By doing: linking actions with -erek

The idea

Use -erek to present one action as the way another is carried out: Kelimeleri yazarak öğreniyoruz means we learn words by writing them. It can also describe an accompanying action: Çocuk gülerek konuştu means the child spoke while laughing. In these active sentences, the same person does both things. The converb takes no person or tense ending; the main verb supplies those, as in yürüyerek geldi and yürüyerek gideceğiz.

Examples

• Çocuk gülerek konuştu.The child spoke while laughing.
• Misafirler yürüyerek geldi.The guests came on foot.
• Kelimeleri yazarak öğreniyoruz.We learn words by writing them.
• Çocuklar şarkı söyleyerek yürüyor.The children are walking along singing.
• Resme bakarak anlatıyorum.I am explaining it while looking at the picture.
• Yarın sahile yürüyerek gideceğiz.Tomorrow we will go to the seaside on foot.

Watch out

Do not use -erek as an automatic replacement for “and then”. For two successive events, Yemeği bitirip çıktım simply reports finishing the meal and leaving; bitirerek would invite a method reading. Likewise, do not silently switch who acts: if your mother laughs and you enter, keep two clauses with their own subjects.

Try it yourself

1. Kapıyı ___ açtım. (iterek / gülerek) Choose the method: I opened the door by pushing it.

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   iterek

   iterek: pushing is what opens the door; laughing could accompany the action but would not express the stated method.

2. Çocuk ___ içeri girdi. (gülerek / güldü) Choose the accompanying action: the child entered while laughing.

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   gülerek

   gülerek: the laughter accompanies the entry. Güldü is a separate past-tense predicate and cannot fill this modifier slot.

3. Her gün ___ çalışıyoruz. (yazarak / yazarakız) Choose the form: every day we study by writing.

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   yazarak

   yazarak: the group studies by writing. The plural person is already expressed by çalışıyoruz, so it is not attached to the converb.

4. Yemeği ___ çıktım. (bitirip / bitirerek) Choose the neutral link for a sequence: I finished the meal, then left.

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   bitirip

   bitirip: the prompt asks for a neutral sequence: the meal ends, then the speaker leaves. It does not present finishing the meal as a way of leaving.

Use it today

Write three sentences about how you travel or study: one past, one present and one future. Circle the main verb and identify who performs both actions.