Personal Participles: Future — Turkish Grammar

This participle turns a future action into a descriptive quality of a noun. It is equivalent to English relative clauses like "the person who will come" or "the thing that I will do". It can also be used on its own to mean "the fact that something will happen".

Formation

This form is created by adding the future tense suffix to the verb stem, followed by a possessive suffix that indicates the person performing the action.

The formula is: Verb Stem + + Possessive Suffix

1. Choose the future suffix based on vowel harmony:

Use if the last vowel in the verb stem is a, ı, o, u. (e.g., → )
Use if the last vowel in the verb stem is e, i, ö, ü. (e.g., → )

2. Add the appropriate possessive suffix:

1st person singular (I):
2nd person singular (you):
3rd person singular (he/she/it):
1st person plural (we):
2nd person plural (you):
3rd person plural (they):

An important sound change, consonant lenition, occurs here. The final k in softens to a ğ when a possessive suffix starting with a vowel is added. This applies to all persons except the 3rd person plural.

Example with (to see):

(that I will see)
(that you will see)
(that he/she/it will see)
(that we will see)
(that you (pl.) will see)
(that they will see) (Note: no change from k to ğ)

Use as an Adjective

When used to describe a noun, the participle comes directly before it. This structure specifies the noun by the future action someone will perform.

Benim okuyacağım kitap çok kalın.
The book that I will read is very thick.
Buluşacağımız yer burası mı?
Is this the place where we will meet?
Onların satacakları araba eski.
The car that they will sell is old.

Use as a Noun

The future participle can also function as a noun itself. In this case, it refers to the concept of a future action, translating to "the fact that..." or "what...". It often serves as the object of another verb like (to know), (to say), or (to think).

Senin yarın geleceğini biliyorum.
I know that you will come tomorrow.
Ne yiyeceğimize karar veremedik.
We couldn't decide what we will eat.
Onun partiye katılacağını sanmıyorum.
I don't think that he will join the party.

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