A walk, a wait or a pot of soup can provide the background for another event. You will use -ken to connect that background to what happens during it, including when two different people act.
The idea
In this lesson, -ken presents an ongoing action or state. With a verb, use the aorist base without a person ending: beklerken means “while waiting”. The main verb and context establish the time: geçerken can refer to yesterday, and evdeyken to tomorrow. If the subject changes, name it clearly: in Sen uyurken ben mutfağı temizledim, you slept and I cleaned. A shared subject can usually remain unspoken. For the formation of the ending, see the related suffix lesson.
Examples
- Yürürken etrafa bakıyorum.I look around while walking.
- Beklerken gazete okuyorum.I read a newspaper while waiting.
- Çalışırken telefonu kapatırım.I turn off the phone when I work.
- Dün köprüden geçerken yağmur başladı.Yesterday it started raining while I was crossing the bridge.
- Ben sebzeleri doğrarken ablam çorbayı karıştırdı.While I was chopping the vegetables, my older sister stirred the soup.
- Sen uyurken ben mutfağı temizledim.While you were sleeping, I cleaned the kitchen.
- Yarın evdeyken bitkileri sulayacağım.Tomorrow I will water the plants while I am at home.
- Çorba pişerken sofrayı hazırladık.We set the table while the soup was cooking.
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Watch out
Do not read -ken as “after finishing”. In Çorba pişerken sofrayı hazırladık, setting the table happens during cooking. Çorba piştikten sonra would put it after the soup was cooked. Nor does the aorist base make the whole sentence present tense: the main verb may describe a past event.
Try it yourself
Choose the phrase: we set the table while the soup was still cooking.
Show answer or example answer
pişerken
pişerken: the soup is still cooking as the table is set. piştikten sonra would move the table-setting to a later time, changing the situation described.
Choose who was sleeping: you were asleep and I cleaned the kitchen.
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Sen
Sen: the prompt says that you are the sleeper. The following ben names the person who cleaned; using Ben in the gap would assign both actions to me.
Choose the phrase: yesterday the rain began during my crossing of the bridge.
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geçerken
geçerken: crossing the bridge is the background in progress when the rain starts. Dün and başladı locate it in the past; geçerim is an independent “I cross”, not a while-clause.
Choose the phrase meaning “while I am at home” in tomorrow’s plan.
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evdeyken
evdeyken: the watering is planned for a time when I am at home. Yarın and sulayacağım make that time future; eve means “to home” and cannot express the intended state.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Choose the phrase: we set the table while the soup was still cooking.
Choose who was sleeping: you were asleep and I cleaned the kitchen.
Choose the phrase: yesterday the rain began during my crossing of the bridge.
Choose the phrase meaning “while I am at home” in tomorrow’s plan.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Keep your progress
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Write three pairs of overlapping activities: one with the same person, one with two different people, and one planned for tomorrow. Use a while-clause in each sentence and mark who does each action.