unutmak: forgetting things and forgetting to act

The idea

The stem unut- keeps its t: unutuyorum, unuturum, unutacağım. The past is unuttum, while the negative past is unutmadım. A specific object takes the accusative: bu tarihi unutmak. For an action left undone, use a verbal noun in the accusative: aramayı unutmak, to forget to call. The table gives six persons; with onlar, the verb can also appear without -lar.

Examples

• Ben şemsiyemi otobüste unuttum.I left my umbrella on the bus.
• Bu tarihi asla unutmayacağız.We will never forget this date.
• Ablam bazen anahtarını unutuyor.My older sister sometimes forgets her key.
• Seni aramayı unuttum.I forgot to call you.
• Çıkarken ışığı kapatmayı unutma.Don’t forget to turn off the light when you leave.
• Bu kelimeyi her seferinde unutuyorum.I forget this word every time.
• Toplantının saatini unutmadık.We did not forget the time of the meeting.
• Unuttun mu?Did you forget?

Watch out

Do not leave the first verb in its dictionary form: use Seni aramayı unuttum, not Seni aramak unuttum. Here ara-ma-y-ı names the action as an object; its -ma is not negative. In the reminder unutma, however, -ma does mean “don’t”.

Try it yourself

1. Complete with “I forgot” in the past: yesterday I left my umbrella on the bus.

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   unuttum

   unuttum: the event happened yesterday, so use the past. After the final t, the past suffix is -tu; the stem and suffix together give two consecutive t letters, then -m marks “I”.

2. Complete “I forgot to call you”: change aramak to the required form.

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   aramayı

   aramayı: the forgotten action is calling you. The action noun arama takes accusative -ı, with y between the vowels; the sentence does not mean forgetting not to call.

3. Tell one person: don’t forget to bring your notebook tomorrow.

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   unutma

   unutma: the speaker reminds one person to bring a notebook. Negative imperative -ma attaches directly to the stem; there is no tense or person ending here.

4. Write the affirmative first-person singular future of unutmak: I will forget.

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   unutacağım

   unutacağım: ben requires the first-person ending. The future suffix’s k becomes ğ before that vowel-initial ending, while the stem’s t stays unchanged.

Use it today

Write about an object you left somewhere and a task you forgot to do. Then give a friend one reminder with unutma. Continue with anlatmak to tell the story.