam.)
-lar m? -ler mi? -lar mu? -ler m?
are they? formal,
mdrlar? midirler? mudurlar?

public

mdrler?

Except for the 3rd person form -lar mi? the Positive form of the
Interrogative is written separately from the word it affects, but
obeys the rules of Vowel Harmony. The longer forms which end in
-dir are more formal and are used in instructions and public
notices. They are not usually used in general conversation.

Present tense positive question examples

zengin miyim? - am I rich?
yorgun musun? - are you tired?
pahal m? - is it dear?
byk m? - is it big?
hasta myz? - are we ill?
yal msnz? - are you old?
genler mi? - are they young?
yoksullar m? - are they poor?
Note that the question part is written separately from the verb but still obeys vowel harmony rules.

Interrogative Past Tense - to be

The Past tense personal endings are added to the question
particle -mi and obeys Vowel harmony but is written separately.
deil is used for the negative
"to be" Questions - Past Positive Singular
was I?
mydm? miydim? muydum? mydm?
were you?
mydn? miydin? muydun? mydn?
is he/she/it? myd? miydi? muydu? myd?
"to be" Questions - Past Positive Plural
were we? mydk? miydik, muyduk? mydk?
wer you? mydnz? miydiniz? muydunuz? mydnz?

are they? mydlar? miydiler? muydular? mydler?

Note the use of the Buffer Letter -y- in the formation of the Past
Tense Questions. This is to keep the final vowel of the question tag
-mi by mutating the first vowel of the Past Tense endings -idim
etc to -ydim etc.

Past tense positive question examples

ac myd? - was it bitter?
scak myd? - was it hot?
hava souk muydu? - was the weather cold?
mutlu muyduk? - were we happy?
yorgun muydular? - were they tired?
hasta mydnz? - were you ill? or have you been ill?
gzel miydi? - was she beautiful?
ev byk myd? - was it a large house?
Note that the question part is written separately from the verb but still obeys vowel harmony rules.

The Future - will be

The Future of the verb - "to be" - is lacking in Turkish. It place is
taken by the Future Tense of the Verb olmak - to be, to become.
See discussion on - Future of olmak
Yarn hazr olacam - I will be ready tomorrow
Er ge zengin olacaksn - You will become rich sooner or
later [er ge (erge) = sooner or later]
Bu gece parti ok gzel olacak - It will be a great party
tonight
All these are "state of being" sentences but Turkish uses the verb olmak - to become - to convey the future of the verb - to be

Other Tenses in use of "to be"

This being a defective verb historical stem is i- and which
meaning - be.
The missing forms of i- are supplied by ol- the infinitive of olmak,
since there is no remaining infinitive of imek.
The following table shows the suffixed and independent forms
where the stem i- is applied.
Suffixed Forms
Present
Past
Suffix
Suffix
Form
Form

Independent Forms
Past
Past
Past
Past
Condition
Inferential
Tense
Inferential
al
Conditional
evde
evdeymii
evdeydi
evdeymise
evdeyim
idim evdeysem m
m
m
(I am in
(I was (If I was (apparentl
(I was in
(If I had
the
in the in the
y I am in
the
been in the
house)
house house)
the
house)
house)
)
house)
evde evde
evde
evde
evdesin evdeydin
idin idiysen
imiin
imisen
evde evde
evde(dir) evdeydi
evde imi evde imise
idi
idiyse
evde evde
evde
evde
evdeyiz
evdeydik
idik
idiysek
imiiz
imisek
evdeydin evde evde
evde
evde
evdesiniz
iz
idiniz idiysek
imisiniz imiseniz
evde(dir)l evdeydil evde evde
evde
evde
er
er
idiler idiyseler imiler
imiseler
The present tense is not used in an

independent form