Present Continuous Tense

Formation of the Present Continuous TenseConjugation

ExamplesExamples of the Present Continuous TenseThe E-Dotted
VowelsThe A-UnDotted VowelsVerb Root ending in a VowelAUnDotted verbs ending in a consonantE-Dotted verb ending in a
vowelAn Example of a Negative verbForming Positive
QuestionsQuestion Tags in TurkishAbout Question TagsThe Present
Progressive Tense
The Present Continuous Tense
This tense takes the form of - "be doing, be not doing, be saying,
be not saying, be going, etc. I am going, are you thinking? we are
not staying, are they not trying? etc."

Formation of the Present Continuous Tense

This tense takes the form of - "be doing, be not doing, be
saying, be not saying, be going, etc. I am going, are you
thinking? we are not staying, are they not trying? etc."
The Tense sign of the Present Continuous Tense is -iyor- -yor-yor- -uyor- which is added to the verb root. The tense endings
are completed by adding the personal suffixes.
When the verb root itself ends in a vowel, as in bekle-mek - to
wait, expect becoming bekl-iyor, then this vowel is also
dropped as the head vowel of the -iyor tense sign replaces it.
The first letter -i- of -iyor- is subject to vowel harmony with the
verb stem's final vowel. The Tense Sign -iyor- can be likened to
the English Tense sign -ing.
The Personal Endings -Present Continuous
geliyorum [geliyor-um]

I am coming

bakyorsun [bakyor-sun]

you are looking

giriyor [giriyor]

he, she, it is entering

kyoruz [kyor-uz]

we are going out

buluyorsunuz [buluyor-sunuz]

you are finding

glyorlar [glyor-lar]

they are laughing

Conjugation Examples
gelmek - [gel -mek] - to gelmemek - [gelme -mek] - not to
come
come
geliyorum - I am coming gelmiyorum - I am not coming
geliyorsun - you are
coming

gelmiyorsun - you are not coming

geliyor - he is coming

gelmiyor - he is not coming

geliyoruz - we are
coming

gelmiyoruz - we are not coming

geliyorsunuz - you are

coming

gelmiyorsunuz - you are not

coming

geliyorlar - they are

coming

gelmiyorlar - they are not coming

The vowel of gelmek (E-Dotted group) is -e- therefore the tense

sign begins with Dotted i -iyor-. The infinitive verb ending -mek is
dropped from the verb stem and -iyor- is added together with the
personal endings to form the tense.

All Negative Verb roots that end in a vowel as in: gelmemek [gelme -mek] - not to come also drop this final vowel from the
vowel stem so that when the tense sign -iyor- is added two
vowels do not occur together. [gelmeiyorum is incorrect]. The Rule
is that Negative Verbs drop the final vowel of the root along with
-mek or -mak.

Examples of the Present Continuous Tense

The E-Dotted Vowels
Note that the final vowel of any verb stem is dropped when adding
-iyor in order to keep two vowels apart. This applies to all
negative Verbs - in both the A-UnDotted Vowel and the E-Dotted
Groups - as they all end in a vowel of the -me or -ma negative
particle. As an example see bilme-mek becomes bil-m-iyor in
table above.
Examples of the E-Dotted vowel group of Verbs
vermek

to give

veriyor

giving

vermemek

not to give

vermiyor

not giving

bilmek

to know

biliyor

knowing

bilmemek

not to know

bilmiyor

not knowing

grmek

to see

gryor

seeing

grmemek

not to see

grmyor

not seeing

glmek

to laugh

glyor

laughing

glmemek

not to laugh

glmyor

not laughing

Note that the final vowel of any verb is dropped when adding
-iyor in order to keep two vowels apart. This applies to all
positive Verbs. (in both A-Nodots and E-Dotted Groups). As an
example see kuru -mak becomes kur -uyor and ar -mak
becomes ar -yor in table above. All negative verb stems lose
their final stem vowel as they end in the negative particle -me or
-ma.

The A-UnDotted Vowels

Examples of the A-UnDotted vowel group of Verbs

yapmak

to do, make,
perform

yapyor

doing.. etc.

yapmamak not to do.. etc

yapmyor

not doing..
etc.

armak

aryor

aching

to ache

armamak not to ache

armyor not aching

kopmak

kopuyor

to snap

not snapping

kopmamak not to snap

kopmuyor not snapping

kurumak

kuruyor

to dry

kurumamak not to dry

drying

kurumuyor not drying

Verb Root ending in a Vowel

Examples of Verb Root ending in a Vowel

beklemek

to wait,
expect

bekliyorum I am waiting

beklememek

to not wait,
expect

beklemiyorum I am not waiting

bekliyorsun

you are
waiting

beklemiyorsu you are not

n
waiting

bekliyor

he/she/it is
waiting

beklemiyor

bekliyoruz we are waiting beklemiyoruz

bekliyorsun you are

uz
waiting

bekliyorlar

they are
waiting

he/she/it is not
waiting
we are not
waiting

beklemiyorsu you are not

nuz
waiting

beklemiyorlar

they are not

waiting

The root of this verb is bekle- but we must also drop this final
vowel -e before adding the tense sign-iyor- in order that two
vowels do not occur together. [bekleiyorum would be incorrect].
The Rule is that the final vowel of verb stem is dropped along with
-mek or -mak

