başlamak: to begin, to start
A lesson, a job, a habit: what you begin takes -e/-a, and a verb before başlamak ends in -meye/-maya. Forms: başlıyorum, başladım, başlayacağım.
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Turkish verbs
Learn each verb with its stem, tenses and common sentences, from olmak and gitmek to less frequent verbs.
Adventure journal
Turkish verbs
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bitirmek: to finish, and how it differs from bitmek
Ödevi bitirdim or ödev bitti? Learn bitirmek, to finish something with an object in the accusative, its forms in three tenses, and how it differs from bitmek.
Read and practisekalmak: to stay and to be left
Stay in a hotel, at a friend's place or at home: kalmak in the present, past and future, with a back-vowel stem that gives kalıyorum, kaldım and kalacağım.
Read and practisekalkmak: to get up, to leave
One letter from kalmak: kalkmak is to get up, stand and, for trains and planes, leave. See kalktım with -tı, kalkacağım with ğ and the ablative yataktan.
Read and practiseyürümek: to walk, with yürüyorum and yürüdüm
The ü at the end of yürü- brings a y before -ecek and rounds every past ending: yürüyorum, yürüdüm, yürüyeceğim, yürümüyorum.
Read and practisekoşmak: to run, with a stem that never changes
Koşuyorum, koştum, koşacağım: the stem koş- stays put, the past takes -tu after ş, and running in a place (-da) differs from running to it (-a).
Read and practisedurmak: to stop and to stand still
Dur! is only the start: durmak gives duruyorum, durdum and duracağım, and it never takes an object (that needs durdurmak).
Read and practisebeklemek: to wait for someone or something
Waiting for a bus or a friend: beklemek has no word for "for", its object ends in -i, and the e of bekle- drops in bekliyorum but returns in bekledim.
Read and practisearamak: to look for, to call
Calling your mother or hunting for keys? Aramak does both: see arıyorum, aradım and arayacağız, and why the person you phone takes the accusative.
Read and practiseaçmak: to open and to turn on
Because aç- ends in a voiceless ç, the past is açtım, not açdım. Learn the forms of açmak, when it means turn on, and why a door that is open is açık.
Read and practisekapatmak: to close and to switch off
Close a door, switch off the light, hang up on a call: kapatmak takes its object with -ı, and what closes by itself is kapanmak.
Read and practisedinlemek: to listen
Not dinleyorum but dinliyorum: the final e of dinle- narrows in the present. Plus how listening on purpose, dinlemek, differs from simply hearing, duymak.
Read and practisedüşünmek: to think, with düşünüyorum and düşündüm
Seni düşünüyorum, not sana: whom you think of takes the accusative. Plus düşünüyorum, düşündüm, düşüneceğim and düşünmüyorum with their ü.
Read and practisesormak: to ask, to ask about
Ask a person or ask about a thing? With sormak the person takes -e/-a and the thing asked takes -i: Ali'ye sordum, Ali'yi sordum. Forms: soruyorum, sordum.
Read and practiseyaşamak: to live
Where you live and whether someone is alive: yaşamak says both. See yaşıyorum, yaşadım, yaşayacağım and yaşamıyorum, with the city in -da.
Read and practisegirmek: to enter a room, a shop or a job
Odaya, not odayı: girmek takes the dative for the place you enter, and its stem gir- never changes in giriyorum, girdi and gireceğim.
Read and practiseçıkmak: to go out, leave, climb and appear
Evden çıkıyorum, dağa çıktık: one verb, two directions. See how -den marks the place you leave and -e/-a the one you climb, with a stem that never softens.
Read and practisebinmek: getting on a bus, a train or a horse
Otobüse, not otobüsü: binmek always marks the vehicle with -e/-a. Forms such as biniyorum, bindim and bineceğim, plus how it differs from inmek.
Read and practiseinmek: to get off and to go down
Down the stairs, off the bus, onto the runway: inmek covers all three. See iniyorum, indim and ineceğim, and why the vehicle you leave takes -den.
Read and practisedönmek: to return, to turn
Eve dönüyorum, sağa dön: the ö keeps rounding the endings (dönüyor, döndü, dönmüyor), and the place you return to takes the dative -e/-a.
Read and practisegülmek: to laugh, and laugh at
Bana gülme means don't laugh at me: the person laughed at takes -e/-a. Also gülüyorum, güldüm, güleceğim and the negative gülmüyorum.
Read and practiseağlamak: to cry, and the soft ğ that stays
Ağlıyorum, ağladım, ağlayacağım: the stem ağla- keeps its soft ğ and loses its final a before -yor. Learn to say who cries, when, and about what.
Read and practisegiymek: to wear, to put on
Coat, dress or shoes: giymek is the verb for clothes. See giyiyorum, giydim and giyeceğim, and why glasses and watches take takmak.
Read and practisesatmak: to sell
Sattım, not satdım: the voiceless t of sat- decides the past ending. Learn the forms of satmak, who gets what you sell, and how it differs from satın almak.
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