The Present Continuous Tense in Turkish

The Present Continuous Tense in Turkish (Şimdiki Zaman)

The Şimdiki Zaman is the most common tense used to describe actions happening right now. It is the equivalent of the English "-ing" form (e.g., I am eating, you are running).

💡 When to Use It:

1. Current Actions: To describe what is happening at this exact moment.

2. Near Future: To talk about planned events in the near future.

3. General Habits: Occasionally used to describe routines (similar to the Simple Present).

How to Form the Tense

The key marker for this tense is (yor). This suffix never changes, but it must always be preceded by a "narrow vowel" (ı, i, u, ü).

Choosing the Correct Vowel:

We look at the last vowel of the verb stem and apply the 4-way vowel harmony rule:

• If the last vowel is (a, ı) → use ı → ıyor

• If the last vowel is (e, i) → use i → iyor

• If the last vowel is (o, u) → use u → uyor

• If the last vowel is (ö, ü) → use ü → üyor

Three Rules for the Verb Stem:

1. Stems ending in a Consonant: Apply the 4-way harmony rule as shown above.

   • Example: Yazmak (To write) → last vowel is (a) → Yazıyor.

2. Stems ending in a Narrow Vowel (ı, i, u, ü): Simply add yor.

   • Example: Okumak (To read) → ends in (u) → Okuyor.

3. Stems ending in a Wide Vowel (a, e): Drop the final (a/e) and replace it with the appropriate narrow vowel.

   • Example: Beklemek (To wait) → drop (e) → add (i) → Bekliyor.

Conjugation with Personal Pronouns

Let’s use the verb Yazmak (To write) as a full example:

Negative and Question Forms

• Negative: Add the negative particle (m) before the tense suffix. It follows the 4-way harmony rule (mı, mi, mu, mü).

  • Example: Sevmiyor (He/She is not loving/liking).

• Question: Use the question particle (mu) separately after the verb.

  • Example: Seviyor mu? (Is he/she loving?).

• Negative Question: Sevmiyor mu? (Doesn't he/she love?).