Editing Turkish language (section)

== Grammar ==
{{main|Turkish grammar}}

Turkish is an [[agglutinative language]] and frequently uses [[affix]]es, and specifically suffixes, or endings.{{efn|This section draws heavily on Lewis (2001)<ref name=lewis2001/> and, to a lesser extent, Lewis (1953).<ref name=lewis1953/> Only the most important references are specifically flagged with footnotes.}} One word can have many affixes and these can also be used to create new words, such as creating a verb from a noun, or a noun from a verbal root (see the section on [[#Word formation|Word formation]]). Most affixes indicate the grammatical function of the word.<ref name=lewis2001/>{{rp|Chapter XIV}}
The only native prefixes are [[alliteration|alliterative]] intensifying syllables used with adjectives or adverbs: for example '''''sım'''sıcak'' ("boiling hot" < ''sıcak'') and '''''mas'''mavi'' ("bright blue" < ''mavi'').{{efn|"The prefix, which is accented, is modelled on the first syllable of the simple adjective or adverb but with the substitution of '''m, p, r''', or '''s''' for the last consonant of that syllable.<ref name=lewis2001/>{{rp|55}} The prefix retains the first vowel of the base form and thus exhibits a form of reverse vowel harmony.}}

The extensive use of affixes can give rise to long words, e.g. ''Çekoslovakyalılaştıramadıklarımızdanmışsınızcasına'', meaning "In the manner of you being one of those that we apparently couldn't manage to convert to Czechoslovakian". While this case is contrived, long words frequently occur in normal Turkish, as in this heading of a newspaper obituary column: ''Bayramlaşamadıklarımız'' (Bayram [festival]-Recipr-Impot-Partic-Plur-PossPl1; "Those of our number with whom we cannot exchange the season's greetings").{{efn|This "splendid word" appeared at the time of ''Bayram'', the festival marking the end of the [[Ramadan|month of fasting]].<ref name=lewis2001/>{{rp|287}}}} Another example can be seen in the final word of this heading of the online Turkish Spelling Guide (''İmlâ Kılavuzu''): ''Dilde birlik, ulusal birliğin vazgeçilemezlerindendir'' ("Unity in language is among the indispensables [dispense-Pass-Impot-Plur-PossS3-Abl-Copula] of national unity ~ Linguistic unity is a ''[[sine qua non]]'' of national unity").<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dilimiz.com/dil/imlakilavuzu/TDK/imlaanasayfa.htm |title=İmlâ Kilavuzu |publisher=Dilimiz.com |access-date=2011-11-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006001226/http://www.dilimiz.com/dil/imlakilavuzu/TDK/imlaanasayfa.htm |archive-date=2011-10-06 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Nouns ===

==== Gender ====
Turkish does not have grammatical gender and the sex of a person does not affect the forms of words. The third-person pronoun ''{{lang|tr|o}}'' may refer to "he", "she" or "it." Despite this lack, Turkish still has ways of indicating gender in nouns:

# Most '''domestic animals''' have male and female forms, e.g., ''{{lang|tr|aygır}}'' (stallion), ''{{lang|tr|kısrak}}'' (mare), ''{{lang|tr|boğa}}'' (bull), ''{{lang|tr|inek}}'' (cow). 
# For '''other animals''', the sex may be indicated by adding the word ''{{lang|tr|erkek}}'' (male) or ''{{lang|tr|dişi}}'' (female) before the corresponding noun, e.g., ''{{lang|tr|dişi kedi}}'' (female cat).
# For '''people''', the female sex may be indicated by adding the word ''{{lang|tr|kız}}'' (girl) or ''{{lang|tr|kadın}}'' (woman), e.g., ''{{lang|tr|kadın kahraman}}'' (heroine) instead of ''{{lang|tr|kahraman}}'' (hero).
# Some foreign words of [[French language|French]] or [[Arabic language|Arabic]] origin already have separate female forms, e.g., ''{{lang|tr|aktris}}'' (actress).
# The [[Serbo-Croatian|Serbo-Croat]] feminine suffix –ica is used in three borrowings: ''{{lang|tr|kraliçe}}'' (queen), ''{{lang|tr|imparatoriçe}}'' (empress) and ''{{lang|tr|çariçe}}'' (tsarina). This suffix was used in the neologism ''{{lang|tr|tanrıça}}'' (< Old Turkic ''{{lang|otk|tanrı}}'' "god").

