---
title: "Turkish Aorist Tense"
description: "Learn Turkish aorist conjugation for habits and general truths, with formation patterns, examples, useful contrasts, and practice."
canonical_url: "https://turkce-trainer.com/en/grammar/aorist-tense"
markdown_url: "https://turkce-trainer.com/en/grammar/aorist-tense.md"
locale: en
last_updated: 2026-09-13
---

# Turkish Aorist Tense

Learn Turkish aorist conjugation for habits and general truths, with formation patterns, examples, useful contrasts, and practice.

## Turkish Aorist Tense

Use the Turkish aorist tense for habits, general truths, repeated actions, and things that are usually true.

| Turkish | English |
| --- | --- |
| Ben her gün gelirim. | I come every day. |

## Plain meaning

The aorist is one of the most important Turkish tenses, but it does not match one single English tense perfectly.

It often describes what someone usually does, what generally happens, or what is normally true.

In English, this often looks like a simple present form, but the key meaning is habit, routine, or general truth. Context can also give the aorist other meanings, such as a request.

## 1. Habits and routines

| Turkish | English |
| --- | --- |
| Ben her sabah kahve içerim. | I drink coffee every morning. |
| Sen genelde erken gelirsin. | You usually come early. |

## 2. General truths

| Turkish | English |
| --- | --- |
| Su kaynar. | Water boils. |
| Çocuklar hızlı öğrenir. | Children learn quickly. |

## 3. Repeated actions

| Turkish | English |
| --- | --- |
| Biz hafta sonları yürürüz. | We walk on weekends. |
| Onlar sık sık film izlerler. | They often watch movies. |

## 4. Tendencies or normal behavior

| Turkish | English |
| --- | --- |
| O çok kitap okur. | He/she reads a lot. |
| Bu otobüs merkeze gider. | This bus goes to the city center. |

## Formation

Pattern: verb stem + aorist ending + person ending

Choose the affirmative aorist ending from the verb stem: vowel-final stems take -r, most one-syllable consonant-final stems take -ar/-er, and most longer consonant-final stems take -ır/-ir/-ur/-ür.

With gitmek, the stem-final t voices before the vowel in -er: git + er → gider, then gider + im → giderim.

- A stem ending in a vowel takes -r: oku + r + um → okurum.
- Most one-syllable stems ending in a consonant take -ar or -er, chosen by vowel harmony: yap + ar + ım → yaparım.
- Most longer stems ending in a consonant take -ır, -ir, -ur, or -ür, also chosen by vowel harmony: çalış + ır + ım → çalışırım.
- Some common one-syllable verbs use the -ır/-ir/-ur/-ür pattern instead; learn these with the verb: gel + ir + im → gelirim.

| Infinitive | Verb stem | Aorist |
| --- | --- | --- |
| gelmek | gel | gelirim |
| gitmek | git | giderim |
| okumak | oku | okurum |
| çalışmak | çalış | çalışırım |

## Six persons

| Person | Turkish | English |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ben | gelirim | I come / I usually come |
| Sen | gelirsin | You come / you usually come |
| O | gelir | He/she/it comes |
| Biz | geliriz | We come / we usually come |
| Siz | gelirsiniz | You come / you usually come |
| Onlar | gelirler | They come / they usually come |

## Practice

Practise aorist forms with gelmek

[Practise aorist forms with gelmek](https://turkce-trainer.com/en/practice/conjugation?verb=gelmek&tense=aorist&returnTo=%2Fen%2Fgrammar%2Faorist-tense)

## Positive, negative, and question reference

These forms show the pattern; the explanation of a special negative form belongs to the relevant tense.

Compare positive statements, negatives, and questions with the same reference verb.

