Present Continuous Tense
-iyor
Use the -iyor present tense to say what is happening right now. In English, this tense can be translated as to be doing. Think of it as the Turkish equivalent to English -ing.
| Turkish | English |
|---|---|
| Ben geliyorum. | I am coming. |
| Yazıyor. | He is writing. |
| Koşmuyorsun. | You are not running. |
| Bekliyor musunuz? | Are you waiting? |
Forming the Present Continuous
To form this tense, add -iyor to the verb stem, followed by the personal suffix. Take gelmek (to come), for example:
| Verb Stem + iyor | Personal Suffix | Present Continuous | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| geliyor | um | geliyorum | I am coming. |
| geliyor | sun | geliyorsun | You are coming. |
| geliyor | - | geliyor | He/she/it is coming. |
| geliyor | uz | geliyoruz | We are coming. |
| geliyor | sunuz | geliyorsunuz | You (plural or polite) are coming. |
| geliyor | lar | geliyorlar | They are coming. |
The first i in -iyor follows i-type vowel harmony and must change to match the final vowel in the verb stem. This gives four possible forms of the suffix: -iyor, -ıyor, -uyor, and -üyor. Since the vowel in the final personal suffix will always harmonize with the o in -iyor, it will always take u in this tense. Similarly, the they form will always take -lar.
- seyrediyoruz
- yapıyorlar
- koşuyorum
- görüyorsun
You can use the pronoun in front of the verb, as in Ben yapıyorum or O geliyor. However, the pronoun is usually omitted unless deliberatly emphasizing who is doing the action. A leading pronoun is redundant - its meaning is already present in the personal suffix at the end of the verb.
The they suffix (-lar) is optional - in practice, Turkish people usually don't say it. The ambiguity between the third-person singular and plural cases, then, is usually resolved by an explicit subject or context.
| Kedi atlıyor. | The cat is jumping. | |
| Kediler atlıyorlar. | The cats are jumping. | |
| Kediler atlıyor. | The cats are jumping. | more common |
| Atlıyor. | It is jumping / They are jumping. | figure out from context |
In present continuous, we resolve vowel conflicts by dropping a letter from the stem instead of using a buffer letter. When adding -iyor to the end of a verb stem that ends in a vowel (like yemek or kapamak), drop the final vowel from the stem and add -iyor as usual.
| Verb Stem | -iyor | Personal Suffix | All Together | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ye | iyor | um | yeiyorum | I am eating. |
| ye | iyor | um | yiyorum | I am eating. |
| ara | ıyor | sun | arıyorsun | You are calling. |
| kapa | ıyor | lar | kapıyorlar | They are closing. |
| üyü | üyor | uz | üyüyoruz | We are sleeping. |
Negative
To make the negative form (I am not doing), add the negative suffix -me after the stem. Since the e in -me clashes with the i in iyor, we drop the e in -me entirely.
| Verb Stem | Negative Suffix | -iyor | Personal Suffix | All Together | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| yap | me | iyor | um | yapmeiyorum | I am not doing. |
| yap | ma | ıyor | um | yapmıyorum | I am not doing. |
| gel | me | iyor | sunuz | gelmiyorsunuz | You are not coming. |
| öp | me | üyor | lar | öpmüyorlar | They are not kissing. |
When saying the negative form, stress the syllable that commes immediately before -me.
- istemiyorum
- calışmıyorum
- yapmıyorum
Questions
To build a question in the present continuous tense (Are you doing?), combine the question suffix -mi with the personal suffix and separate it from the -iyor stem. When the question suffix clashes with the I and we personal suffix, add a buffer y to keep the two vowels from touching. If that's confusing, it's much easier if you look at some examples.
| Verb Stem | -iyor | Question Suffix | Personal Suffix | All Together | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| yap | iyor | mu | sun | yapiyor musun? | Are you doing? |
| gör | üyor | mu | - | görüyor mu? | Did he see? |
| git | iyor | mu | uz | gidiyor muyuz? | Are we going? |
| dinle | iyor | mu | um | dinliyor muyum? | Am I listening? |
Since the vowel in the question suffix will always harmonize with the o in -iyor, it will always take u in this tense.
- calışıyor musun?
- yapıyor mu?
- yiyor musunuz?
- koşuyor muyuz?
The they question form differs from the rest. In this case, put -mi at the end, like this:
| Verb Stem | -iyor | Personal Suffix | Question Suffix | All Together | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| yap | iyor | lar | mı | yapiyorlar mı? | Are they doing? |
| yüz | üyor | lar | mı | yapiyorlar mı? | Are they swimming? |
To make a negative question, add the negative suffix -me before -iyor, just like before.
| Verb Stem | Negative Suffix | -iyor | Question Suffix | Personal Suffix | All Together | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| yap | mi | iyor | mu | sun | yapmiyor musun? | Are you not doing? |
| gel | me | iyor | mu | uz | gelmiyor muyuz? | Are we not coming? |