A-UnDotted verbs ending in a consonant

The positive verb is bakmak - to look. The negative verb is
bakmamak - not to look.
bakmak - to look - is a verb of the A-UnDotted Group therefore
the tense sign also begins with an undotted -yor-. The tense
sign -yor- is then added under vowel harmony rules.

A-Undotted verbs ending in a consonant

bakmak

to look, to
look at

bakyorum I am looking

bakmamak

not to look, not to

look at

bakmyorum I am not looking

bakyorsun

you are
looking

bakyor

he is looking bakmyor

bakyoruz

we are
looking

bakmyoruz we are not looking

bakyorsun you are

uz
looking

bakmyorsu
you are notlooking
nuz

bakyorlar

they are
looking

bakmyorsu
you are not looking
n
he is not looking

bakmyorlar they are not looking

For verbs of the A-UnDotted Group with a i o u in verb stem the

suffix -mak signifies the positive verb - while -mamak is used for
the negative verb. The positive verb is bakmak - to see. The
negative verb is bakmamak - not to see

E-Dotted verb ending in a vowel

The positive verb is yrmek - to walk. The negative verb is
yrmemek - not to walk.
yrmek - to walk - is a verb of the E-Dotted Group therefore the
tense sign also begins with an dotted -yor-. This verb also has
a final vowel in the verb stem which is dropped along with the
infinitive sign -mek. The tense sign -yor- is then added under
vowel harmony rules.

E-Dotted verbs ending in a vowel

yrmek

to walk

yryorum I am walking

yrmemek

not to walk

yrmyorum I am not walking

yryorsun

you are
walking

yryor

he is walking yrmyor

he is not walking

yryoruz

we are
walking

we are not
walking

yryorsun you are

uz
walking

yryorlar

they are
walking

yrmyorsun

yrmyoruz

you are not

walking

yrmyorsun you are not

uz
walking

yrmyorlar

they are not

walking

For verbs of the E-Dotted Group with e in verb stem the

suffix -mek signifies the positive verb while -memek is used for
the negative verb. The positive verb is yrmek - to walk. The
negative verb is yrmemek - not to walk

An Example of a Negative verb

This example contains vowels of the A-Undotted Group, so the first
vowel of -yor is also undotted. The final vowel of the negative
particle -ma is also dropped (to keep two vowels apart)
Negative Verb Example

yapmamak

not to do, not to make, not to perform

yapmyorum

I am not doing

yapmyorsun

you are not doing

yapmyor

he is not doing

yapmyoruz

we are not doing

yapmyorsunuz

you are not doing

yapmyorlar

they are not doing

Forming Positive Questions

To form questions the question particle mi? - (which is subject
to Vowel harmony) - is used after -iyor. It is written separately
and the personal ending is added making a question tag. However
the third person plural is slightly different in that the question
particle mi? is always placed last for reasons of ease of
pronunciation. The question particle mi? is subject to vowel
harmony so can have four forms mi?, m?, mu?, m?. It retains
its vowel harmonization even when not attached as a suffix.
A Note about Question Formation Generally
The Question Particle - m? mi? mu? m? - is placed after the
item that you are questioning: It is NOT always the VERB that is in
question. - This is the same for English.
Examples of Question Particle Positioning
Mehmet, imdi eve gidiyor mu? - Is Mehmet going home
now? [Mehmet, is he going home now?] - Question on the verb.
[to go - gitmek]
Mehmet, eve mi gidiyor?- Is it home that Mehmet is going
to? - Question on the Object - [home - ev]

Mehmet mi, eve gidiyor? - Is it Mehmet who is going home?

- - Question on The subject - [Mehmet]
Bisiklet, ters mi duruyor? - Is the bicycle upside down? [The bicycle, is it upside down? - Here the position of the bicycle is
in question]
Mehmet, kemen mi alyor? - Is Mehmet playing the violin?
- [Is it the violin? That he is playing. Here the "violin" is in
question.]
The verb - almak has two meanings: (1) To play a musical
instrument and (2) To steal something - O, kemen mi alyor? Could mean - Is it a violin that he is stealing? or Isit a violin
that he is playing?
Bir hirsiz arabam ald - A thief stole my car.

