Turkish Simple Tense Negative
The Simple tense is Used in timeless habitual situations in both the present and the future.
The negative of the Turkish Simple translates as:
- I don't go to work on Saturdays.
- We don't keep a pet.
- They never take a holiday.
- We'll not see each other for some time.
Turkish Simple Timeless Tense Negative
The simple negative infinitive tense sign is -mez -maz suffixed to the verb stem:
- gelmemek →
[gelme-mek]
to not come
gelmez
does not come. - bakmamak →
[bakma-mak]
not to look
bakmaz
does not look
Simple Tense Negative Conjugation
The Simple Tense Negative Infinitive gitmeznot to go
First Person Singular and Plural drop the final -z of the negative infinitive.
- gitmemI don't go
[NOT gitmezim] - gitmezsinyou don't go
- gitmezhe doesn't go
- gitmeyizwe don't go
[NOT gitmeziz] - gitmezsinizyou don't go
- gitmezlerthey don't go
Turkish Simple Negative Examples
- Beni tanımazsınız.
You don't know me. - Beni tanımaz mısınız?
Don't you know me? - O bira içmez.
He doesn't drink beer.
[generally?] - Mehmet, bira
(yı)içmez mi?
Doesn't Mehmet drink(the)beer? - O birayı içmez.
He doesn't drink the beer. - Mehmet bira içmez mi?
Doesn't Mehmet drink beer (at all)? - Onun hakkında konuşmayız.
We don't talk about it. - Genellikle bir şapka giymez misiniz?
Don't you generally wear a hat? - Televizyonu seyretmezler.
They don't watch the television.
[in particular] - Televizyon seyretmezler
They don't watch television
[generally]
Turkish Negative Interrogative Simple Tense
The interrogative is formed by adding the personalized question particles after -maz -mez
The question is written separately, but follows vowel harmony rules.
Simple Tense Negative Question Form
| Negative | Infinitive | Negative | Question |
|---|---|---|---|
| bakmamak | not to look | bakmaz mıyım? | don't I look? |
| kalmamak | not to stay | kalmaz mısın? | don't you stay? |
| bitirmemek | not to finish | bitirmez mi? | doesn't he finish? |
| yazmamak | not to write | yazmaz mıyız? | don't we write? |
| koşmamak | not to run | koşmaz mısınız? | don't you run? |
| yürümemek | not to walk | Yürümezler mi? | don,t they walk? |
For first person bakmaz mıyım? conversational Turkish can say bakmam mı?
Turkish Simple Tense Negative Questions
- Her gün saat beşte seni görmez miyim?
Don't I see you every day at five o'clock? - Londra'da oturmaz mısınız?
Don't you live in London? - Ali bey bir bankada çalışmaz mi?
Doesn't Ali Bey work in a bank? - Hepimiz bir parti sevmez miyiz?
Don't we all love a party?
Turkish: Saying didn't use to…
Simple Tense Past Negative :
The meaning is habitual in the past.
This translated by didn't use to… in English.
- Sık sık buraya gelmezdim.
I didn't use to come here very often - Genç iken o kadar gülmezdin.
You didn't use to laugh very much when you were young. - Kuşadada kalırken denizde yüzmezdi.
He never used to swim in the sea when staying at Kuşadası. - Derslerimiz bittikten sonra yerterli zaman için beni beklemezdiniz.
You didn't use to wait long enough for me after our lessons had finished. - Tatilde kamp yaparken o kadar iyi uyumazdılar.
They didn't use to sleep very well while on holiday while camping.
Turkish Question didn't you use to?
- Gitmez miydim?
Didn't I use to go? - Hatice'yi sevmez miydin?
Didn't you use to love Hatice? - Ummaz mıydı?
Didn't he use to hope? - Açmaz mıydık?
Didn't we use to open - Kazmaz mıydınız?
Didn't you use to dig? - Soğan satmaz mıydılar?
Didn't they use to sell onions?
Soğan is not in the direct object case nor is it plural in Turkish,
It is a non-specific object of the family of "onion".
In Turkish
"things is" and "people are"- Çıkmaz mıydılar?
Didn't they use to go out? - Her gün seni görmez miydim?
Didn't I use to see you every day? - Bıkmaz mıydık?
Didn't we use to get fed up? - Londra'da oturmaz mıydın?
Didn't you use to live in London? - oturmak means to sit
[down]
OR to reside[at a place] - Ali İstanbul'da oturur
Ali lives in Istanbul. - Atlara binmez miydiniz?
Didn't you use to ride horses?
In conversational Turkish the past imperfect Tense will often be used for didn't use to
- Yıllar önce Manisa'da çalışıyordum.
Many years ago I was working in Manisa.
Turkish Proverbs Atasözler
Turkish Proverbs are usually written in the simple habitual tense.
These examples are the negative form of the timeless tense.
- Boş çuval ayakta durmaz.
An empty sack does stand up. - Mum dibine ışık vermez.
The bottom of a candle sheds no light. - Havlayan köpek ısırmaz.
A barking dog does not bite. - Küçük suda büyük balık olmaz.
There are no big fish in small pools. - Yuvarlanan taş yosun tutmaz.
A rolling stone gathers no moss.