==== Case ====

There is no [[definite article]] in Turkish, but definiteness of the object is implied when the accusative ending is used (see below). Turkish nouns decline by taking case endings. There are six [[Declension|noun cases]] in Turkish, with all the endings following vowel harmony (shown in the table using the shorthand [[#Vowel harmony|superscript notation]]). Since the postposition {{lang|tr|ile}} often gets suffixed onto the noun, some analyze it as an [[instrumental case]], although in formal speech it takes the genitive with personal pronouns, singular demonstratives, and interrogative {{lang|tr|kim}}. The [[plural]] marker {{lang|tr|-ler}} ² immediately follows the noun before any case or other affixes (e.g. {{lang|tr|köylerin}} "of the villages").{{citation needed|date=July 2014}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!rowspan="2"|Case
!rowspan="2"|Ending
!colspan="2"|Examples
!rowspan="2"|Meaning
|-
!{{lang|tr|köy}} "village"
!{{lang|tr|ağaç}} "tree"
|-
|[[Nominative case|Nominative]]
|∅ (none)
|{{lang|tr|köy}}
|{{lang|tr|ağaç}}
|(the) village/tree
|-
|[[Accusative case|Accusative]]
|{{lang|tr|-i}} <sup>4</sup>
|{{lang|tr|köyü}}
|{{lang|tr|ağa'''c'''ı}}
|the village/tree
|-
|[[Genitive case|Genitive]]
|{{lang|tr|-in}} <sup>4</sup>
|{{lang|tr|köyün}}
|{{lang|tr|ağa'''c'''ın}}
|the village's/tree's<br />of the village/tree
|-
|[[Dative case|Dative]]
|{{lang|tr|-e}} ²
|{{lang|tr|köye}}
|{{lang|tr|ağa'''c'''a}}
|to the village/tree
|-
|[[Locative case|Locative]]
|{{lang|tr|-de}} ²
|{{lang|tr|köyde}}
|{{lang|tr|ağaç'''t'''a}}
|in/on/at the village/tree
|-
|[[Ablative case|Ablative]]
|{{lang|tr|-den}} ²
|{{lang|tr|köyden}}
|{{lang|tr|ağaç'''t'''an}}
|from the village/tree
|-
|[[Instrumental case|Instrumental]]
|{{lang|tr|-le}} ²
|{{lang|tr|köyle}}
|{{lang|tr|ağaçla}}
|with the village/tree
|}

The accusative case marker is used only for definite objects; compare {{lang|tr|(bir) ağaç gördük}} "we saw '''a''' tree" with {{lang|tr|ağacı gördük}} "we saw '''the''' tree".{{efn|Because it is also used for the indefinite accusative, Lewis uses the term "absolute case" in preference to "nominative".<ref name=lewis2001/>{{rp|28}}}} The plural marker {{lang|tr|-ler}} ² is generally not used when a class or category is meant: {{lang|tr|ağaç gördük}} can equally well mean "we saw trees [as we walked through the forest]"—as opposed to {{lang|tr|ağaçları gördük}} "we saw the trees [in question]".{{citation needed|date=February 2013}}

The declension of {{lang|tr|ağaç}} illustrates two important features of Turkish phonology: consonant [[assimilation (linguistics)|assimilation]] in [[suffix]]es ({{lang|tr|ağaç'''t'''an, ağaç'''t'''a}}) and [[voice (phonetics)|voicing]] of final consonants before vowels ({{lang|tr|ağa'''c'''ın, ağa'''c'''a, ağa'''c'''ı}}).{{citation needed|date=February 2013}}

