You will make negative sentences about habits and general facts, such as Babam kahve içmez, and pick the right person ending.
The idea
Take the verb stem and add -mez after a front vowel (e i ö ü) or -maz after a back vowel (a ı o u): gelmez, yapmaz. That is the third person. With ben and biz the z drops: gelmem, yapmam, gelmeyiz, yapmayız. With sen, siz and onlar it stays: gelmezsin, gelmezsiniz, gelmezler. The negative is always regular, even where the positive is not: gelir but gelmez.
| Person | Ending (front / back) | With gel- | With yap- |
|---|---|---|---|
| ben | -mem / -mam | gelmem | yapmam |
| sen | -mezsin / -mazsın | gelmezsin | yapmazsın |
| o | -mez / -maz | gelmez | yapmaz |
| biz | -meyiz / -mayız | gelmeyiz | yapmayız |
| siz | -mezsiniz / -mazsınız | gelmezsiniz | yapmazsınız |
| onlar | -mezler / -mazlar | gelmezler | yapmazlar |
Examples
- Babam kahve içmez.My father does not drink coffee.
- Ben sabahları et yemem.I do not eat meat in the mornings.The first person drops the z: yemem, not yemezim. The stem ye- ends in a vowel, and the ending is still -mem.
- Biz gece dışarı çıkmayız.We do not go out at night.With biz the z falls away and a y joins the two vowels: çıkmayız, not çıkmazız.
- Sen acı yemezsin, değil mi?You do not eat spicy food, do you?With sen the z stays: yemezsin. The tag değil mi is written as two words.
- Kedim süt içmez ama su içer.My cat does not drink milk, but it drinks water.Compare the positive and the negative: içer with -er, but içmez with -mez. The negative never changes its shape.
- Pazar günleri bu durağa otobüs gelmez.No bus comes to this stop on Sundays.The positive is gelir, and one-syllable verbs differ in it (alır, verir, olur), but the negative is always regular: gelmez.
- Ben size hiç yalan söylemem.I never lie to you.
- gelmezsinyou do not comegelmez-mez / -maz: the negative aoristsinAorist person endings: -im, -sin, -iz, -siniz, -ler
- yapmamI do not do ityapma-mez / -maz: the negative aoristmAorist person endings: -im, -sin, -iz, -siniz, -ler
- içmeyizwe do not drinkiçme-mez / -maz: the negative aoristyizAorist person endings: -im, -sin, -iz, -siniz, -ler
- okumazlarthey do not readokumaz-mez / -maz: the negative aoristlarAorist person endings: -im, -sin, -iz, -siniz, -ler
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Watch out
Do not keep the z in the first person: gelmezim and gelmeziz are wrong, and the forms are gelmem and gelmeyiz.
Try it yourself
Add the negative aorist: I do not drink tea.
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içmem
içmem: the last vowel of iç is the front vowel i, so the negative is -me, and with ben the z is dropped, leaving only -m.
Add the negative aorist: My mother does not shout in the street.
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bağırmaz
bağırmaz: the last vowel of bağır is the back vowel ı, so it is -maz, and annem is the third person, which takes no further ending.
Add the negative aorist: We no longer write letters.
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yazmayız
yazmayız: the back vowel a gives -ma; with biz the z drops and a y separates the two vowels.
Add the negative aorist: You do not stay here.
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kalmazsınız
kalmazsınız: the back vowel a gives -maz; with siz the z stays and -sınız follows.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Add the negative aorist: I do not drink tea.
Add the negative aorist: My mother does not shout in the street.
Add the negative aorist: We no longer write letters.
Add the negative aorist: You do not stay here.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the parts in order to build this word: you do not come
Tap the parts in order to build this word: I do not do it
Keep your progress
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Write three true sentences about what you never do on Sundays. Check that each ben sentence has lost its z.