Question Tags in Turkish

The Positive - Interrogative - Forming Negative Questions
gelmek

to come

gelmemek

to not come

geliyor
muyum?

am I coming?

gelmiyor
muyum?

aren't I
coming?

geliyor
musun?

are you
coming?

gelmiyor
musun?

aren't you
coming?

geliyor mu?

is he
coming?

gelmiyor mu?

isn't he
coming?

geliyor
muyuz?

are we
coming?

gelmiyor
musunuz?

aren't you
coming?

geliyor
musunuz?

are you
coming?

gelmiyor
muyuz?

aren't we
coming?

geliyorlar m?

are they
coming?

gelmiyorlar
m?

aren't they
coming?

About Question Tags

The question tags muyum?, musun? etc are always written
separately from the verb itself. The tags do however follow vowel
harmony rules even that they are not directly suffixed to the verb
stem itself.
The negative questions are formed in the same manner using the
negative verb stem. Note that the vowel harmonized question tag
is still written separated from the verb stem
Some Examples
yarn ehre gidiyorum - tomorrow I am going to town
yarn ehre gitmiyorum - tomorrow I am not going to town
benimle gelmiyor musunuz? - aren't you coming with me?
kk odada uyumuyorlar m? - aren't they sleeping in the
small room?
evi boyuyor - he is painting the house - [ev-i - Lit: the house direct object.]
Mehmet kendi evini boyamyor - Mehmet is not painting his
own house - [ev-i-n-i - Lit: the house of him - possessed direct
object.]
From Example (1) above it can be seen that Turkish uses the
Present Continuous Tense as a Future Tense of Intention, just as
we do in English - ie. - We are going to Turkey next month [Future of Intention]
Spelling Exceptions - Basic Verb Stems
Only four verbs change their root spelling from -t to -d when
adding a vowel :
gitmek - to go - becomes - gidiyorum - I am going
ditmek - to shred - (this verb is often used in recipes) - becomes
- didiyor - he shreds
tatmak - to taste (of) - becomes - tadyor - it tastes (of..)
etmek - to do/perform - becomes - ediyorum - I am doing
etc.
Note: This verb - etmek - includes all verbs containing - etmek
such as kaybetmek - to lose and affetmek - to pardon, to
excuse

All other verbs retain their original spelling, for instance:

bitmek - to end - bitiyor - it is finishing - [NOT bidiyor]
batmak - to sink - batyor - it is sinking - [NOT badyor]

The Present Progressive Tense

This tense is coming into use more and more each day. It is
especially used in newspapers, but is also being used in
conversation. Its base is formed by adding the locative suffix to
the infinitive, to which the personal endings of the verb "to be" are
then added.
It means "I am presently doing something and I am still doing it at
the moment". It is best translated into English as "I have been
doing (and am still doing)"
Let us take an example beklemek - to wait
beklemekteyim [beklemek-te-yim] - I have been waiting (and
am still waiting..)
Saat beten beri bankada seni beklemekteyim - I have
been waiting for you in the bank since five o'clock (and I am
still waiting)
A newspaper might print - Futbol takmmz talya'da
oynamaktadr. - Our football team are presently playing in
Italy (and are still there). We mention this tense as it is used very
much in newspaper talk, so you should recognize it as such.
Abstract from an Academic Thesis on Differences between
-Iyor and -mAktA
This work examines the verb units Iyor and mAktA in the
concept of their running in daily language dialogues and monologs
and in academicals texts-speeches with a enunciative approach.
These two parts are the markers of the two different qualities of
forming the statement by linguistic subject, two different
enunciations modes (enunciations states): The enunciator uses
Iyor when forming an unfinished statement in which he/she does
not keep aloof (in enunciation style) with both content and
adressee, when forming an unfinished statement in which he/she
keeps aloof the enunciator uses mAktA. In Turkish Iyor is the
unfinished unit without aloofness and mAktA is the unfinished
unit with aloofness. These two parts are opposed as the markers
of the two different enunciation modes (enunciation states) and
the opposition between them is enunciative. Using Iyor means

"speaking for yourself" and expressing a personal content,

attributing the content to yourself, "incident" narration, having a
relationship of "me"-"you"; direct address etc.; using mAktA
means attributing the content to another, "speaking for another"
and expressing a non-personal content, topic narration (informing
by transfer) and not having a relationship of "me"-"you"; reported
speech etc. The enunciator is an "internal eye"; a narrator; a
person (an invidivual) with Iyor whereas he is an "external eye";
a presenter; a reporter (observer), an authority (abstract
collective personality) with mAktA.
Talat AKASLAN http://www.turkishstudies.net/DergiTamDetay.aspx?ID=3538

The Past Progressive Tense

The past tense endings can also be added to change the tense Mehmet evde beni belemekteydi - Mehmet had been
waiting for me at home.