Additionally, nouns can take suffixes that assign [[grammatical person|person]]: for example {{lang|tr|-imiz}} <sup>4</sup>, "our". With the addition of the [[Turkish copula|copula]] (for example {{lang|tr|-im}} <sup>4</sup>, "I am") complete sentences can be formed. The [[interrogative word|interrogative]] particle {{lang|tr|mi}} <sup>4</sup> immediately follows the word being questioned, and also follows vowel harmony: {{lang|tr|köye mi?}} "[going] to the village?", {{lang|tr|ağaç mı?}} "[is it a] tree?".{{citation needed|date=February 2013}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Turkish
!English
|-
|{{lang|tr|ev}}
|align="right"|(the) house
|-
|{{lang|tr|evler}}
|align="right"|(the) houses
|-
|{{lang|tr|evin}}
|align="right"|your (sing.) house
|-
|{{lang|tr|eviniz}}
|align="right"|your (pl./formal) house
|-
|{{lang|tr|evim}}
|align="right"|my house
|-
|{{lang|tr|evimde}}
|align="right"|at my house
|-
|{{lang|tr|evlerinizin}}
|align="right"|of your houses
|-
|{{lang|tr|evlerinizden}}
|align="right"|from your houses
|-
|{{lang|tr|evlerinizdendi}}
|align="right"|(he/she/it) was from your houses
|-
|{{lang|tr|evlerinizdenmiş}}
|align="right"|(he/she/it) was (apparently/said to be) from your houses
|-
|{{lang|tr|Evinizdeyim.}}
|align="right"|I am at your house.
|-
|{{lang|tr|Evinizdeymişim.}}
|align="right"|I was (apparently) at your house.
|-
|{{lang|tr|Evinizde miyim?}}
|align="right"|Am I at your house?
|}

=== Personal pronouns ===

The Turkish [[personal pronoun]]s in the nominative case are {{lang|tr|ben}} (1s), {{lang|tr|sen}} (2s), {{lang|tr|o}} (3s), {{lang|tr|biz}} (1pl), {{lang|tr|siz}} (2pl, or 2h), and {{lang|tr|onlar}} (3pl). They are declined regularly with some exceptions: {{lang|tr|benim}} (1s gen.); {{lang|tr|bizim}} (1pl gen.); {{lang|tr|bana}} (1s dat.); {{lang|tr|sana}} (2s dat.); and the oblique forms of {{lang|tr|o}} use the root {{lang|tr|on}}. As mentioned before, all demonstrative singular and personal pronouns take the genitive when {{lang|tr|ile}} is affixed onto it: {{lang|tr|benimle}} (1s ins.), {{lang|tr|bizimle}} (1pl ins.); but {{lang|tr|on'''un'''la}} (3s ins.), {{lang|tr|onlarla}} (3pl ins.). All other pronouns (reflexive {{lang|tr|kendi}} and so on) are declined regularly.{{citation needed|date=July 2014}}

==== Noun phrases (''tamlama'') ====

Two nouns, or groups of nouns, may be joined in either of two ways:

* definite (possessive) compound (''belirtili tamlama''). E.g. ''Türkiye'nin sesi'' "the voice of Turkey (radio station)": the voice belonging to Turkey. Here the relationship is shown by the genitive ending ''-in''<sup>4</sup> added to the first noun; the second noun has the third-person suffix of possession {{lang|tr|-(s)i}}<sup>4</sup>.
* indefinite (qualifying) compound (''belirtisiz tamlama''). E.g. ''Türkiye Cumhuriyeti'' "Turkey-Republic{{efn|Lewis points out that "an indefinite izafet group can be turned into intelligible (though not necessarily normal) English by the use of a hyphen".<ref name=lewis2001/>{{rp|42}}}} = the Republic of Turkey": not the republic belonging to Turkey, but the Republic that is Turkey. Here the first noun has no ending; but the second noun has the ending {{lang|tr|(s)i}}<sup>4</sup>—the same as in definite compounds.{{citation needed|date=July 2014}}

