Use korkmak to describe a fear, a sudden fright or an action you are afraid to perform. The table gives six persons; the examples show how to name what causes the fear.
The idea
The person or animal feeling fear is the subject of korkmak. What they fear takes the ablative: sesten, benden. An action can take the same role: hata yapmaktan korkmak, to be afraid of making mistakes. The stem keeps its k in korkuyorum and korkarım. Learn korktum with t and korkmuyorum with u. In korkacağım, it is the future ending's k that becomes ğ. The aorist often presents a general fear; the present continuous can also describe an ongoing fear.
| Person | Present continuous | Past | Future | Aorist | Negative present |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ben | korkuyorum | korktum | korkacağım | korkarım | korkmuyorum |
| sen | korkuyorsun | korktun | korkacaksın | korkarsın | korkmuyorsun |
| o | korkuyor | korktu | korkacak | korkar | korkmuyor |
| biz | korkuyoruz | korktuk | korkacağız | korkarız | korkmuyoruz |
| siz | korkuyorsunuz | korktunuz | korkacaksınız | korkarsınız | korkmuyorsunuz |
| onlar | korkuyorlar | korktular | korkacaklar | korkarlar | korkmuyorlar |
Examples
- Ben gök gürültüsünden korkuyorum.I am afraid of thunder.
- Kedimiz elektrik süpürgesinden korkuyor.Our cat is afraid of the vacuum cleaner.
- Çocuk ani sesten korktu.The child was frightened by the sudden sound.
- Hata yapmaktan korkuyorum ama yine de konuşuyorum.I am afraid of making mistakes, but I speak anyway.
- Bu köpek benden korkmuyor.This dog is not afraid of me.
- Karanlıkta yalnız yürümekten korkar mısın?Are you afraid of walking alone in the dark?
- Bir dahaki sefer daha az korkacağım.I will be less afraid next time.
- Ani ses çocuğu korkuttu.The sudden sound frightened the child.
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Watch out
Keep the frightened person separate from the cause: Çocuk sesten korktu says the child was afraid of the sound; Ses çocuğu korkuttu says the sound frightened the child. Korkutmak means to cause fear and takes an object. With korkmak, use benden, not beni, for ‘of me’.
Try it yourself
Use the third-person singular past: the child was frightened.
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korktu
korktu: the child experienced the fright. The requested past takes -tu after the voiceless k and rounded o; a third-person singular subject needs no extra person ending.
Complete “This dog is not afraid of me”. Write the pronoun with its case ending.
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benden
benden: the dog feels the fear, and ‘me’ names its possible source. The pronoun therefore takes the ablative -den; the negative verb does not change that case.
Complete “I am afraid of making mistakes”. Keep the infinitive and add the required case ending.
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yapmaktan
yapmaktan: making a mistake is the feared action. Attach -tan to yapmak; its final k remains before the consonant t, so the whole action phrase is hata yapmaktan.
Choose the verb and use the third-person singular past: the sound frightened the child.
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korkuttu
korkuttu: the sound causes the fright, and çocuğu identifies the child affected. Choose korkutmak and add past -tu to korkut-; the two adjacent t letters are both written.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Use the third-person singular past: the child was frightened.
Complete “This dog is not afraid of me”. Write the pronoun with its case ending.
Complete “I am afraid of making mistakes”. Keep the infinitive and add the required case ending.
Choose the verb and use the third-person singular past: the sound frightened the child.
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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Describe one fear now, one past fright and how you expect to feel next time. Then rewrite the past sentence with the cause as its subject and korkutmak as its verb. Continue with kızmak to compare another emotion verb.