Present Continuous Tense

Present Continuous Tense
Tenses
There are 5 fundamental tenses in Turkish. These are:
Present simple tense (Geniş zaman)
Present continuous tense (Şimdiki zaman)
Future tense (Gelecek zaman)
Past tense with -di (-di'li geçmiş zaman) --> Regular past tense
Past tense with -miş (-miş'li geçmiş zaman) --> Also called the story past tense
In the basic grammar lessons, we will cover the present continuous tense and the future tense. Rest will be covered in the intermediate level lessons.

To start with, let's review some verbs we'll use in the following lessons and their meanings:
gelmek --> to come
gitmek --> to go
okumak --> to read
kapatmak --> to close
koşmak --> to run
aramak --> to call
konuşmak --> to talk
vermek --> to give
kaynamak --> to boil
çalışmak --> to work
yemek --> to eat
beklemek --> to wait

The meaning of tenses are given using some suffixes. There are some important properties common to all these suffixes denoting tense:
The suffix for tenses is added right after the verb root if the verb is positive, or after the negating suffix if the verb is negative.
The present tense for of 'to be' comes after the suffix for tense.
Therefore, the order becomes: verb root + (negative) + tense + present tense to be
This is different only for the regular past tense, where past tense form of to be is used.
1. Present continuous tense (Şimdiki zaman)
The suffix for present continuous tense is -iyor. Present continuous tense is used, very much like the one in English:
To tell what you are currently doing
I am working now. --> Şimdi çalışıyorum.
I am eating ice cream. --> Dondurma yiyorum.
To tell something you will do in the close future
Wait, I'm coming in 5 minutes. --> Bekle, 5 dakika içinde geliyorum.

Present continuous tense is used only for verbs, it is not meaningful for nouns and adjectives.

Present continuous tense of a verb is constructed this way:
verb root + (negative) + iyor + present tense to be

If the verb you want to add the suffix -iyor ends with a vowel, drop the last vowel and add -iyor. Otherwise, just simply add -iyor. Be careful about the vowel harmony rules for the 'i' of -iyor. Let's see how a verb is put into present continuous tense on the following examples:
gel-iyor --> geliyor --> he is coming
git-iyor-im --> gidiyorum --> i am going
oku-iyor --> okuyor --> he is reading
kapat-iyor-iz --> kapatıyoruz --> we are closing
koş-iyor --> koşuyor --> he is running
ara-iyor-sin --> arıyorsun --> you are calling
konuş-iyor --> konuşuyor --> he is talking
ver-me-iyor --> vermiyor --> he is not giving
ye-me-iyor --> yemiyor --> he is not eating
gel-me-iyor-siniz --> gelmiyorsunuz --> you are not coming (plural you)

And let's see how present continuous tense is used with different cases of person.
English Turkish
to come --> gelmek
i am coming (ben) geliyor-im --> geliyorum
you are coming (sen) geliyor-sin --> geliyorsun
he
she | is coming
it /
(o) geliyor
we are coming (biz) geliyor-iz --> geliyoruz
you are coming (siz) geliyor-siniz --> geliyorsunuz
they are coming (onlar) geliyor-ler --> geliyorlar

Let's Learn Turkish

Anasayfa

Konular

Tüm Konular

Konular

ACADEMIC ESSAY WRITING IN TURKISH HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM: CRITICAL THINKING OR READY MADE STRUCTURE?

International Journal of Languages’ Education and Teaching

Seni Seviyorum I Love You

Kusursuz Aşk Perfect Love

MIRILDAYAN DELİKANLI THE MUMBLING MAN

DAISY MACBETH ROLÜNDE

İyi Şövalye

TÜRKÇE ATASÖZÜ VE DEYİMLER Turkish Proverbs and Idiomatic Expressions

LORNA’YI ARARKEN THE SEARCH FOR LORNA

KITAPKURDU THE BOOKWORM