Until in Turkish: -e kadar and -inceye kadar

The idea

For a named endpoint, use the dative before kadar: sekize kadar means “until eight”, and parkın kapısına kadar means “as far as the park gate”. An event can set the boundary too: sen gelene kadar and sen gelinceye kadar both mean “until you arrive”. In these clauses, keep sen as the subject and do not add a person ending to the verb form; the main verb supplies tense and person. Write kadar separately. Sen gelince means “when you arrive”: it locates the next event rather than describing the preceding interval.

Examples

• Bu akşam sekize kadar buradayız.We are here until eight this evening.
• Parkın kapısına kadar birlikte yürüyelim.Let’s walk together as far as the park gate.
• Sen dönünceye kadar burada bekleyeceğim.I will wait here until you return.
• Çorba soğuyana kadar kapağı açık bırak.Leave the lid open until the soup cools down.
• Sen gelene kadar toplantı başlamayacak.The meeting will not start until you arrive.
• Yağmur dininceye kadar kafede oturacağız.We will sit in the café until the rain stops.
• Sen gelince toplantı başlayacak.The meeting will start when you arrive.

Watch out

Do not negate the arrival just because the meeting will not start: Sen gelene kadar toplantı başlamayacak. The expected boundary is your arrival, so gelene stays positive; the negative belongs to başlamayacak. An “until” clause does not automatically require a negative verb.

Try it yourself

1. Complete with the form of sekiz: We are here until eight o’clock.

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   sekize

   sekize: eight o’clock is the endpoint, so the numeral takes the dative. The last vowel of sekiz is i, which selects -e; sekizde would locate something at eight.

2. Complete with either form of dönmek: I will wait here until you return.

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   dönene / dönünceye

   dönene / dönünceye: both make your return the end of my wait. Sen identifies the person returning, while ben identifies the person waiting; no extra person ending goes on either answer.

3. Use either form of soğumak: Leave the lid open until the soup cools down.

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   soğuyana / soğuyuncaya

   soğuyana / soğuyuncaya: the soup cooling is the boundary for leaving the lid open. The stem soğu- ends in a vowel, so both forms need the linking y; its back rounded vowel gives soğuyuncaya in the longer pattern.

4. Use the negative future of başlamak: The meeting will not start until you arrive.

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   başlamayacak

   başlamayacak: the thing that will not happen before your arrival is the start of the meeting. Negate başlamak in the main clause; the arrival in gelene kadar remains the positive event being awaited.

Use it today

Write one sentence about staying somewhere until a clock time and one about waiting until someone returns. Then say that a meeting will not start until that person arrives. Identify the boundary in each.