In English the Conditional Tenses are formed with that very important little word - if...
Conditional - if... - sentences are often introduced with the word -eğer.. - if... or less commonly - şayet - lest... unless... In Turkish these words are pointers alerting the listener that a Condition and Result are following. But they do not have any direct meaning, they are "alerters.."
Condition.. Result..
Here are a few examples of Conditional Sentences. We recognize them and use them with ease in our Mother Tongue- English. As we shall see below Conditional Sentences are not so easy to recognize in Turkish, as they appear as a Mood of the verb itself. It needs practice....! If we leave at noon, we will arrive on time.
If you hit me, I shall tell my mother.
If we had left at noon, we would have arrived on time.
If (ever) you join the club we would welcome you.
Unless you work hard, you will not be successful.
If you do not work hard you may not be successful.
We can not go to the races whenever it rains.
We can not go to the races if it rains.
If it had not rained we could have gone to the races.
If ever you go to London you must visit Bucking ham Palace.
When(ever) you go to London you can visit Bucking ham Palace. [If ever you go..] Please take whichever one that you want. - [If you want that one then take it.] If the sweets are not too dear then we will buy them
Sometimes in the place of - if not.. we can use - unless..
and in the place of if.. we can use - if ever.., whenever.., whatever.., whichever.., however.., or even the simple forms - when.., what.., which.., how.., etc,. All the modal forms of the verb can be used - can.., must.., would.., might.., may.., should.., etc.
The same of course is true for Turkish as we shall see.. However these pages on the Conditional Tense are not written to teach the use of that tense in English so Manisa Turkish is appending a short overview of the Conditional to make it more understandable for our fellow Turkish Learners.
English Methods
The Real Conditional is used to express condition and result based on fact in both the Present and the Future. If the kettle gets too hot then it boils. - [Present Tense Condition and Result] Whenever the kettle gets too hot it boils. - [Simple Present Condition - Wide Tense Habitual- Result] It the kettle gets too hot it will boil. - [Future Result of Present Condition] If you practice hard you will win a prize. - [Future Result of Present Condition] If you do not practice hard you will not win a prize. - [Future Result of Present Condition - Negative]
The Unreal Conditional used to express unreal results or wishes and desires in the Present and Future. If I practice hard I might win a prize. - [Result - Present Desire] If I was richer I would buy a new house. - [Result - Future Wish] If I were you I would stay in England. - [Result Future Habitual]
The Past Conditional is used to state Conditions in the Past that did not happen. often use to express criticism or regret. If I had practiced harder I would have won a prize. - [Regret] If I had been richer, I would have bought a bigger house. - [Unrealized due to Condition] If I were you I would not have stayed in England. - [Criticism of Past Condition]
It can be seen that the changes of tense and mood of the verbs show our meaning in English. The same is of course true for Turkish - the Correct tenses and mood of Condition and Result must be used to adequately communicate the correct meaning of the statement. We can see from the above that English uses its normal tenses and the condition is produced by insertion of that little word - if. Turkish however, (along with many other languages) has a special Conditional Tense Form..
The Conditional Suffix.
The Turkish Conditional is characterized by the suffix -se- or -sa- (according to Vowel Harmony rules).
A simple example is - var - there is.., there are.. - which becomes varsa - if there is.., if there are.. - with the addition of the -sa Conditional Suffix.
The negative of course is based on: yok - there isn't.., there aren't.. - which becomes: yoksa - if there isn't..., if there aren't... Paranız varsa bana verin. - If you have (any) money (then) give it to me. Bir taksi yoksa burada kalalım. - If there isn't a taxi (then) let's stay here.
We can extend this simple example to verb formations as follows:
The Conditional Tenses are formed by adding the Conditional Personal endings to the -(y)se- or -(y)sa- suffix to the verb in any suitable tense or mood. The mark of the Conditional Suffix follows Vowel Harmony Rules, therefore there are two forms -se or -sa to choose from. Some examples in differing Tenses and Moods are shown below to exhibit how Vowel Harmony affects the -se, -sa Conditional Suffix.
