Turkish Tea Time

Lesson 2

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What are you doing?

Made with love.

There's no time like the present - so it's a good thing we're talking about
present tense today. Listen in and find out how to tell someone what's
happening now.
The present-continuous tense (iyor).

Beginner

Dialog

1 | Yunus

Ne yapyorsun?

2 | Sila

dev yapyorum.

3 | Yunus

Hangi ders?

4 | Sila

Tarih.

5 | Yunus

Kahve imek istiyor musun?

6 | Sila

Hayr. Istemiyorum. Teekkrler.

7 | Yunus

Megul musun?

8 | Sila

Evet. Megulum.

9 | Yunus

Oh, pardon. Kolay gelsin!

Dialog Translation

1 | Yunus

What are you doing?

2 | Sila

I am doing homework.

3 | Yunus

Which class?

4 | Sila

History.

5 | Yunus

Do you want to grab some coffee?

6 | Sila

No, I don't want any. Thanks.

7 | Yunus

Are you busy?

8 | Sila

Yeah, I'm busy.

9 | Yunus

Oh, sorry. Take it easy!

Language Points
I Am Doing
Like most things in Turkish, you convey the present tense with a suffix. The suffix you use to say you are currently
doing something right now is iyor. Add iyor to a verb stem to make a present tense verb. Think of it as the
equivalent of the English ing.
iiyor

drinking

ediyor

making

seviyor

liking

Vowel Harmony. Like most suffixes, iyor must follow Turkish vowel harmony. That is, iyor must change its form
based on the vowels in the verb stem. Use iyor, yor, uyor, or yor to match the verb stem.
yapyor

doing

alyor

working

kouyor

running

pyor

kissing

Vowel Collisions. In Turkish, two vowels can never be next to each other. When you add iyor to a verb stem that
ends in a vowel, just drop that vowel and add iyor as usual.
demek

dyor

paying

yemek

yiyor

eating

uyumak

uyuyor

sleeping

I am doing. In English, you convey that you are doing something by adding I to the front: I am doing. In Turkish,
you get this meaning by adding another suffix to the end: um, which literally means I am. Luckily, you don't have to
worry about vowel harmony here - this suffix will always be um in order to match the o in iyor.
yazyor

yazyorum

I am writing.

geliyor

geliyorum

I am coming.

buluuyor

buluuyorum

I am meeting.

Personal Suffixes. Of course, you can use any of the personal suffixes with iyor to say that anybody is doing
something. The leading pronouns (ben, sen, etc.) are optional and usually not used by native speakers.
Ben yapyorum

I am doing.

Sen yapyorsun

You are doing.

O yapyor

He/She/It is doing.

Biz yapyoruz

We are doing.

Siz yapyorsunuz

You are doing. (plural or polite)

Onlar yapyorlar

They are doing.

I Am Not Doing
To say that you are not doing something right now, use the negative -me suffix. It goes directly after the verb stem

and before iyor. We drop the e in the negative -me suffix so it doesn't clash with iyor.
yap + me + iyor

yapmyor

not doing

cal + me + yor

calmyor

not working

bulu + me + uyor

bulumuyor

not meeting

Again, add the personal suffix to say somebody is not doing something.
Ben yapmyorum

I am not doing.

Sen yapmyorsun

You are not doing.

O yapmyor

He/She/It is not doing.

Biz yapmyoruz

We are not doing.

Siz yapmyorsunuz

You are not doing. (plural or polite)

Onlar yapmyorlar

They are not doing.

Am I Doing?
To make a question in the present tense, we use the question suffix mu. Add it as a separate word after the verb.
yapyor mu?

doing?

calyor mu?

working?

buluuyor mu?

meeting?

To ask if somebody is doing something, add the personal suffix after the -mu. Add a y after -mu when you have to
keep two vowels from appearing next to each other. The they form is irregular - in that case, put the personal
suffix after the verb.
Ben yapyor muyum?

Am I doing?

Sen yapyor musun?

Are you doing?

O yapyor mu?

Is he/she/it doing?

Biz yapyor muyuz?

Are we doing?

Siz yapyor musunuz?

Are you doing? (plural or polite)

Onlar yapyorlar m?

Are they doing?

You can also make negative questions by adding in the negative -me suffix where you would expect.
Sen yapmyor musun?

Aren't you doing?

O yapmyor mu?

Isn't he/she/it doing?

Biz yapmyor muyuz?

Aren't we doing

Onlar yapmyorlar mu?

Are they doing?

Vocabulary

kolay gelsin

take it easy

megul

busy

istemek

to want

imek

to drink

tarih

date, history

ders

class

hangi

which

dev

homework

yapmak

to do, to make

Review

1. What is a correct present continuous form of aramak (to search)?

a. arayorum
b. aryoruz
c. ariyorlar
d. araiyor

2. How do you say we are coming in Turkish? (write)

3. Which of the following are correct present continuous conjugations? (pick all)

a. kouyorum
b. geliyor
c. ariyorlar
d. gitiyoruz
e. atyorsun
f. yiyorun

4. Ne yapyorsun?

a. Kahve iiyorum.
b. Hayr. Istemiyorum.
c. dev yapiyor.
d. Kolay gelsin!

5. Translate: You (plural) are watching? (izlemek) (write)

6. Translate: Aren't they coming? (write)

Answer Key
1. b
2. Geliyoruz , Biz geliyoruz
3. a b e
4. a
5. Siz izliyor musunuz , Izliyor musunuz
6. Gelmiyorlar m? , Gelmiyor m? , Onlar gelmiyorlar m , Onlar gelmiyor m

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