The following table illustrates these principles.<ref name=lewis2001>{{cite book|last=Lewis|first=Geoffrey|title=Turkish Grammar|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2001|isbn=0-19-870036-9}}</ref>{{rp|41–47}} In some cases, the constituents of the compounds are themselves compounds; for clarity these subsidiary compounds are marked with [square brackets]. The suffixes involved in the linking are underlined. If the second noun group already had a possessive suffix (because it is a compound by itself), no further suffix is added.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left:1em;"
|+ Linked nouns and noun groups
|-
! Definite (possessive) || Indefinite (qualifier) || Complement || Meaning
|-
| ''kimse<u>nin</u>'' || || ''yanıt<u>ı</u>'' || nobody's answer
|-
| || ''"kimse"'' || ''yanıt<u>ı</u>'' || the answer "nobody"
|-
| ''Atatürk'<u>ün</u>'' || || ''ev<u>i</u>'' || Atatürk's house
|-
| || ''Atatürk'' || ''Bulvar<u>ı</u>'' || [[Atatürk Boulevard]] (named after, not belonging to Atatürk)
|-
| ''Orhan'<u>ın</u>'' || || ''ad<u>ı</u>'' || Orhan's name
|-
| || ''"Orhan"'' || ''ad<u>ı</u>'' || the name "Orhan"
|-
| || ''r'' || ''sessiz<u>i</u>'' || the consonant ''r''
|-
| [''r sessizi'']''<u>nin</u>'' || || ''söyleniş<u>i</u>'' || pronunciation of the consonant ''r''
|-
| || ''Türk'' || [''Dil Kurumu''] || Turkish Language-Association
|-
| || [''Türk Dili''] || ''Dergi<u>si</u>'' || Turkish-Language Magazine
|-
| || ''Ford'' || [''aile arabası''] || Ford family car
|-
| ''Ford'<u>un</u>'' || || [''aile arabası''] || (Mr) Ford's family car
|-
| [''Ford ailesi'']''<u>nin</u>'' || || ''araba<u>sı</u>'' || the Ford family's car{{efn|For other possible permutations of this vehicle, see Lewis (2001):46.<ref name=lewis2001/>}}
|-
| || ''Ankara'' || [''Kız Lisesi'']{{efn|"It is most important to note that the third-person suffix is not repeated though theoretically one might have expected ''Ankara [Kız Lisesi]<u>si</u>''.<ref name=lewis2001/>{{rp|45 footnote}}}} || Ankara Girls' School
|-
| || [''yıl sonu''] || ''sınavlar<u>ı</u>'' || year-end examinations
|-
| ''Bulgaristan'<u>ın</u>'' || || [''İstanbul Başkonsolosluğu''] || the Istanbul Consulate-General of Bulgaria (located in Istanbul, but belonging to Bulgaria)
|-
| || [ [''İstanbul Üniversitesi''] [''Edebiyat Fakültesi''] ] || [ [''Türk Edebiyatı''] ''Profesörü''] || Professor of Turkish Literature in the Faculty of Literature of the University of Istanbul
|-
| || ''ne oldum'' || ''deli<u>si</u>'' || "what-have-I-become!"{{efn|Note the similarity with the French phrase ''un m'as-tu-vu'' "a have-you-seen-me?", i.e., a vain and pretentious person.}} madman = [[parvenu]] who gives himself airs
|}

As the last example shows, the qualifying expression may be a substantival sentence rather than a noun or noun group.{{efn|The term ''substantival sentence'' is Lewis's.<ref name=lewis2001/>{{rp|257}}}}

There is a third way of linking the nouns where both nouns take no suffixes (''takısız tamlama''). However, in this case the first noun acts as an adjective,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Demir |first=Celal |date=2007 |title=Türkiye Türkçesi Gramerlerinde İsim Tamlaması Sorunu ve Bir Tasnif Denemesi |trans-title=The Problem of Adjective in Turkish: An Attempt of Classification |url=http://turkoloji.cu.edu.tr/YENI%20TURK%20DILI/celal_demir_gramer_isim_tamlamasi_sorunu.pdf |journal=Türk Dünyası İncelemeleri Dergisi [Journal of Turkish World Studies] |language=tr |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=27–54 |access-date=2013-03-29 |archive-date=2013-05-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130502230603/http://turkoloji.cu.edu.tr/YENI%20TURK%20DILI/celal_demir_gramer_isim_tamlamasi_sorunu.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> e.g. ''Demir kapı'' (iron gate), ''elma yanak'' ("apple cheek", i.e. red cheek), ''kömür göz'' ("coal eye", i.e. black eye) :

