The whenever/as suffix

The idea

Choose the first vowel from the last vowel of the stem: a/ı → ı, e/i → i, o/u → u, ö/ü → ü. The ending finishes in -ça after a back vowel and -çe after a front vowel. It starts with t after ç f h k p s ş t and d elsewhere. Add the whole ending directly, even after a vowel: oku + dukça. It links repeated events or accompanying change; the main verb supplies tense. No person ending is inserted into this converb.

Examples

• Fotoğrafa baktıkça gülümsüyorum.I smile whenever I look at the photograph.
• Çorba soğudukça tadı değişiyor.As the soup cools, its taste changes.
• Bu yolu yürüdükçe rahatlıyorum.The more I walk this route, the more relaxed I feel.
• Bu öykü okundukça farklı yorumlar ortaya çıkıyor.As this story is read, different interpretations emerge.
• Düşünceler yazıldıkça netleşiyor.Thoughts become clearer as they are written down.
• Okuyabildikçe yeni şeyler öğreniyorum.Whenever I can read, I learn new things.
• okundukçaas it is readoku·n-ın / -in / -un / -ün / -n: passive endings·dukçaThe whenever/as suffix
• yazıldıkçaas it is writtenyaz·ılPassive suffix: -ıl / -il / -ul / -ül·dıkçaThe whenever/as suffix
• görüldükçewhenever it is seengör·ülPassive suffix: -ıl / -il / -ul / -ül·dükçeThe whenever/as suffix

Watch out

Do not turn the k into ğ or insert a possessive ending as in other forms built with -dik. Here k stays before ç: gördükçe. In gittikçe, the stem’s t also stays because the suffix starts with a consonant.

Try it yourself

1. Write the form meaning “whenever one sees”, from görmek.

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   gördükçe

   gördükçe: gör- ends in voiced r, and rounded front ö selects ü. Seeing supplies the recurring occasion, rather than a past-tense statement.

2. Add the lesson’s suffix to the stem of gitmek; write the whole word.

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   gittikçe

   gittikçe: git- ends in voiceless t, so another t begins the suffix. Both are written. Depending on context, this word can also mean “increasingly”.

3. Complete: The more we talk, the fewer problems there are. Use konuşmak.

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   konuştukça

   konuştukça: ş requires initial t, and the last vowel u requires u. The subject biz is already explicit; no “we” ending belongs inside this form.

4. Build “whenever one can read”; write the whole word, keeping the ability suffix.

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   okuyabildikçe

   okuyabildikçe: the suffix follows okuyabil-, whose last vowel is i, so it is -dikçe. Choosing by the original u in oku- would overlook the intervening ability suffix.

Use it today

Build one form after a vowel, one after a voiceless consonant and one after an ability suffix. Use each in a sentence and say whether it describes repetition or gradual change.