geçmek: passing, crossing and time going by

The idea

Geçmek means to pass, to go through or past something, to pass an exam, and for time to go by. The place or thing you pass takes the ablative: köprüden geçiyorum, yoldan geçtik, sınavdan geçtim. To get across to the far side you can also use the accusative: yolu geçmek. Time needs no case: zaman geçiyor. The stem geç ends in the voiceless ç, so the past starts with t (geçtim), and -ecek turns its k into ğ before a vowel (geçeceğim). The negative puts -mi- before -yor: geçmiyorum. The same letters also spell geç, "late", a different word.

Examples

• Dün sınavdan geçtim.I passed the exam yesterday.For passing an exam, geçmek takes the ablative: sınavdan geçmek. The v of sınav is voiced, so the suffix starts with d.
• Otobüs bu yoldan geçmiyor.The bus does not go along this road.The road you pass along is in the ablative: yoldan. The negative puts -mi- before -yor: geçmiyor.
• Yarın Ankara'dan geçeceğiz.We will pass through Ankara tomorrow.The k of -ecek becomes ğ before the vowel of -iz: geçeceğiz. The apostrophe separates the city name from -dan.
• Zaman çok çabuk geçiyor.Time passes very quickly.When time goes by, geçmek has no case ending at all: zaman geçiyor.
• Geçen hafta köprüden geçtik.Last week we went over the bridge.Geçen hafta means last week: geçen is a form of geçmek used before a noun, and it is outside this level. Learn it as a fixed phrase for now.
• Çocuklar yolu dikkatle geçti.The children crossed the road carefully.With the accusative (yolu) geçmek means to get across to the other side; with yoldan it means to pass along the road. Both are normal.
• Geçmiş olsun!Get well soon!Said to someone who is ill or has had a mishap; literally, may it be past. Geçmiş is another form of geçmek that comes later in the course.
• geçiyorumI am passinggeç·iyor-iyor / -ıyor / -uyor / -üyor: happening now·um-im / -sin / -iz / -siniz: I am, you are, we are
• geçeceğizwe will passgeç·eceğ-ecek / -acak: will, going to·iz-im / -sin / -iz / -siniz: I am, you are, we are
• geçtilerthey passedgeç·ti-di, -dı, -du, -dü, -ti: the past (geldi, yaptı)·lerPast person endings: -m, -n, -k, -niz, -ler

Watch out

English "pass the exam" tempts you to say sınavı geçtim; the usual Turkish is sınavdan geçtim. And geçmek is not "to spend time": for "I spent the holiday by the sea" Turkish uses the different verb geçirmek (tatili denizde geçirdim), which is built later in the course.

Try it yourself

1. Add the case that geçmek asks for to köprü (bridge): pass by way of the bridge.

   Show answer or example answer

   köprüden

   köprüden: köprü ends in a vowel and its last vowel ü is front, so the ablative is -den with no buffer letter.

2. Add the same case to yol (road): pass along the road.

   Show answer or example answer

   yoldan

   yoldan: yol ends in the voiced l, so the suffix starts with d, and the back vowel o gives -dan.

3. Write the past of geçmek for ben (I): I passed.

   Show answer or example answer

   geçtim

   geçtim: the stem ends in the voiceless ç, so the past ending starts with t; the front vowel e gives -ti, and -m marks ben.

4. Write the future of geçmek for biz (we): we will pass.

   Show answer or example answer

   geçeceğiz

   geçeceğiz: the stem ends in a consonant, so -ecek attaches directly, and its k becomes ğ before the vowel of -iz.

Use it today

Write three sentences about a route you take: one with -den geçmek for a place you pass, one about an exam or test, one about time passing. Check that each place is in the ablative.