You will describe a necessary action, identify who must do it and place the need in time. The table keeps gitmem fixed so you can see what changes on gerekmek.
The idea
gerekmek means “be necessary”. Its stem keeps k: gerekiyor, gerekir, gerekecek; the simple past is gerekti. With an action as subject, the verb stays in the third-person singular: gitmem gerekiyor means “I need to go”, while gitmemiz gerekiyor means “we need to go”. The possessive ending on the verbal noun identifies the person; an explicit pronoun is genitive: benim gitmem. Gerekiyor presents a current need, gerekir often a general requirement. Gerekti reports a past necessity; gerekiyordu presents it as a situation at a past time, without by itself saying whether the action happened. Gerekecek places the need in the future. Write the question separately: gerekiyor mu?
| Use | Form | Pattern |
|---|---|---|
| Present need | gerekiyor | gitmem gerekiyor |
| General necessity | gerekir | gitmem gerekir |
| Past event | gerekti | gitmem gerekti |
| Need at a past time | gerekiyordu | gitmem gerekiyordu |
| Future need | gerekecek | gitmem gerekecek |
| No need now | gerekmiyor | gitmem gerekmiyor |
| No need in general | gerekmez | gitmem gerekmez |
| Question | gerekiyor mu? | gitmem gerekiyor mu? |
Examples
- Bugün mutfağı temizlemem gerekiyor.I need to clean the kitchen today.
- Bu akşam çiçekleri sulaman gerekiyor.You need to water the flowers this evening.
- Bu raf için iki vida gerekiyor.Two screws are needed for this shelf.
- Dün kapının kilidini değiştirmemiz gerekti.Yesterday we had to change the door lock.
- Bavulu yeniden açman gerekmiyor.You do not need to open the suitcase again.
- Bu oyunda sıranı beklemen gerekir.In this game, you need to wait your turn.
- Yarın erken kalkmam gerekecek.I will need to get up early tomorrow.
- Bu kutuyu saklamamız gerekiyor mu?Do we need to keep this box?
- Tren yedideydi; altıda evden çıkmam gerekiyordu.The train was at seven; I needed to leave home at six.
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Watch out
Gelmen gerekmiyor means “you do not need to come”; it does not forbid coming. Gelmemen gerekiyor means “you need to not come”: the action itself is negative. Also, “I need to go” is gitmem gerekiyor, not gitmek gerekiyorum; the person belongs to the action noun in this construction.
Try it yourself
Complete the action: I need to go to the library tomorrow. (Ben) Yarın kütüphaneye ___ gerekiyor. (gitmek)
Show answer or example answer
gitmem
gitmem: the person going is the speaker, so gitme takes possessive -m. Benim could be added for emphasis; gitmek alone would leave the person unspecified.
Use the negative present continuous of gerekmek: there is no need to bring another towel. Havlu burada; yenisini getirmen ___.
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gerekmiyor
gerekmiyor: the towel is already here, so bringing a new one is unnecessary. Negating gerekmek removes the need; it does not tell the listener not to bring anything.
Use the simple past of gerekmek: we had to walk home. Dün otobüs bozuldu; eve yürümemiz ___.
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gerekti
gerekti: the broken bus created a specific past necessity. The stem-final k gives past -ti; “we” is already marked in yürümemiz, so there is no -k person ending here.
Use the future of gerekmek: we will need to move to another room next week. Haftaya başka bir odaya taşınmamız ___.
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gerekecek
gerekecek: next week places the need in the future. The stem gerek- keeps its k before -ecek; taşınmamız already identifies the people who will move.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Complete the action: I need to go to the library tomorrow. (Ben) Yarın kütüphaneye ___ gerekiyor. (gitmek)
Use the negative present continuous of gerekmek: there is no need to bring another towel. Havlu burada; yenisini getirmen ___.
Use the simple past of gerekmek: we had to walk home. Dün otobüs bozuldu; eve yürümemiz ___.
Use the future of gerekmek: we will need to move to another room next week. Haftaya başka bir odaya taşınmamız ___.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Keep your progress
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Write a short plan for moving rooms: one action needed now, one needed next week and one that is unnecessary. Change the person from “I” to “we” without changing the ending of gerekmek.