Lesson 08

8.1 THE FUTURE

The future tense behaves exactly as it does in English. We describe an action that hasn’t happened yet but will take place in the future.

It’s formed with the suffix -ecek / -acak.

This suffix follows simple vowel harmony:

If the last vowel of the verb stem is an e, i, ö, or ü, the suffix is –ecek.
If the last vowel of the verb stem is an a, ı, o, or u, the suffix is –acak.

With the personal pronoun suffixes, it looks as follows:

bileceğim = I will know
bileceksin = you will know
bilecek = he / she / it will know
bileceğiz = we will know
bileceksiniz = you [plural] / you [formal] will know
bilecekler = they will know

In first person singular and plural, the “hard consonant” k is softened, which explains the shift to ğ. The reason for this is the well-known harmony: it’s smoother to say bileceğim than “bilecekim.” In the process, the ğ lengthens the e – as already explained in Lesson 1 on the alphabet (it then sounds more like “bilecee-im”).

yapacağım = I will do
yapacaksın = you will do
yapacak = he / she / it will do
yapacağız = we will do
yapacaksınız = you [plural] / you [formal] will do
yapacaklar = they will do

When spoken / written colloquially, the future suffix can be shortened in the first person singular and plural. The words yapacağım and yapacağız, for instance, are often turned into yapacam and yapacaz – for example in letters, text messages, etc.

8.2 NEGATING THE FUTURE

The future is negated by again inserting a simple -me / -ma before the future suffix. Accordingly, it’s either -mayacak or -meyecek (as is often the case, a y is inserted after a vowel):

bilmeyeceğim = I won’t know
bilmeyeceksin = you won’t know
bilmeyecek = he / she / it won’t know
bilmeyeceğiz = we won’t know
bilmeyeceksiniz = you [plural] / you [formal] won’t know
bilmeyecekler = they won’t know

yapmayacağım = I won’t do
yapmayacaksın = you won’t do
yapmayacak = he / she / it won’t do
yapmayacağız = we won’t do
yapmayacaksınız = you [plural] / you [formal] won’t do
yapmayacakler = they won’t do

Vocabulary for Lesson 8:
ayırtmak = to reserve; izin = vacation (also: permission); gelecek zaman = future; gezinti = stroll; gezmek = to go for a walk; girmek = to enter; kullanmak = to use (e.g., araba kullanmak = to drive a car); seyahat = trip; tatil = vacation; yer = location, place; yer ayırtma = reservation; yolculuk = journey, trip