The Conditional Suffixes
If I..-sem or -sam example yaparsam - if I do If you..-sen or -san example giriyorsan - if you are entering If he..-se or -sa example kesilecekse - if it will be cut, if it is to be cut - [Here the verb is in its passive form - "kesilmek - to be cut" - from - "kesmek - to cut"] If we..-sek or -sak example anlaşmıyorsak - if we are not agreeing If you..-seniz or -saniz example mutlu olmayacaksanız - if you will not be happy If they..-seler or -salar example gelebilecekseler - if they will be able to come
Thanks to A.E.R.T for corrections to the above section - JG. Oct. 2009
The Simple Present Conditional
The Present Continuous Conditional
gelsem
If I come
geliyorsam
If I am coming
yazsan
If you write
yazmıyorsan
If you are not writing
gülse
If he laughs
gülecekse
If he will laugh
içsek
If we drink
içiyorsak
If we are drinking
görebilirseniz
If you can see
görmüyorsanız
If you are not seeing
yapıyorsalar
If they are doing
yapabilirseler
If they can do
The Conditional Positive
Here are some examples of the main tenses in use of gelmek - to come - and - gelmemek - not to come
Simple Actual Conditional
gelsem
if I were to come
gelsen
if you were to come
gelse
if he were to comes
gelsek
if we usually come
gelseniz
if you were to come
gelseler
if they were to come
Present Continuous
geliyorsam
if I am coming
geliyorsan
if you are coming
geliyorsa
if he is coming
geliyorsak
if we coming
geliyorsanız
if you are coming
geliyorsalar
if they are coming
Simple Habitual
gelirsem
if I (usually) come
gelirsen
if you (usually) come
gelirse
if he (usually) comes
gelirsek
if we (usually) come
gelirseniz
if you (usually) come
gelirseler
if they (usually) come
Future Intention
geleceksem
if I (will) come
geleceksen
if you (will) come
gelecekse
if he (will) come
geleceksek
if we (will) come
gelecekseniz
if you (will) come
gelecekseler
if they (will) come
Past Reality
geldiysem
if I came
geldiysen
if you came
geldiyse
if he came
geldiysek
if we came
geldiyseniz
if you came
geldiyseler
if they came
Past Unreality
gelseydim
If only I had come
gelseydin
If only had come
gelseydi
If only had come
gelseydik
If only we had come
gelseydiniz
If only you had come
gelseydiler
If only they had come
Conditional Negative Tenses
Negative Simple Actual Conditional
gelmesem
if I were not to come
gelmesen
if you were not to come
gelmese
if he were to not comes
gelmesek
if we usually do not come
gelmeseniz
if you were not to come
gelmeseler
if they were not to come
Negative Present Continuous Conditional
gelmiyorsam
if I am not coming
gelmiyorsan
if you are not coming
gelmiyorsa
if he is not coming
gelmiyorsak
if we are not coming
gelmiyorsanız
if you are not coming
gelmiyorsalar
if they are not coming
Negative Simple Habitual Conditional
gelmezsem
if I (usually) do not come
gelmezsen
if you (usually) do not come
gelmezse
if he (usually) do not comes
gelmezsek
if we (usually) do not come
gelmezseniz
if you (usually) do not come
gelmezseler
if they (usually) do not come
Negative Future Conditional
gelmeyeceksem
if I (will) not come
gelmeyeceksen
if you (will) not come
gelmeyecekse
if he (will) not come
gelmeyeceksek
if we (will) not come
gelmeyecekseniz
if you (will) not come
gelmeyecekseler
if they (will) not come
Negative Past Real Conditional
gelmediysem
if I had not come
gelmediysen
if you had not come
gelmediyse
if he had not come
gelmediysek
if we had not come
gelmediyseniz
if you had not come
gelmediyseler
if they had not come
Negative Past Unreal Conditional
gelmeseydim
If only I had not come
gelmeseydin
If only you had not come
gelmeseydi
If only he had not come
gelmeseydik
If only we had not come
gelmeseydiniz
If only you not had come
gelmeseydiler
If only they had not come
Examples in other tenses
There are other tense form (such as the Inferential Tense) which are used in conditional sentences and one should learn to recognize the -se- or -sa- form of the verbal suffix to realize that the conditional - if - should be used. Erken varırsanız, beklemelisiniz. -
If you arrive early, you will have to wait. Erken varırsanız, beklersiniz. -
If you arrive early, you would have to wait. Erken varsaydınız, bekleyecektiniz. -
If you had arrived early, you would have had to wait. Sana yardım edebilirlerse, yardım edecekler. -
They will help you if they can. Sana yardım etseler, yardım ederler. -
They would help you if they could. Sana yardım edebilseydiler, (yardım) ederlerdi. - [or edeceklerdi] -
They would have helped you if they could have. Fazla içersen sarhoş olursun. -
If you drink too much you get drunk. Çok çalışmazsan, sınavı geçemeyeceksin -
Unless you work hard you will not be able to pass your test. Sigara içmeyi bırakırsan, daha uzun yaşarsın. -
If you stop smoking you will live longer. Yağmur yağmasaydı dışarı çıkacaktık. -
We would have gone out if it had stopped raining. Eğer buradan gitseydim sana yazardım. -
If I had gone away, I would have written to you.
