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The Conditional Tense - Some Observations
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... unlesss... In Turkish these words are pointers alerting the listener that a Condition and Result are following.
Condition - Result
Here are a few examples of Conditional Sentences. We recognise them and use them with ease in our Mother Tongue- English. As we shall see below Conditional Sentences are not so easy to recognise 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. Using a Passive Verb Form
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.
Conditional Tense
Overview of the English Methods of Communicating Condition and Result
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 (Geniş Zaman) - 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..
Recognizing 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.
Formation of the Turkish Conditional Tenses
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 Conditional Suffixes
The mark of the Conditional Suffix follows Vowel Harmony Rules, therfore there are two forms -se or -sa to choose from.
Some examples in differing Tenses and Moods are shown on the right to exhibit how Vowel Harmony affects the -se, -sa Conditional Suffix.
| The Conditional Suffixes |
|---|
| If I.. | -sem or -sam |
| If you.. | -sen or -san |
| If he.. | -se or -sa |
| If we.. | -sek or -sak |
| If you.. | -seniz or -saniz |
| If they.. | -seler or -salar |
The Present Conditional Tenses
| The Simple Present Conditional | The Present Contiuous 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 |
Some Examples
Here are some examples of the main tenses in use of gelmek - to come - and - gelmemek - not to come
The Positive Tenses
| Conditional Positive Tenses |
|---|
Simple | Actual |
| 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 Real | 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 Unreal | 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 |
The Negative Tenses
| Conditional Negative Tenses |
|---|
Negative Simple | 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 | Conditonal |
| 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 | Contitional |
| 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 |
 Note:That 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.
Some Examples in Turkish
- Erken varırsanız, beklemelisiniz.
- If you arrive early, you will have to wait.
- Erken varırsanız, beklersiniz.
- If you arrived 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 hatsa olacaksın.
- If you drink too much you will be sick.
- 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.
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