You will use almak to say what you buy, receive or take, in the present, the past and the future.
The idea
Almak means to end up with something in your hand: to buy it (ekmek almak), to receive it (mektup almak) or to take it. The stem al- is regular and has a back vowel, so it takes -ıyor, -dı and -acak: alıyorum, aldım, alacağım. The k of -acak becomes ğ before a person ending that starts with a vowel: alacağım, alacağız, but alacaksın. Where something comes from takes -den: annemden aldım.
| Person | Present continuous | Past | Future |
|---|---|---|---|
| ben | alıyorum | aldım | alacağım |
| sen | alıyorsun | aldın | alacaksın |
| o | alıyor | aldı | alacak |
| biz | alıyoruz | aldık | alacağız |
| siz | alıyorsunuz | aldınız | alacaksınız |
| onlar | alıyorlar | aldılar | alacaklar |
Examples
- Ben ekmek alıyorum.I am buying bread.
- Dün yeni bir telefon aldım.I bought a new phone yesterday.
- Annemden bir mektup aldım.I got a letter from my mother.The person you get something from takes -den: annemden. With -de (annemde) it would mean at my mother's.
- Yarın bilet alacağım.I will buy a ticket tomorrow.In alacağım the k of -acak becomes ğ, because the ending -ım starts with a vowel.
- Her gün otobüse biniyorum.I take the bus every day.You board a bus with binmek (otobüse binmek); almak would mean buying or receiving it.
- Burada fotoğraf çekiyoruz.We are taking photos here.A photo is taken with çekmek (literally “to pull”), so fotoğraf almak is not used.
- Bu çantayı kim aldı?Who bought this bag?A specific object takes the accusative: bu çantayı. The question word kim stands before the verb.
- alıyorlarthey are buyingalıyor-iyor / -ıyor / -uyor / -üyor: happening nowlar-ler / -lar: the plural suffix
- almadımI did not buyalmadı-medi / -madı: the negative pastmPast person endings: -m, -n, -k, -niz, -ler
Read-aloud uses a synthetic Turkish voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.
No Turkish device voice is available. You can still read the text.
Watch out
Almak is not the all-purpose verb for English "take". A photo is made with çekmek (fotoğraf çekmek) and a bus is boarded with binmek (otobüse binmek); fotoğraf almak is not what a Turkish speaker says.
Try it yourself
Write almak in the future for ben: Tomorrow I will buy a ticket.
Show answer or example answer
alacağım
alacağım: the k of -acak becomes ğ because the ending -ım starts with a vowel.
Write almak in the past for biz: Yesterday we bought a book.
Show answer or example answer
aldık
aldık: after the voiced l the past ending is -dı, and -k marks "we".
Write almak in the present continuous for sen: You are buying milk now.
Show answer or example answer
alıyorsun
alıyorsun: the stem ends in a consonant, so -ıyor joins directly; the back vowel a gives ı, then -sun for "you".
Write the right verb in the past: Ali took a photo yesterday.
Show answer or example answer
çekti
çekti: photos are taken with çekmek, not almak; the k is voiceless, so the past ending is -ti.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Write almak in the future for ben: Tomorrow I will buy a ticket.
Write almak in the past for biz: Yesterday we bought a book.
Write almak in the present continuous for sen: You are buying milk now.
Write the right verb in the past: Ali took a photo yesterday.
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: they are buying
Tap the parts in order to build this word: I did not buy
Keep your progress
Sign up for free to save your practice results in your account.
Sign up to saveI already have an accountUse it today
Write three sentences about shopping and post: something you bought, something you received from a person (with -den) and something you will buy tomorrow.