=== Adjectives ===
Turkish adjectives are not [[declension|declined]]. However most adjectives can also be used as nouns, in which case they are declined: e.g. {{lang|tr|güzel}} ("beautiful") → {{lang|tr|güzeller}} ("(the) beautiful ones / people"). Used attributively, adjectives precede the nouns they modify. The adjectives {{lang|tr|var}} ("existent") and {{lang|tr|yok}} ("[[non-existent]]") are used in many cases where English would use "there is" or "have", ''e.g.'' {{lang|tr|süt yok}} ("there is no milk", ''lit.'' "(the) milk (is) non-existent"); the construction "''noun 1''-GEN ''noun 2''-POSS {{lang|tr|var/yok}}" can be translated "''noun 1'' has/doesn't have ''noun 2''"; {{lang|tr|imparatorun elbisesi yok}} "the emperor has no clothes" ("(the) emperor-''of'' clothes-''his'' non-existent"); {{lang|tr|kedimin ayakkabıları yoktu}} ("my cat had no shoes", ''lit.'' "cat-''my''-''of'' shoe-''plur.''-''its'' non-existent-''past tense''").{{citation needed|date=July 2014}}

=== Verbs ===
{{see also|Turkish copula}}
Turkish verbs indicate [[Grammatical person|person]]. They can be made negative, potential ("can"), or non-potential ("cannot"). Furthermore, Turkish verbs show [[Grammatical tense|tense]] ([[Present tense|present]], [[Past tense|past]], [[Future tense|future]], and [[aorist]]), [[Grammatical mood|mood]] ([[Conditional mood|conditional]], [[Imperative mood|imperative]], [[Inferential mood|inferential]], [[Necessitative mood|necessitative]], and [[Optative mood|optative]]), and [[Grammatical aspect|aspect]]. The inferential suffix ''-miş<sup>4</sup>'' is also glossed as a [[Evidentiality|direct evidential]]<ref>{{cite book|first=Ferdinand|last=de Haan|year=2013|chapter=Coding of Evidentiality |editor=Matthew S. Dryer & Martin Haspelmath|title=WALS Online (v2020.3)|url=http://wals.info/chapter/78 |access-date=2024-02-03}}</ref> or a [[Mirativity|mirative]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=DeLancey|first=Scott|date=1997|title=Mirativity: The grammatical marking of unexpected information|journal=Linguistic Typology|volume=1|pages=33–52|doi=10.1515/lity.1997.1.1.33|s2cid=122264213}}</ref> Negation is expressed by the [[suffix]] ''-me²-'' immediately following the stem.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Turkish
!English
|-
|{{lang|tr|gel-}}
|align="right"|(to) come
|-
|{{lang|tr|gelebil-}}
|align="right"|(to) be able to come
|-
|{{lang|tr|gelme-}}
|align="right"|not (to) come
|-
|{{lang|tr|geleme-}}
|align="right"|(to) be unable to come
|-
|{{lang|tr|gelememiş}}
|align="right"|Apparently (s)he couldn't come
|-
|{{lang|tr|gelebilecek}}
|align="right"|(s)he'll be able to come
|-
|{{lang|tr|gelmeyebilir}}
|align="right"|(s)he may (possibly) not come
|-
|{{lang|tr|gelebilirsen}}
|align="right"|if you can come
|-
|{{lang|tr|gelinir}}
|align="right"|(''passive'') one comes, people come
|-
|{{lang|tr|gelebilmeliydin}}
|align="right"| you should have been able to come
|-
|{{lang|tr|gelebilseydin}}
|align="right"| if you could have come
|-
|{{lang|tr|gelmeliydin}}
|align="right"| you should have come
|}

