You will conjugate dönmek in the present, past and future, and use it for returning to a place and for turning a corner.
The idea
The stem dön- ends in a consonant and its vowel ö is front and rounded, so the endings round too: dönüyorum (not dönıyorum), döndüm, döndük. The future is dönecek, with k softening to ğ before a vowel: döneceğim. The negative -me- rounds to -mü- before -yor: dönmüyorum. The bare stem is the command: Sağa dön! The place you return to or turn toward takes the dative: eve dönmek, sağa dönmek; the place you come back from takes the ablative: Ankara'dan döndüm.
| Person | Present | Past | Future |
|---|---|---|---|
| ben | dönüyorum | döndüm | döneceğim |
| sen | dönüyorsun | döndün | döneceksin |
| o | dönüyor | döndü | dönecek |
| biz | dönüyoruz | döndük | döneceğiz |
| siz | dönüyorsunuz | döndünüz | döneceksiniz |
| onlar | dönüyorlar | döndüler | dönecekler |
Examples
- Akşam eve dönüyorum.I am going back home in the evening.The place you go back to takes the dative: eve, not evde. Dönüyorum has ü after the n.
- Babam yarın İzmir'e dönecek.My father will go back to Izmir tomorrow.
- Dün gece eve geç döndük.We got home late last night.Döndük: after n the past starts with d, and the rounded ö gives -dü. Dün gece is last night.
- Sağa dön, sonra düz git.Turn right, then go straight on.The bare stem is the command to one friendly person: dön. The direction sağa takes the dative -a, because the last vowel of sağ is back.
- Hayallerimiz gerçeğe döndü.Our dreams became reality.Dönmek with the dative also means to turn into. Gerçek softens its k to ğ before the vowel of -e: gerçeğe.
- Ankara'dan ne zaman döndün?When did you get back from Ankara?The place you come back from takes the ablative: Ankara'dan. Döndün is -dü plus -n for you.
- Toplantıdan sonra ofise dönmedim.I didn't go back to the office after the meeting.
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Watch out
Do not use the locative for where you are heading: eve dönüyorum means I am going back home, while evde dönüyorum would describe turning around inside the house. And do not write the present as dönuyorum or dönyorum: after the n comes the ü with its two dots.
Try it yourself
Conjugate dön for you (singular) in the present continuous: you are returning.
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dönüyorsun
dönüyorsun: the stem vowel ö is front and rounded, so the present ending is -üyor, and -sun is the ending for you.
Conjugate dön for we in the simple past: we returned.
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döndük
döndük: after n the past starts with d, the rounded front vowel gives -dü, and -k marks we.
Conjugate dön for he or she in the future: he or she will return.
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dönecek
dönecek: the rounding stops here, because the future -ecek has only e or a, and he or she needs no personal ending.
I am not going back home this evening. Use dönmek in the negative present continuous for I.
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dönmüyorum
dönmüyorum: the negative -me- rounds to -mü- before -yor, and -um is the ending for I.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Conjugate dön for you (singular) in the present continuous: you are returning.
Conjugate dön for we in the simple past: we returned.
Conjugate dön for he or she in the future: he or she will return.
I am not going back home this evening. Use dönmek in the negative present continuous for I.
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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Write four sentences about coming back: from work, from a trip, with a time word, and one negative. Check that every ending has ö or ü with its dots where the vowel is rounded, as in dönüyorum and döndük.