Use kıskanmak to talk about envy of another person’s qualities or success, or jealousy over someone’s attention. The situation tells you which meaning fits; the verb alone does not imply a romantic relationship.
The idea
The person feeling envy is the subject; the specific person or quality envied is an accusative object: seni kıskanıyorum, senin sabrını kıskanıyorum. The stem kıskan- stays intact: kıskanıyorum, kıskandım, kıskanırım. In kıskanacağım and kıskanacağız, the future ending’s k softens to ğ. Compare present negative kıskanmıyorum with general negative kıskanmam. The table shows plural endings for onlar; a singular verb is also possible with a plural human subject.
| Person | Present continuous | Past | Future | Aorist |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ben | kıskanıyorum | kıskandım | kıskanacağım | kıskanırım |
| sen | kıskanıyorsun | kıskandın | kıskanacaksın | kıskanırsın |
| o | kıskanıyor | kıskandı | kıskanacak | kıskanır |
| biz | kıskanıyoruz | kıskandık | kıskanacağız | kıskanırız |
| siz | kıskanıyorsunuz | kıskandınız | kıskanacaksınız | kıskanırsınız |
| onlar | kıskanıyorlar | kıskandılar | kıskanacaklar | kıskanırlar |
Examples
- Ben senin sabrını kıskanıyorum.I envy your patience.
- Bazen onun cesaretini kıskanırım.Sometimes I envy their courage.
- Bu çocuk ablasını kıskanıyor.This child is jealous of their older sister.
- Arkadaşımın başarısını kıskandığımı kabul ettim.I admitted that I envied my friend’s success.
- Seni kıskanmıyorum; sadece nasıl başardığını merak ediyorum.I don’t envy you; I’m just curious how you managed it.
- Yeni atölyeni görünce seni kıskanacağım.When I see your new workshop, I’ll envy you.
- Onun başarısını kıskanmak yerine kendi çalışmama odaklandım.Instead of envying that person’s success, I focused on my own work.
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Watch out
Do not transfer the case pattern of another emotion verb: sana kıskanıyorum is wrong for “I envy you”; use seni kıskanıyorum. And this sentence is not automatically a compliment: tone and context can make envy light-hearted or uncomfortable.
Try it yourself
Complete the pronoun: I envy you.
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seni
seni: you are the person envied, so the object form of sen is needed. Sana would mark a recipient or direction and does not fit this verb here.
Use the definite past: Yesterday I envied that person’s courage.
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kıskandım
kıskandım: dün anchors the feeling yesterday, and ben makes the speaker its subject. Voiced n is followed by -dı, then first-person -m.
Use the future: When I see your new workshop, I’ll envy you.
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kıskanacağım
kıskanacağım: the workshop visit is still ahead. First-person -ım follows the future base kıskanacak, so its final k becomes ğ.
Form a present continuous question: Do you envy that person’s success?
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kıskanıyor musun
kıskanıyor musun: the question concerns sen. After the rounded o of -yor, the particle is mu; -sun attaches to it, and musun stays separate from the verb.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Complete the pronoun: I envy you.
Use the definite past: Yesterday I envied that person’s courage.
Use the future: When I see your new workshop, I’ll envy you.
Form a present continuous question: Do you envy that person’s success?
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
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Invent two short situations: envy of someone’s skill and jealousy over attention in a family. Write one sentence for each, then turn one into a question. Identify who feels the emotion and who or what is its object.