Turkish Verbs and their Moods and Tenses

Turkish Verbs -Indicative Mood

The Indicative Mood shows the state of the verb in tense (time) and person.

Indicative Moods

Definite Past Tense

Tense Suffix:Tense Suffix: -di (-ti), -dı(-tı), -du(-tu), -dü(-tü)
Example: yaz-dı, koş-tu - he wrote etc.

Indefinite Past Tense

Tense Suffix: -miş, -mış, -muş, -müş
Example: yaz-mış, gül-müş - (maybe) he wrote etc.

Present Continuous Tense

Tense Suffix: -(i)yor, -(ı)yor, -(u)yor, -(ü)yor, -yor
Example: yaz-ı-yor, anlı-yor, gör-ü-yor - he is writing (now)

Future Tense

Tense Suffix: -ecek (-yecek), -acak (-yacak)
Example: yaz-acak, gid-ecek, anla-yacak - he will write

Simple Present Tense

Tense Suffix: -r, -ar, er, -ir, -ır, -ur, ür
Example: bekle-r, yaz-ar, gör-ür, gel-ir - he writes (generally)

Present Continuous Tense

This tense describes what is happening now at this moment, It is also used for happenings in the near future.
Alış veriş yapıyorum - I am doing the shopping [now]
Yarın çarşıya gidiyorum. - Tomorrow I am going to the shops.
The Present Tense Suffix -yor "-ing" does not follow vowel harmony rules and always retains the "-yor-" form.

Simple Present Tense

This tense signifies habitual action.
Her akşam trene binerim.- I get on the train every evening. The Simple Present Suffix(according to vowel harmony ) is: -ar, -er, -ır, -ir, -ur, -ür, -r. - There are some irregularities in this tense.

Past(-di'li) Definite Tense

This is the eyewitness tense and it states that something definitely happened in the past. The suffixes for this tense are: -di, -dı -du, -dü, -ti, -tı -tu, -tü.
Bir saat önce babam eve geldi. - My dad came home an hour ago [Definite: I actually saw him.]

Past(-miş'li) Indefinite Tense

This tense is use for hearsay and reporting, it is used when the event has not been eye witnessed personally. This tense is also used for stories and jokes. The suffixes for this tense are:-muş, -mış, -miş, -müş.
Bir saat önce babam eve gelmiş.- I believe that my dad came home an hour ago [ Indefinite : My mother told me so]

The Future Tense

This tense signifies what will happen in the future. The Future Tense suffix (according to Vowel harmony ) is -acak, -ecek. After verb roots ending in a vowel it uses buffer letter -y- to become -yacak, -yecek
Mehmet, cuma günü tiyatroya gidecek. - Mehmet will go to the theater on Friday

Wish or Desire Tenses

This tense signifies wish or desire. There are four divisions:

(A) Tense of Wish or Desire (Subjunctive)

This tense signifies a wish or desire - Let me. let us. This tense's suffix according to vowel harmony is: -(y)e, -(y)a
Şimdi affını yazayım- Now let me write a letter of apology

(B) Conditional Tense

This tense signifies the condition of an event - if. lest..This tense's suffix according to vowel harmony is -se, -sa.
Mehmet gelse iyi olur. - It will be good if Mehmet comes.

(C) Necessitative Tense

This tense signifies obligation - must. should. ought to.. This tense's suffix according to vowel harmony is: -meli, -malı.
Haftada bir kitap okumalıyım - I should read a book once a week

(D) Imperative Tense

This tense signifies orders, advice or warnings. This tense's suffix according to vowel harmony is -in (personal, informal), -iniz (public, formal),or unsuffixed (immediate, urgent)
onu yapma - Don't do that. (Personal Informal)
Sigara İçmeyiniz - Don't Smoke, No Smoking (Public, Official)
Sakın ol! - Beware!, Watch out! (Immediate)

Examples of Conjugation

These are the tenses in general use. There are many others that can be deduced from their formulation.