=== Verb tenses ===
(For the sake of simplicity the term "tense" is used here throughout, although for some forms "aspect" or "mood" might be more appropriate.) There are nine simple and 20 compound tenses in Turkish. The nine simple tenses are: simple past ({{lang|tr|di'li geçmiş}}), inferential past ({{lang|tr|miş'li geçmiş}}), present continuous, simple present ([[Aorist#Turkish|aorist]]), future, optative, [[Subjunctive mood#Turkish|subjunctive]], necessitative ("must") and imperative.<ref>[http://tr.scribd.com/doc/115291192/TURKISH-GRAMMAR-UPDATED-ACADEMIC-EDITION-YUKSEL-GOKNEL-OCTOBER-2012-signed-pdf Yüksel Göknel:Turkish Grammar] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130516044640/http://tr.scribd.com/doc/115291192/TURKISH-GRAMMAR-UPDATED-ACADEMIC-EDITION-YUKSEL-GOKNEL-OCTOBER-2012-signed-pdf |date=2013-05-16 }}{{full citation needed|date=July 2014}}</ref> There are three groups of compound forms. Story ({{lang|tr|hikaye}}) is the witnessed past of the above forms (except command), referral ({{lang|tr|rivayet}}) is the unwitnessed past of the above forms (except simple past and command), conditional ({{lang|tr|koşul}}) is the conditional form of the first five basic tenses.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.turkishstudies.net/Makaleler/1934555583_85Kad%c4%b1u%20Spartak_S-1593-1603.pdf |title=Turkish Studies Vol 7/3 |language=tr |access-date=2013-03-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130313043006/http://www.turkishstudies.net/Makaleler/1934555583_85Kad%c4%b1u%20Spartak_S-1593-1603.pdf |archive-date=2013-03-13 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In the example below, the second person singular of the verb {{lang|tr|gitmek}} ("go"), stem {{lang|tr|gid-/git-}}, is shown.
{| class="sortable wikitable"
|-
!English of the basic form
!Basic tense
!Story ({{lang|tr|hikâye}})
!Referral ({{lang|tr|rivayet}})
!Condition ({{lang|tr|koşul}})
|-
|you went || {{lang|tr|gittin}} || {{lang|tr|gittiydin}} || – || {{lang|tr|gittiysen}}
|-
|you have gone || {{lang|tr|gitmişsin}} || {{lang|tr|gitmiştin}} ||  {{lang|tr|gitmişmişsin}} || {{lang|tr|gitmişsen}}
|-
|you are going || {{lang|tr|gidiyorsun}} || {{lang|tr|gidiyordun}} || {{lang|tr|gidiyormuşsun}} || {{lang|tr|gidiyorsan}}
|-
|you (are want to) go || {{lang|tr|gidersin}} || {{lang|tr|giderdin}} || {{lang|tr|gidermişsin}} || {{lang|tr|gidersen}}
|-
|you will go || {{lang|tr|gideceksin}} || {{lang|tr|gidecektin}} || {{lang|tr|gidecekmişsin}} || {{lang|tr|gideceksen}}
|-
|if only you go || {{lang|tr|gitsen}} || {{lang|tr|gitseydin}} || {{lang|tr|gitseymişsin}} || –
|-
|may you go  || {{lang|tr|gidesin}} || {{lang|tr|gideydin}} || {{lang|tr|gideymişsin}} || –
|-
|you must go || {{lang|tr|gitmelisin}} || {{lang|tr|gitmeliydin}} || {{lang|tr|gitmeliymişsin}} || –
|-
|go! (imperative) || {{lang|tr|git}} || – || – || –
|}

There are also so-called combined verbs, which are created by suffixing certain verb stems (like {{lang|tr|bil}} or {{lang|tr|ver}}) to the original stem of a verb. {{lang|tr|Bil}} is the suffix for the sufficiency mood. It is the equivalent of the English auxiliary verbs "able to", "can" or "may". {{lang|tr|Ver}} is the suffix for the swiftness mood, {{lang|tr|kal}} for the perpetuity mood and {{lang|tr|yaz}} for the approach ("almost") mood.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dersimizedebiyat.com/icerik_detay.asp?icr=63&bs=S%F6zc%FCk%20(%20Kelime%20)%20T%FCrleri%20-%20Fiiller%20(%20Eylemler%20) |title=Dersimiz Edebiyat Online course |language=tr |publisher=Dersimizedebiyat.com |access-date=2013-03-29 |archive-date=2013-05-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518100639/http://www.dersimizedebiyat.com/icerik_detay.asp?icr=63&bs=S%F6zc%FCk%20(%20Kelime%20)%20T%FCrleri%20-%20Fiiller%20(%20Eylemler%20) |url-status=live }}</ref> Thus, while {{lang|tr|gittin}} means "you went", {{lang|tr|gidebildin}} means "you could go" and {{lang|tr|gidiverdin}} means "you went swiftly". The tenses of the combined verbs are formed the same way as for simple verbs.

==== Attributive verbs (participles) ====

Turkish verbs have [[Attributive verb|attributive forms]], including present,{{efn|The conventional translation of the film title ''[[Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam]]'', ''The Man Who Saved the World'', uses the past tense. Semantically, his saving the world takes place though in the (narrative) present.}} similar to the English [[present participle]] (with the ending {{italics correction|''-en''}}<sup>2</sup>); future ({{italics correction|''-ecek''}}<sup>2</sup>); indirect/inferential past ({{italics correction|''-miş''}}<sup>4</sup>); and [[Aorist#Turkish|aorist]] ({{italics correction|''-er''}}<sup>2</sup> or {{italics correction|''-ir''}}<sup>4</sup>).