## Positive statements

| Person | Turkish form | English |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ben | gelirim | I come / I usually come |
| Sen | gelirsin | You come / you usually come |
| O | gelir | He/she/it comes / usually comes |
| Biz | geliriz | We come / we usually come |
| Siz | gelirsiniz | You come / you usually come |
| Onlar | gelirler | They come / they usually come |

## Negative statements

| Person | Turkish form | English |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ben | gelmem | I do not usually come |
| Sen | gelmezsin | You do not usually come |
| O | gelmez | He/she/it does not usually come |
| Biz | gelmeyiz | We do not usually come |
| Siz | gelmezsiniz | You do not usually come |
| Onlar | gelmezler | They do not usually come |

## Questions

| Person | Turkish form | English |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ben | gelir miyim? | Do I usually come? |
| Sen | gelir misin? | Do you usually come? |
| O | gelir mi? | Does he/she/it usually come? |
| Biz | gelir miyiz? | Do we usually come? |
| Siz | gelir misiniz? | Do you usually come? |
| Onlar | gelirler mi? | Do they usually come? |

## Examples

| Turkish | English | Note |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Genelde kahveyi sütsüz içerim. | I usually drink coffee without milk. | Habit |
| Her sabah aynı durakta inerim. | I get off at the same stop every morning. | Routine |
| Kardeşim hafta sonları geç kalkar. | My sibling wakes up late on weekends. | Habit |
| Biz yazın sık sık sahile gideriz. | We often go to the coast in summer. | Repeated action |
| Bu otobüs merkeze gider. | This bus goes to the city center. | General route/fact |
| Annem mesajlara hızlı cevap verir. | My mother replies to messages quickly. | Usual behavior |
| Ofiste her gün Türkçe konuşuruz. | We speak Turkish at the office every day. | Repeated routine |
| Kediler sıcak yerleri sever. | Cats like warm places. | General truth |
| Biz genelde akşam yürürüz. | We usually walk in the evening. | Habit |
| Teşekkür ederim. | Thank you. | Common expression using aorist |

## Aorist and actions happening now

The present continuous can also describe a habit when context makes that clear; the aorist is a common way to frame routines and general truths.

| Meaning | Turkish | English |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Right now | Ben geliyorum. | I am coming now. |
| Usually | Ben gelirim. | I usually come. |
| Habitual pattern | Her gün işe otobüsle gidiyorum. | I go to work by bus every day. |

## Aorist endings vary by verb

Aorist forms vary by verb.

Do not force one suffix pattern onto every verb.

| Infinitive | Aorist |
| --- | --- |
| gelmek | gelirim |
| gitmek | giderim |
| okumak | okurum |

## Aorist is broader than simple present

The aorist can look like English simple present, but the useful learner meaning is broader: habits, general truths, repeated actions, and normal behavior.

## Negative aorist statements: first-person forms

In negative statements, most persons use -maz/-mez: gelmezsin, gelmez, gelmezler. The first-person singular and plural use gelmem and gelmeyiz, without -z. These examples are statements; negative questions follow a separate pattern.

Learn this as one small pattern, not as two unrelated exceptions.

- Ben gelmezim. → Ben gelmem.
- Biz gelmeziz. → Biz gelmeyiz.

## Questions about this form

### Can an aorist question be a request?

Yes. In context, “Kapıyı açar mısın?” can mean “Could you open the door?” The speaker is asking for an action, not asking what someone usually does. Context helps distinguish the request from a routine question.

## Related verb examples

| Verb | Form |
| --- | --- |
| [Conjugate yemek in Turkish](https://turkce-trainer.com/en/verbs/yemek) | yerim |
| [Conjugate içmek in Turkish](https://turkce-trainer.com/en/verbs/icmek) | içerim |
| [Conjugate okumak in Turkish](https://turkce-trainer.com/en/verbs/okumak) | okurum |
| [Conjugate görmek in Turkish](https://turkce-trainer.com/en/verbs/gormek) | görürüm |
| [Conjugate yapmak in Turkish](https://turkce-trainer.com/en/verbs/yapmak) | yaparım |

## Keep learning

[Turkish present continuous tense](https://turkce-trainer.com/en/grammar/present-continuous-tense)

[Aorist vs present continuous](https://turkce-trainer.com/en/grammar/aorist-vs-present-continuous)

[Turkish future tense](https://turkce-trainer.com/en/grammar/future-tense)

[Verb Endings and Vowel Harmony](https://turkce-trainer.com/en/grammar/verb-endings)

## Practice

Practise aorist forms with gelmek

Practise gelmek aorist verb forms with feedback. Your saved answer style and verb polarity settings still apply.

[Practise aorist forms with gelmek](https://turkce-trainer.com/en/practice/conjugation?verb=gelmek&tense=aorist&returnTo=%2Fen%2Fgrammar%2Faorist-tense)