Turkish Language - Wide Tense Negative TenseHabitual SituationsNegative Form - Timless TenseSome Examples of The Simple Present NegativeThe Negative Interrogative FormSome examplesSaying - "didn't used to"Question- "didn't you used to?"Proverbs - "Ataszler"Habitual SituationsThe negative of the Simple Present tense translates as:I don't go to work on Saturdays.He doesn't like ice cream.We don't keep a pet.They never take a holiday.We'll not see each other for some time.The simple present tense is used in situations in both the present and the future that are untimed.Negative Form - Timless TenseThe Negative Wide Tense tense sign is -mez but it has become abraded to -me in the first person singular and plural (no doubt for reasons of daily usage) - So we must accept this as an irregularity (or intrinsic historical variability of Turkish.)Let us take the word - gelmek - to comeFirst of all we must understand that the that the Verbal Negative Infinitive is - gelmemek - to not come - on which most of the negative tenses are based. However the Negative Wide Tense Infinitive is - gelmez - not to come, does not come. This is based on this infinitive ending with the sign -mez.The negative tense sign is -z which is added to the negative verb stem -as an example:gitmemek - not to go, does not go - then adding -z to the verb stem after dropping -mek we arrive at: gitmez - not to go, does not go - to which the personal endings are added:Some Examples of The Simple Present NegativeThe Wide Tense Negative Infinitive - gitmez - not to go - Note the changes in First Persons Plural and Singulargitmem - I don't go - [NOT gitmezim]gitmezsin - you don't gogitmez - he doesn't gogitmeyiz - we don't go - [NOT gitmeziz]gitmezsiniz - you don't gogitmezler - they don't goNote that the first persons gitmem - I and gitmeyiz - We drop the -z when adding the personal endings to the negative verb stem, all other persons preserve the -z tanmamak - not to know somebody Beni tanmazsnz - You don't know me Beni tanmaz msnz? - Don't you know me? imemek - not to drink O bira imez - He doesn't drink beer [generally?] Mehmet, bira imez mi? - Doesn't Mehmet drink beer? - [usually?]If you were to use Accusative Case - biray - in the example above , the object becomes a definite object, but here we are talking about generally the drinking of beer. O biray imez. - He doesn't drink the beer. Mehmet biray imez mi? - Doesn't Mehmet drink the (or that) beer? konumamak - not to talk Onun hakknda konumayz - We don't talk about it giymemek - not to wear Genellikle bir apka giymez misiniz? - Don't you generally wear a hat? seyretmemek - not to watch Televizyonu seyretmezler - They don't watch the television [in particular] Televizyon seyretmezler - They don't watch television [generally]See note above for Definite and Indefinite Objects.Thanks to Bahaddin Cankurt for his corrections - JG - March 2006 The Negative Interrogative FormThe interrogative is formed by adding the personalized question particles after the verb stem ending in -z. They are written separately, but follow vowel harmony rules.

bakmamaknot to lookbakmaz mym?/bakmam m?don't I look?

kalmamaknot to staykalmaz msn?don't you stay?

bitirmemeknot to finishbitirmez mi?doesn't he finish?

yazmamaknot to writeyazmaz myz?don't we write?

komamaknot to runKomaz msnz?don't you run?

yrmemeknot to walkYrmezler mi?don,t they walk?

Some examplesHer gn saat bete seni grmez miyim? - Don't I see you every day at five o'clock?Londra'da oturmaz msnz? - Don't you live in London?Ali bey bir bankada almaz mi? - Doesn't Ali Bey work in a bank?Hepimiz bir parti sevmez miyiz? - Don't we all love a party?Saying - "didn't used to"If the past tense endings are added to the Wide Tense negative -mez verb stem then the meaning is habitual in the past. This translated by - didn't used to ... - in English. However in Turkish the Simple Present Tense is used with the past tense personal endings habitual in the past :Sk sk buraya gelmezdim. - I didn't used to come here very oftenGen iken o kadar glmezdin - You didn't used to laugh very much when you were young.Kuadada kalrken denizde yzmezdi - He never used to swim in the sea when staying at Kuadas. 1950 ylndan nce (1950'den nce) Trkiye'de kola iilmezdi. - Coca-cola did not used to be drunk in Turkey before 1950.Derslerimiz bittikten sonra yerterli zaman iin beni beklemezdiniz - You didn't used to wait long enough for me after school finished.Tatilde kamp yaparken o kadar iyi uyumazdlar - They didn't used to sleep very well while on holiday while camping.Question- "didn't you used to?"Gitmez miydim? - Didn't I used to go?Hatice'yi sevmez miydin? - Didn't you used to love Hatice?Ummaz myd? - Didn't he used to hope?Amaz mydk? - Didn't we used to openKazmaz mydnz? - Didn't you used to dig?Soan satmaz mydlar? - Didn't they used to sell onions? [note that Soan is not in the direct object case nor is it plural in Turkish, but it is a non-specific object of the family of "onion". In Turkish "things is" and "people are"] kmaz mydlar? - Didn't they used to go out?Her gn seni grmez miydim? - Didn't I used to see you every day?Bkmaz mydk? - Didn't we used to get fed up?Londra'da oturmaz mydn? - Didn't you used to live in London?[Note that oturmak means - to sit (down) - or - to live (at a place)Ali stanbul'da oturur - Ali lives in Istanbul.]Ben, mavi sandalyede oturuyorum - I am sitting in the blue chair.Atlara binmez miydiniz? - Didn't you used to ride horses?Note that binmek - to get on, to ride, to board - takes the Dative Object -e or -a as "movement towards" is implied in the verb - binmekA final note on "used to" and "didn't used to"In conversational Turkish the Past Imperfect Tense will often be used:Yllar nce Manisa'da alyordum - Many years ago I was working in ManisaProverbs - "Ataszler"Turkish Proverbs are usually written in the Wide Tense habitual tense. Here are some examples in the negative form of the timeless tense. These translations are not literal showing the difficulty of such interpretation from Turkish to English. Bo uval ayakta durmaz. An empty sack does stand up. Emek ver, kulak ver, bilgi ver, ama hibir zaman bo verme. - [only the final - verme - is negative] Give labour, ear and knowledge, but never give take notice. Mum dibine k vermez. The bottom of a candle sheds no light. Havlayan kpek srmaz. A barking dog does not bite. Kk suda byk balk olmaz. There are no big fish in small pools. Yuvarlanan ta yosun tutmaz. A rolling stone gathers no moss.