A sample of the hazelnut crop from the Black Sea orchards.

The Use on the Subjunctive in Turkish for Wishes.. Desires.. and Needs..

About the Subjunctive Mood

This mood is used quite widely in daily conversation, especially the first person singular and plural forms. The Subjunctive Mood gives a sense of doubt, uncertainty or wish. - Let me.. Let us.. or in the negative - Let me not... Let us not...

The third person forms are also used regularly. Should a secretary say to the boss that Ahmet bey has arrived then the answer might be - Let him wait.. or Let him come in.. then in these cases the Subjunctive Mood would be used.

A special case

The special third person form of the Imperative is also used quite a lot for wishes and desire , especially in Formula Speak - For instance if a person is ill we will say - I hope he gets better soon.

Turkish however will say - I hope it passes quickly - Geçmiş olsun - Lit: May it pass (from you)

Formation of The Subjunctive Mood

The Personal Endings for the Subjunctive mood are as follows:

Subjunctive Mood Sign is -e for verbs whose last vowel is -e, -i, -ö, -ü

Mood Sign -a is used for verbs whose last vowel is -a, -ı, -o, -u

As the Mood Sign is -a or -e - Then it follows that there are only two forms of the Personal Endings as shown above for the Subjunctive (again due to vowel harmony rules).

The Singular Personal Endings - Subjunctive

1. -eyim - let me.. or -ayım - let me..
2. -esin - let you.. or -asın - let you..
3. -e - let him.. or -a - let him..

The Plural Personal Endings - Subjunctive

1. -elim - let us.. or -alım - let us..
2. -esiniz - let you.. or -asınız - let you..
3. -eler - let them.. or -alar - let them..

Special Case

The third person singular and plural also have an ending suffix -sin and -sinler which is discussed in The Imperative Mood.

Formation of the Subjunctive Mood

The Subjunctive Mood Sign is -a or -e which is added to the basic verb stem - according to Vowel Harmony Rules:

If the bare verb stem ends in a vowel then the Subjunctive Mood Sign becomes -ya or -ye (Uses buffer letter -y-)

An example of a verb from the E-Dotted Group of Vowels

gelmek - to come - becomes - gel-e-yim - I better come

1. geleyim - let me come, I better come
2. gelesin - let you come, you should come along
3. O gele - let him come, he should come
4. gelelim - let us come, we better come
5. gelesiniz - let you come, you come along
6. geleler - let them come, they ought to come too

Example of the A-Undotted Vowel Group.

bakmak - to look - becomes - bak-a-yım - let me look

1. koşmak - to run - koşasın - let him run
2. bulmak - to find - becomes - o bula - let him find
3. çıkmak - to leave - çıkalım - lets go!
4. kaçmak - to escape, to leave - kaçasınız - off you go!
5. korkmak - to be afraid - korkalar - let them fear

Example of Verb Stems which end in a Vowel

In the case of verb stems which end in a vowel -(including all negative verbs) - then -ye or -ya is used - (buffer letter -y)

1. aramak - to look for - arayalım - ara -ya -lım - let uss look for (it)
2. beklemek - to wait, to expect - bekleyeyim - bekle -ye -yim - let me wait etc.

The Negative Form of all the above then become:

1. gitmemek - not to go - gitmeyelim - lets not go
2. bakmamak - not to look - Ahmet mektubu bakmaya - let Ahmet not see the letter
3. This is not an order but a wish - Hopefully Ahmet will not see the letter, but....

1. bulmamak - not to find - bulmayalar - Hopefully they won't find it.
2. beklememek - not to wait - beklemeyeyim - I'd better not wait.

The Interrogative of the Subjunctive Mood

The Interrogative Particle mi? or mı? is written separately but obeys Vowel Harmony Rules:

1. geleyim mi? - should I come (too)?
2. yürüyelim mi? - should we walk?
3. yürümeyelim mi? - shouldn't we walk?
4. gidelim mi? - Should we go (then)?

Subjunctive Mood - Past Tense

The Past tense of the Subjunctive Mood gives the sense of: I wish that I had... If only we had... etc. And the negative: I wish that I hadn't... If only they hadn't... etc.

Then adding the Past Tense personal endings the to Subjunctive Mood base we arrive at:

1. gideydim ... - if only I had gone...
2. Ahmet gelmiyeydi... - If only Ahmet hadn't come (along)..
3. arayaydık.. - If only we had looked for (it)...

How to say - Since.. in Turkish

This structure has the suffix -li - containing added to the - Subjunctive Verb Stem ie. Gide plus -li becomes gideli. The subject person is also stated and the tense is taken from the final main verb

-eli, -eli beri, -eliden beri, -diX -eli - since, (with the -di past ending conjugated as needed.)
All these mean - Since we came to Istanbul it has not rained:

1. Biz İstanbul'a geleli hiç yağmur yağmadı.
2. Biz İstanbul'a geleli beri hiç yağmur yağmadı.
3. Biz İstanbul'a geleliden beri hiç yağmur yağmadı.
4. (Biz) İstanbul'a geldik geleli hiç yağmur yağmadı.

Note: from the meanings given above it can be seen that this mood can have a wide interpretation in usage and translation which can only be obtained by practice and observation.