The Negative Particle - "değil - not"
The Negative not to be is formed by using the negative particle değil - not. This word is invariable and not subject to vowel harmony rules. To form the negative the personal present tense endings are affixed to değil - not.
The resulting verb not to be is written separately from the verb root, whereas the positive forms to be, am, is, are, etc. being added to the root word, are subject to both Vowel Harmony and Consonant Mutation.
Singular Forms
ben değilim - I am not - zengin değilim - I am not rich
sen değilsin - you are not - yorgun değilsin - you are not tired
** o değildir - he/she/it is not - pahalı değildir - it is not dear [Public, Official]
** o değil - he is not - şişman değil - she is not fat [Familiar, Usual]
Plural Forms
biz değiliz - we are not - hasta değiliz - we are not ill
siz değilsiniz - you are not - yaşlı değilsiniz - you are not old
** onlar değildirler - they are not - genç değildirler - they are not young [Public, Official]
** onlar değiller - they are not - çirkin değiller - they are not ugly [Familiar, Usual]
Note: ** Generally the third person forms using -dİr are not used in day to day conversation. However they are used in Public Signs and Warnings as a reinforcement. The shortened form should always be used. However the use of the -dir form is apparent in Public Signs, Official Instructions and in newspaper reports. For these reasons this longer form is included here.
Using The Personal Pronouns for emphasis
The Personal Pronouns are only used for emphasis, as the person of the verb is already apparent from the verb ending. This is the same as many Romance Languages such Spanish and Italian.
ben zengin değilim - I am not rich - zengin değilim - I'm not rich
o hasta değil - HE is not ill - hasta değil - he's not ill
To form Negative Questions the positive forms are simply added after değil - not, but written separately.
zengin değil miyim? - am I not rich? - aren't I rich?
pahalı değil mi? - isn't it dear?
hasta değil miyiz? - aren't we ill?
genç değiller mi? - aren't they young?
yorgun değil misin? - aren't you tired?
büyük değil mi? - isn't it big?
yaşlı değil misiniz? - aren't you old?
yoksul değiller mi? - aren't they poor?
To form the Past Tense of not to be the personal past tense endings are added to değil - not..
değildim - I was not - zengin değildim - I was not rich
değildin - you were not - hasta değildin - you were not ill
değildi - he was not - yorgun değildi - he/she was not tired
değildik - we were not - mutlu değildik - we were not happy
değildiniz - you were not - aç değildiniz - you were not hungry
değildiler - they were not - yoksul değildiler - they were not poor
The Negative Question regarding Past Time is formed with değil not, followed by the question forms written separately.
Açık değil miydi? - Wasn't it open?
Mutlu değil miydik? - Weren't we happy?
Hava soğuk değil miydi? - Wasn't the weather cold?
Zengin değil miydiler? - Weren't they rich?
Emin değil miydim? - Wasn't I sure?
Mehmet meşgul değil miydi? - Wasn't Mehmet busy?
Yorgun değil miydiniz? - Weren't you tired?
Çocuklar mutlu değil miydiler? - Weren't the children happy?
The question tags that we use in English: - Isn't it?, Aren't you? , Aren't they?, Can't we?, Weren't they?, Didn't they?. etc - are all translated by the single tag - değil mi? in Turkish for all Persons and all Tenses.
The weather is cold, isn't it? - Hava soğuk, değil mi?
The weather was cold, wasn't it? - Hava soğuktu, değil mi?
You are happy, aren't you? - Mutlusunuz, değil mi?
You will be happy, won't you? - Mutlu olacaksın, değil mi?
They are ill, aren't they? - Hastadırlar, değil mi?
Mehmet can win, can't he? - Mehmet kazanabilir, değil mi?
The word - pek - very, hard, firm, quite - is often used as an intensifier especially in negative sentences. The word - çok - very - can also be used as an intensifier in positive sentences although it is a little more direct as - pek - is a more gentle word.
Mutluyum - I am happy
İyisiniz - You are good
Bozuktur - It is spoiled, broken, no good
Kolaydır - It is easy
Neşeliyiz - We are merry
İngilizsiniz - You are English
Zekidirler - They are clever
Pek/Çok şişmansınız - You are very fat
Çok/Pek naziksiniz - You are very nice
Mehmet pek hastadır - Mehmet is quite ill
Genç değilim - I am not young
Hasta değilsiniz - You are not ill
Pek aç değilim - I am not very hungry
Yüksek değildir - It is not high
Deli değiliz - We are not crazy
Pek/Çok çabuk değil(dir) - It ıs not very quick/fast
Pek nazik değilsiniz - You are not very nice
Pek zeki değildirler - They are not very clever
Zengin miyim? - Am I rich?
Zengin değil miyim? - Am I not rich?
Hasta mısınız? - Are you ill?
Ali bey genç mi(dir)? - Is Ali Bey young?
Kolay mı(dır)? - Is it easy?
Zeki miyiz? - Are we clever?
Zeki değil miyiz? - Aren't we clever?
Deli misin? - Are you crazy?
Arkadaşınız yaşlı mıdır? - Is your friend old?
Arkadaşım yaşlı değildir - My friend is not old
Evet,arkadaşım gençtir - Yes, my friend is young
Mehmet mutlu mudur? - Is Mehmet happy
Evet, mutludur - Yes, he is happy
Hayır,mutlu değildir - No, he is not happy
Hazır mısın? - Are you ready?
Hazır değil misin bile? - Aren't you ready yet?