You will use olmak to say what someone becomes, what happens and where someone will be, and you will know when to leave it out.
The idea
Olmak is the verb of becoming and happening, and it supplies 'be' only outside the present: oluyorum (I am becoming), oldu (it became, it happened), olacağım (I will be). The stem ol- takes ordinary endings, and the k of the future suffix -acak turns into ğ before a vowel: olacağım. A plain 'I am' is an ending on the noun: öğrenciyim, with no olmak.
| Person | Now (becoming) | Past | Future |
|---|---|---|---|
| ben | oluyorum | oldum | olacağım |
| sen | oluyorsun | oldun | olacaksın |
| o | oluyor | oldu | olacak |
| biz | oluyoruz | olduk | olacağız |
| siz | oluyorsunuz | oldunuz | olacaksınız |
| onlar | oluyorlar | oldular | olacaklar |
Examples
- Ben doktor oldum.I became a doctor.With a noun, olmak means 'become', and the noun stays bare: doktor oldum.
- Yarın evde olacağım.I will be at home tomorrow.
- Hava birden çok soğuk oldu.The weather suddenly turned very cold.
- Ne oldu?What happened?
- Tamam, olur.Okay, that works for me.Olur is a set reply, literally 'it becomes', meaning 'agreed'. It answers a suggestion.
- Bu akşam bizde toplantı olacak.There will be a meeting at our place this evening.
- Ben öğrenciyim.I am a student.The present 'I am' needs no verb: the ending -im sits on the noun, with y after a final vowel.
- oluyorsunuzyou are becoming (plural)oluyor-iyor / -ıyor / -uyor / -üyor: happening nowsunuz-im / -sin / -iz / -siniz: I am, you are, we are
- oldularthey becameoldu-di, -dı, -du, -dü, -ti: the past (geldi, yaptı)lar-ler / -lar: the plural suffix
- olacağımI will beolacağ-ecek / -acak: will, going toım-im / -sin / -iz / -siniz: I am, you are, we are
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
Do not use olmak for 'I am' in the present. Ben öğrenci olurum means 'I become a student', and Ben öğrenci oluyorum means 'I am becoming a student'. The correct sentence is Ben öğrenciyim.
Try it yourself
Use olmak in the past: A big noise happened last night.
Show answer or example answer
oldu
oldu: a noise is an event that took place, so olmak is the verb; the stem ends in o, a back rounded vowel, so the past takes -du.
Use olmak in the future: In two years we will become doctors.
Show answer or example answer
olacağız
olacağız: this is a future becoming; a stem with a back vowel takes -acak, and before the person ending -ız the k turns into ğ.
Use olmak in the past: When did you become a teacher?
Show answer or example answer
oldun
oldun: the question is about the moment of a past change; after o the suffix is -du, and 'you' (singular) adds -n.
Add the person ending, without olmak: I am very tired.
Show answer or example answer
yorgunum
yorgunum: being tired is a state right now, so the ending -um goes straight on the adjective (last vowel u); with olmak it would mean 'I am getting more and more tired'.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Use olmak in the past: A big noise happened last night.
Use olmak in the future: In two years we will become doctors.
Use olmak in the past: When did you become a teacher?
Add the person ending, without olmak: I am very tired.
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: you are becoming (plural)
Tap the parts in order to build this word: they became
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: where you will be tomorrow, something that has changed, and one plain 'I am' sentence without olmak.