There are various ways of describing time relationships in English, consider:
When I saw him, I waved at him
When I see him, I shall wave at him
As soon as I see him I shall wave at him
Whenever I see him I wave at him
Every time I see him I wave at him
If I see him, I shall wave at him
It can be seen from above that the Adverbial Clause of time has a slightly different sense in relation to tense, time and duration. The Adverbial Clause of Time are best studied by example, as it is sometimes rather difficult at first to relate the English Constructions to the corresponding Turkish ones.
Turkish uses the Relative Adjectival Participles widely and at first sight they may be difficult to analyze. They are logical constructions however, and as such a little reading and study will be rewarding in hastening understanding.
iken can stand alone or be suffixed as -ken (when added to consonants) or -yken (when added to vowels). It is invariable and does not follow the rules of vowel harmony. It does not take further suffixes. iken is used when the verb action is continuous at a point in time. It may also follow an adjective.
-ken is always suffixed to the verb tense sign. As the subject is not always evident, then it is normally stated as in the examples below.
Mehmet kasabaya yürüyorken onu gördüm - I saw Mehmet while (he was) walking to town
Sen kasabaya yürüyorken, seni gördüm - I saw you while (you were) walking to town
Ben kasabaya yürüyorken, seni gördüm - I saw you while (I was) walking to town
Biz kasabaya yürüyorken, onu gördük - We saw him while we were walking to town
Biz kasabaya yürürken, onu her gün görürüz - Every day we see him when (while) we walk to town.
[Simple present habitual - yürü-r-ken]
Siz dans ediyorken, dinleneyim - Let me rest while you are dancing
Onlar dans ederken, dinlenelim - Let's rest while they dance
In the first three examples above it can be seen that the Personal Subject Pronouns have to be used to point to the subject, as iken can not be suffixed to pronouns. The last three examples show a slight difference in meaning due to the differing use in the Wide Tense and Present Continuous Tenses.
iken can be used with adjectives, in this case it can stand alone or be suffixed:
Ben, hasta iken (hastayken), uyurum - I sleep while (when) I am ill
Biz, o hastayken, merak ettik - While he was ill, we worried
Onlar, siz uykuda iken, meşgul olacaklar - They will be busy while you are asleep
Uykudayken, soyuldular - They were robbed while they were asleep
- the 3rd Person Plural comes from the last verb - it is in in the Passive Mood thus states the subject.
Note the use of the Subject Pronouns to make the meaning clear
If the action is continuous in the past then iken can be translated into English: - As -were -ing
As I was going to town I saw him.
As we were going to town I saw him.
Past Definite Tense:
Ben İngiltere'deyken, yağmur yağdı - While I was in England, it rained
Past Continuous Tense:
Biz İngiltere'ye giderken, yağmur yağıyordu. - As we were going to England it was raining
A further construction with iken is - just as or right at the moment that. This construction uses the word tam - complete to introduce the Adverbial Clause at the point in time:
Biz tam evden çıkarken, yağmur yağmağa başladı - Just as we were leaving the house it started to rain.
Onlar tam kapıyı açarken, anahtar koptu. - Just as they were opening the door the key broke
When attached to the Future Tense the meaning of iken becomes just as I was about to or instead of
İngiltere'ye gidecekken, Türkiye'de kaldık. - Instead of going to England we stayed in Turkey
This may seem difficult to understand but it can be analyzed that iken - as/while - is suffixed to the Future Participle - gidecek meaning - that about to go/which will go - and the Turkish aspect becomes apparent. We, while about to go to England, did something different - (ie. We stayed in Turkey.)
This sense is best translated into English as: instead of -ing
Türkiye'de kalacakken, İngiltere'ye gidelim. - Instead of staying in Turkey let's go to England.
This construction produces -mişken - means - having done
yapmışken - having done
yapılmışken - having been done
Bu iş bitirilmişken, eve gidelim - This job having been finished, lets go home..
Aklıma gelmişken, söyleyeyim - Having come to (my) mind, let me tell you..
Hazır gelmişken bir kahveni içelim - Having already come, let us drink a coffee of yours..
-mezken, -mazken means though not or while it isn't (This is a kind of official language. You can only hear these sentences in news or commercials.)
Galatasaray'ın yıldız futbolcularından Necati Ates, kendilerine ödeme yapılamazken, bazı yabancı oyuncuların alacaklarının verildiğini duymanın üzüntü verici olduğunu söyledi.
One of the star players of Galatasaray, Necati Ates, has said that it was disappointing to hear that some foreign players' debts had been paid while there can not be a payment for themselves.
Konu hakkında henüz herhangi bir bilgiye ulaşılamazken, araştırmaların devam ettiği bildirildi.
Here is the "Turkish" English:
While any information can't be reached yet about the subject, it has been told that the investigations keep on.
Here is the "English" English:
Although as yet no information can be communicated about the subject, it has been stated that investigations are continuing.
We can see some differences of tense and negation in the change from "Turkish" English to "English" English. This is because of:
(1) Basic grammatical structure differences between the two languages.
(2) The difference in local daily usage of each language.
(3) It also underlines the fact that literal translation between the two languages is often difficult - and it is better to arrive a suitable translation in one's own language.
Of course the above examples could be translated into English in a different way whilst still retaining the intended meaning in Turkish. Note that usually a positive statement follows this negative form..
In order to get the meaning for - Though not... or while it isn't..
As we have noted above the following method is a little formal (although it is correct):
Çalışmazken susuzum. - Although I have not worked I am thirsty.
Sürmezken yolu bilirim. - Although I do not drive I know the road.
From the last two examples above it can be seen that - iken - takes its person from the main verb at the end of each sentence.
In order to get the meaning for - though not or while it isn't we use -a rağmen - in spite of, despite - so we can couch these sentences in this manner:
Çalışmamama rağmen susuzum. - Despite not working I am thirsty.
Ben sürmememe rağmen yolu bilirim. - Although I do not drive I know the road.
Explanation:
Sür-me-me-m-e
1st -me is negation suffix - (sür-me)
2nd -me is noun producing suffix - (sür-me-me)
3rd -m is suffix for 1st sing. Person - (sür-me-me-m).
And Finally -e is suffix for movement towards (dative case) (sür-me-me-m-e).
Conversational stress is on the first syllable, preceding the negation suffix.
So let us look at this construction more closely bilmememe rağmen means Although I don't / didn't know, and this is correct (although it may seem a little strange.)
Let us break it down
Bilmek - to know (something)
Bil - know
Bilme - to know (short infinitive positive from bilmek)
Bilmeme - to not know (short infinitive negative from bilmemek)
Bilmemem - My not knowing - [lit: that (which) I don't know]
-e rağmen - In spite of
Bilmememe rağmen - Despite my not knowing / Although I don't/didn't know
Mehmet sürememesine rağmen yolu bilirmiş. - Although Mehmet can not drive it seems that he knows the road. - {Inferential tense}
The basic sentence is - Mehmet yolu bilirmiş. - It seems Mehmet knows the road. - which we add - "although he can not drive"
Explanation:
Sür-e-me-me-si-n-e
1st -e-me is negation suffix of inability - (sür-eme-mek)
2nd -me is noun producing suffix - (sür-eme-me) - this is the short Infinitive Verbal Noun from sürememek - to not be able to drive
3rd -si is suffix for 3rd. sing. Person - (sür-eme-me-si) - [Mehmet in this case].
And Finally -ne is suffix for movement towards (dative case, including the buffer letter -n-) (sür-eme-me-si-n-e)