The most important function of some of these attributive verbs is to form modifying phrases equivalent to the [[relative clause]]s found in most European languages. The subject of the verb in an {{italics correction|''-en''}}<sup>2</sup> form is (possibly implicitly) in the third person (he/she/it/they); this form, when used in a modifying phrase, does not change according to number. The other attributive forms used in these constructions are the future ({{italics correction|''-ecek''}}<sup>2</sup>) and an older form ({{italics correction|''-dik''}}<sup>4</sup>), which covers both present and past meanings.{{efn|See Lewis (2001):163–165, 260–262 for an exhaustive treatment.<ref name=lewis2001/>}} These two forms take "personal endings," which have the same form as the [[Possessive affix#Turkish|possessive suffix]]es but indicate the person and possibly number of the subject of the attributive verb; for example, ''yediğ'''im''''' means "what '''I''' eat," ''yediğ'''in''''' means "what '''you''' eat," and so on. The use of these "personal or relative participles" is illustrated in the following table, in which the examples are presented according to the grammatical case which would be seen in the equivalent English relative clause.{{efn|For the terms ''personal'' and ''relative'' participle see Lewis (1958):98 and Lewis (2001):163 respectively. Most of the examples are taken from Lewis (2001).<ref name=lewis2001/>}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="2"|English equivalent
!rowspan="2"|Example
|-
!Case of relative pronoun
!Pronoun
|-
|Nominative
|who, which/that
|{{interlinear|şimdi konuşan adam|now speaking man|the man (who is) now speaking}}
|-
|Genitive
|whose (nom.)
|{{interlinear|babası şimdi konuşan adam|father-is now speaking man|the man whose father is now speaking}}
|-
|
|whose (acc.)
|{{interlinear|babasını dün gördüğüm adam|father-is-ACC yesterday seen-my man|the man whose father I saw yesterday}}
|-
|
|at whose
|{{interlinear|resimlerine baktığımız ressam|pictures-is-to looked-our artist|the artist whose pictures we looked at}}
|-
|
|of which
|{{interlinear|muhtarı seçildiği köy|mayor-its been-chosen-his village|the village of which he was elected mayor}}<!--Note to future editors: ''muhtarı seçildiği köy'' (the village of which he was elected mayor) and ''muhtarın seçildiği köy'' (the village where the mayor was elected) have absolutely different meanings.-->
|-
|
|of which
|{{interlinear|muhtarı seçilmek istediği köy|the village of which he wishes to be elected mayor}}<!--Note to future editors: ''muhtarı seçildiği köy'' (the village of which he was elected mayor) and ''muhtarın seçildiği köy'' (the village where the mayor was elected) have absolutely different meanings.-->
|-
|Remaining cases (incl. prepositions)
|whom, which
|{{interlinear|yazdığım mektup|written-my letter|the letter (which) I wrote}}
|-
|
|from which
|{{interlinear|çıktığımız kapı|emerged-our door|the door from which we emerged}}
|-
|
|on which
|{{interlinear|geldikleri vapur|come-their ship|the ship they came on}}
|-
|
|which + subordinate clause
|{{interlinear|yaklaştığını anladığı hapishane günleri|approach-their-ACC understood-his prison days-its|the prison days (which) he knew were approaching}}{{efn|This more complex example from [[Orhan Pamuk]]'s ''Kar'' (''[[Snow (Pamuk novel)|Snow]]'') contains a nested structure: <nowiki>[</nowiki>''which he knew'' <nowiki>[</nowiki>''were approaching''<nowiki>]]</nowiki>. [[Maureen Freely]]'s more succinct and idiomatic translation is ''the days in prison he knew lay ahead''. Pamuk uses the spelling ''hapisane''.}}{{efn|From the perspective of Turkish grammar ''yaklaştığını anladığı'' is exactly parallel to ''babasını gördüğüm'' ("whose father I saw"), and could therefore be paraphrased as "whose approaching he understood".}}
|}