Verbs: Conditional Mood

01

Formation and Vowel Harmony

The conditional suffix is attached to the verb after its tense or aspect marker. The form of the suffix, either -se or -sa, depends on the last vowel of the word it attaches to, following the rules of vowel harmony:

• Use -se if the last vowel is e, i, ö, ü.
• Use -sa if the last vowel is a, ı, o, u.

The full structure is:

Verb Stem + Tense Suffix + Conditional Suffix (-se/-sa) + Personal Suffix

02

Simple Present (Aorist) Conditional

This is the most common form of the conditional and is used for general conditions or real possibilities. It corresponds to "If I do..." in English. It is formed by adding the conditional suffix to the aorist (geniş zaman) form of the verb.

For the verb gelmek (to come), the aorist stem is gelir-.

• gelirsem (if I come)
• gelirsen (if you come)
• gelirse (if he/she/it comes)
• gelirsek (if we come)
• gelirseniz (if you (plural/formal) come)
• gelirlerse (if they come)

• Vaktim olursa seni ararım.

  If I have time, I will call you.

• İstersen parka gidebiliriz.

  If you want, we can go to the park.

• Çok okursanız, çok öğrenirsiniz.

  If you read a lot, you learn a lot.

03

Past Tense Conditional

To talk about a condition in the past ("If you did..."), the conditional suffix is added to the definite past tense (-di). A buffer letter -y- is inserted between the tense and conditional suffixes.

Structure: Verb Stem + -di + -yse/-ysa + Personal Suffix

• Dün filmi izlediysen, bugün hakkında konuşabiliriz.

  If you watched the movie yesterday, we can talk about it today.

• O partiye gittiyse, kesin çok eğlenmiştir.

  If he went to that party, he must have had a lot of fun.

04

Negative Conditional

To form a negative conditional ("if not..."), the negative suffix -me/-ma is added directly to the verb stem, before any other suffixes.

• Yemeği beğenmezsen, başka bir şey sipariş edebiliriz.

  If you don't like the food, we can order something else.

• Beni aramazsan merak ederim.

  If you don't call me, I will worry.

05

Expressing Wishes with 'Keşke'

The conditional mood is also used with the word keşke to express wishes or regrets, similar to "I wish" or "if only" in English.

• Keşke şimdi tatilde olsam.

  I wish I were on vacation now.

• Keşke bana doğruyu söyleseydin.

  I wish you had told me the truth.