---
title: "Turkish Future Tense"
description: "Learn Turkish future tense conjugation with -(y)acak, including formation, examples, future meaning, common mistakes, and practice."
canonical_url: "https://turkce-trainer.com/en/grammar/future-tense"
markdown_url: "https://turkce-trainer.com/en/grammar/future-tense.md"
locale: en
last_updated: 2026-09-13
---

# Turkish Future Tense

Learn Turkish future tense conjugation with -(y)acak, including formation, examples, future meaning, common mistakes, and practice.

## Turkish Future Tense

Use the Turkish future tense for actions that will happen later.

This tense usually uses -(y)acak or -(y)ecek plus a person ending.

| Turkish | English |
| --- | --- |
| Ben geleceğim. | I will come. |

## Plain meaning

The future tense describes something expected, planned, or intended to happen after now.

It often matches English sentences like I will go, you will read, we will work, or they will come.

Future meaning usually comes with cues like tomorrow, soon, this evening, or next week.

## 1. A future action

| Turkish | English |
| --- | --- |
| Ben yarın geleceğim. | I will come tomorrow. |
| O sonra arayacak. | He/she will call later. |

## 2. A plan or intention

| Turkish | English |
| --- | --- |
| Biz hafta sonu çalışacağız. | We will work at the weekend. |
| Ben Türkçe öğreneceğim. | I will learn Turkish. |

## 3. A prediction

| Turkish | English |
| --- | --- |
| Bugün yağmur yağacak. | It will rain today. |
| Onlar yakında gelecekler. | They will come soon. |

## Formation

Choose acak or ecek by vowel harmony.

Add buffer y after vowel-final stems: oku + yacak -> okuyacak.

Before vowel-initial person endings, final k softens to ğ: gelecek + im -> geleceğim.

Pattern: verb stem + -(y)acak/ecek + person ending

The third person form keeps k because there is no vowel-initial person ending: o gelecek.

| Infinitive | Verb stem | Future |
| --- | --- | --- |
| gelmek | gel | geleceğim |
| gitmek | git | gideceğim |
| okumak | oku | okuyacağım |
| çalışmak | çalış | çalışacağım |

## Six persons

| Person | Turkish | English |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ben | geleceğim | I will come |
| Sen | geleceksin | You will come |
| O | gelecek | He/she/it will come |
| Biz | geleceğiz | We will come |
| Siz | geleceksiniz | You will come |
| Onlar | gelecekler | They will come |

## Practice

Practice future tense forms

[Start practice](https://turkce-trainer.com/en/practice/conjugation?verb=gelmek&tense=future&returnTo=%2Fen%2Fgrammar%2Ffuture-tense)

## Positive, negative, and question reference

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

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

## Positive statements

| Person | Turkish form | English |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ben | geleceğim | I will come |
| Sen | geleceksin | You will come |
| O | gelecek | He/she/it will come |
| Biz | geleceğiz | We will come |
| Siz | geleceksiniz | You will come |
| Onlar | gelecekler | They will come |

## Negative statements

| Person | Turkish form | English |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ben | gelmeyeceğim | I will not come |
| Sen | gelmeyeceksin | You will not come |
| O | gelmeyecek | He/she/it will not come |
| Biz | gelmeyeceğiz | We will not come |
| Siz | gelmeyeceksiniz | You will not come |
| Onlar | gelmeyecekler | They will not come |

## Questions

| Person | Turkish form | English |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ben | gelecek miyim? | Will I come? |
| Sen | gelecek misin? | Will you come? |
| O | gelecek mi? | Will he/she/it come? |
| Biz | gelecek miyiz? | Will we come? |
| Siz | gelecek misiniz? | Will you come? |
| Onlar | gelecekler mi? | Will they come? |

## Examples

| Turkish | English | Note |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Birazdan seni arayacağım. | I will call you shortly. | Near future action |
| Akşam markete uğrayacağım. | I will stop by the market this evening. | Plan |
| Yarın raporu göndereceğim. | I will send the report tomorrow. | Scheduled task |
| Biz cuma günü yola çıkacağız. | We will set off on Friday. | Future plan |
| O toplantıdan sonra dönecek. | He/she will return after the meeting. | Future action |
| Siz hafta sonu dinleneceksiniz. | You will rest at the weekend. | Future plan |
| Onlar gelecek ay taşınacaklar. | They will move next month. | Future event |
| Telefonum birazdan kapanacak. | My phone will shut down soon. | Prediction |
| Bu akşam erken yatacağım. | I will go to bed early tonight. | Intention |
| Biz yarın yeni konuyu öğreneceğiz. | We will learn the new topic tomorrow. | Learning plan |

## Mistake 1: Forgetting buffer y

When the verb stem ends in a vowel, Turkish may need y before the future ending.

| Turkish | English |
| --- | --- |
| Okuyacağım. | I will read. |

## Mistake 2: Missing k -> g in some forms

Before some person endings, final k becomes g.

gelecek + im -> geleceğim

- gelecekim → geleceğim

## Mistake 3: Using present continuous for future meaning too broadly

Turkish can sometimes use present continuous for planned movement, but on these pages future meaning is taught with the future tense.

For I will come tomorrow, use:

| Turkish | English |
| --- | --- |
| Ben yarın geleceğim. | I will come tomorrow. |

## Mistake 4: Forgetting y in negative future forms

The negative suffix ends in a vowel, so future forms need buffer y: gel + me + y + ecek becomes gelmeyecek.

The same pattern keeps the normal future softening before vowel-initial person endings: gelmeyeceğim.

- gelmeceğim → gelmeyeceğim

## Mini practice

| Prompt | Correct Turkish |
| --- | --- |
| I will call you shortly. | Birazdan seni arayacağım. |
| We will set off on Friday. | Biz cuma günü yola çıkacağız. |
| My phone will shut down soon. | Telefonum birazdan kapanacak. |

## FAQ

### How do you form the Turkish future tense?

Use the verb stem plus -(y)acak or -(y)ecek and then add the personal ending. The vowel is chosen by vowel harmony.

### When do I add buffer y in the future tense?

Add buffer y when the verb stem ends in a vowel before the future marker, as in oku + yacak -> okuyacak.

### Why does gelecek become geleceğim?

Before vowel-initial personal endings, the final k in -(y)acak/ecek often softens to ğ, so gelecek + im becomes geleceğim.

### How do I make a future verb negative in Turkish?

Put -ma/-me after the verb stem, then add buffer y and the future ending: gelmeyecek, yapmayacak, gelmeyeceğim.

## Related verb examples

| Verb | Form |
| --- | --- |
| [Conjugate yemek in Turkish](https://turkce-trainer.com/en/verbs/yemek) | yiyeceğim |
| [Conjugate içmek in Turkish](https://turkce-trainer.com/en/verbs/icmek) | içeceğim |
| [Conjugate okumak in Turkish](https://turkce-trainer.com/en/verbs/okumak) | okuyacağım |
| [Conjugate görmek in Turkish](https://turkce-trainer.com/en/verbs/gormek) | göreceğim |
| [Conjugate yapmak in Turkish](https://turkce-trainer.com/en/verbs/yapmak) | yapacağım |

## Keep learning

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

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

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

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