Practise two short exchanges with a colleague: a delay on the way to work and an absence because you are ill. Make it clear whether you are still coming.
The idea
Use geç kalacağım for a late arrival and gelemeyeceğim when you cannot come. Add a short reason, then an arrival estimate if you are coming: yaklaşık yirmi dakika sonra means in about twenty minutes. You can finish a delay message with Gecikme için özür dilerim.
Read the text
— Günaydın. Bugün işe geç kalacağım. Otobüs bugün çok yavaş ilerliyor. — Günaydın. Ne zaman geleceksiniz? — Yaklaşık yirmi dakika sonra ofiste olacağım. Gecikme için özür dilerim.
— Günaydın. Hastayım, bugün gelemeyeceğim. — Geçmiş olsun, haber için teşekkürler.
Examples
- Bugün işe geç kalacağım.I will be late for work today.
- Yarın işe gelemeyeceğim.I won't be able to come to work tomorrow.
- Otobüs bugün çok yavaş ilerliyor.The bus is moving very slowly today.
- Hastayım, bugün gelemeyeceğim.I'm ill; I won't be able to come today.
- Yaklaşık yirmi dakika sonra ofiste olacağım.I'll be at the office in about twenty minutes.
- Gecikme için özür dilerim.I apologise for the delay.
- Ne zaman geleceksiniz?When will you arrive?
- Geçmiş olsun, haber için teşekkürler.Get well soon, and thanks for letting me know.
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Watch out
Gelmeyeceğim only says that you will not come; it does not itself express inability. In gelemeyeceğim, the extra e after gel makes that distinction. Do not describe a whole day of absence with geç kalacağım, which still suggests a later arrival.
Try it yourself
Complete “I will be late for work today”: Bugün işe geç ___. Use kalmak in the first-person future.
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kalacağım
kalacağım: the speaker expects to arrive late, so the first-person future is needed. The final k of kalacak becomes ğ before the vowel in -ım.
Complete “I am ill; I will not be able to come today”: Hastayım, bugün ___. Use the future of gelememek.
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gelemeyeceğim
gelemeyeceğim: illness prevents the speaker from coming. This form explicitly expresses inability; gelmeyeceğim would only announce that they will not come.
Choose sonra or önce for “in about twenty minutes”: Yaklaşık yirmi dakika ___ ofiste olacağım.
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sonra
sonra: the twenty minutes run forward from now, so this is an arrival estimate. Önce would mean before or earlier and would reverse the time relation.
Your colleague says they are ill. Complete the get-well wish: ___ olsun.
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Geçmiş
Geçmiş: together with olsun, it forms the get-well wish addressed to the ill colleague. An apology would speak about your own action instead.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Complete “I will be late for work today”: Bugün işe geç ___. Use kalmak in the first-person future.
Complete “I am ill; I will not be able to come today”: Hastayım, bugün ___. Use the future of gelememek.
Choose sonra or önce for “in about twenty minutes”: Yaklaşık yirmi dakika ___ ofiste olacağım.
Your colleague says they are ill. Complete the get-well wish: ___ olsun.
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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With a partner, act out a delay message and ask about arrival time. Then switch roles: report an illness and reply with a get-well wish. Change the time estimate.