Turkish Negative Potential Mood - not able to, can't

Turkish Negative Potential Mood - not able to, can't





Negative Potential Mood is formed inserting an -e- or -a- before the negative verb:

  • gelmekto come → gelememek
    [gel-eme-mek[not to be able to come.

  • bakmakto look → bakamamak
    [bak-ama-mak]not to be able to look


The verb can be active, passive, reflexive, reciprocal, or causative, thus forming a completely new verb with its own infinitive:



Turkish Negative Potential -Examples in various moods and tenses:



  • bakmamakto not look → bakamamak[bak-a-ma-mak]not to be able to look

  • bakamıyorum
    I can't look. I might not look

  • bakamadın or bakamıyordun
    you could not look

  • bakamıyordu
    he was not able to look

  • bakamazsak
    if we cannot look 
    [conditional form]

  • bakamayacaksınız
    you will not be able to look

  • bakamadılar or bakamıyorlardı
    they could not look


Tense and personal endings are added to make the full verb form.
This includes the if.. forms of the -sa, -se Conditional Mood.



Turkish Negative Potential - A-UnDotted Verbs ending in a Vowel


The buffer letter -y- is used to keep the last vowel of the verb stem separate from the ‑e‑ ‑a‑ negative potential particle.

  • anlamamakto understand → anlayamamak[anla-y-a-ma-mak]not to be able to understand

  • anlayamadım
    I could not understand

  • anlamasaydın
    if you did not understand

  • anlayamasaydın
    if you could not understand
    [conditionalif]

  • anlayamamış
    it seems he could not understand
    [inferential Tense]

  • anlaşılamayacaksak
    if we will not be able to understood 
    [passive mood]

  • anlayamazsınız
    you cannot understand
    [simple tense -maz]

  • anlaşamadılar
    they could not agree
    [reciprocal ş form]




Turkish Negative Potential - E-Dotted Verb Formation:



  • çekmemekto not pull → çekememek[çek-e-me-mek]not to be able to pull

  • çekemem
    I can't pull

  • çekemiyorsun
    you cannot pull

  • çekilemedi
    [çek-il-e-me-di]
    it could not be pulled
    [passive form]

  • çekemeyeceğiz
    we will not be able to pull

  • çekememiştiniz
    you had not been able to pull




Turkish Negative Potential - E-Dotted Verbs ending in a Vowel



  • beklemekto wait, expect → bekleyememek[bekle-y-e-memek]not to be able to wait

  • bekleyemesem
    if I cannot wait
    [conditional tense]

  • bekletemeyeceksin
    [bekle-t-e-me-y-ecek-sin]
    you will not be able to let (it/him) wait
    [causative form]

  • beklenemedi
    it could not have been expected
    [LIT: awaited - passive form]

  • bekleyemeyeceğiz
    we will not be able to wait

  • bekleyemezdiniz
    you couldn't have waited

  • bekleyememişler
    it seems that they could not wait
    [inferential tense]




Turkish Negative Potential Conversational Stress


In speech this negative potential particle -a- / -ya- or -e- / -ye- is heavily accented in order to draw the attention of the listener to the correct tense and mood.

  • GörEmedim[Gör-Eme-dimI could not see

  • GülEmediniz[Gül-Eme-diniz]You could not laugh

  • Mehmet ağlaYAmayacak[ağla-YAma-y-acak]Mehmet will not be able to cry.

  • DinleYEmedik onu!Dinle-YEme-dikWe could not listen to it!


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