Lesson 53:More on Negative form of the Abilitative mood -y(a)bilmek,-y(e)bilmek.

                                                               GRAMMAR NOTES



As we hinted in the final part of Lesson 41 this mood is easily formed in all tenses just by inserting an -e- or -a- before the negative suffix of any negative verb whether it be active, passive, reflexive, reciprocal,or causative.

Let's see in more details as this rule applies for all tenses markin of course the distinction between A -undotted verbs and E -dotted verbs (in other words verbs whose infininitive mood end in -MAK or -
MEK respectively:


Example using the verb Bakmak (to look)


bakmamak - not to look becomes: bakamamak - not to be able to look
bakamıyorum - I can't look
bakamadın or bakamıyordun - you could not look
bakamıyordu - he was not able to look
bakamazsak - if we cannot look - (Conditional form)
bakamayacaksınız - you will not be able to look
bakamadılar or bakamıyorlardı - they could not look
It can be seen above that the tense and personal endings are added to make the full verb form - this includes the "if" forms of the Conditional Mood.


Examples using the verb Çekmek (To pull)


çekmemek - to not pull becomes: çekememek- not to be able to pull
çekemem - I can't come
çekemiyorsun - you cannot pull
çekilemedi - it could not be pulled - (Passive form)
çekemeyeceğiz - we will not be able to pull
çekememiştiniz - you had not been able to pull



VERBS ENDING IN VOWEL


The buffer letter -y- is used to keep the last vowel of the verb stem separate from the -e- negative potential particle that has been added to the normal negative infinitive.

Examples using the verb Anlamak (to understand):

anlamamak - to understand becomes: anlayamamak - (anla-y-a-ma-mak)- not to be able to understand
anlayamadım - I could not understand
anlamasaydın - if you did not understand
anlayamasaydın - if you could not understand - (adding the Negative Potential)
anlayamamış - it seems he could not understand - (Inferential Tense)
anlaşılamayacaksak - if we will not be able to understood - (Passive form)
anlayamazsınız - you cannot understand
anlaşamadılar - they could not agree- [lit: understand each other] - (Reciprocal form)

Examples using th verb Beklemek (to wait):


beklemek- to wait, expect - becomes: bekleyememek - (bekle-y-e-memek) - not to be able to wait
bekleyemesem - if I cannot wait - (Conditional tense)
bekletemeyeceksin - you will not be able to let (it/him) wait - (Causative form)
beklenemedi - it could not have been expected - [lit: awaited] - (Passive form)
bekleyemeyeceğiz - we will not be able to wait
bekleyemezdiniz - you couldn't have waited
bekleyememişler - it seems that they cannot wait - (Inferential tense)

Lesson 41 :Positive abilitative (Potential mood) in Turkish.

This lesson will focus on the abilitative form or positive potential mood - Yeterlik fiili - that expresses either ability or disposition.

 
                                                          GRAMMAR NOTES

The Potential Mood (tense) or abilitative indicates: 

ability - to be able, can or disposition - may, might

Whatever in Turkish expresses "yetenek" - ability, accomplishment, acumen, adequacy, aptitude, aptness, artistry, bent, calibre, capability, capacity, competence, competency, disposition, merit, predisposition, prerogative, qualification, quality, resource, skill, talent, vocation.
This pattern uses two special suffixes -(y)ebil -(y)abil appended to the infinitive stems ending in
-MEK and -MAK respectively and preceeding the personal suffixes.The buffer letter "Y" is attached in case the infinitive stems ends in vowel.
Examples:
Okumak (to read) Okuyabilmek (to be able to read)
Girmek (to enter) Girebilmek (to be able to enter)
Let's see now the conjugations in the most common tenses: (we use the verb "gelmek" as example)
Present Continuous Tense:
gelebiliyorum - I can come, I am able to come, I may come, I might come
Present Simple Tense: gelebilirim - I can come, I am able to come, I may come, I might come
Future Tense: gidebileceksiniz - you will be able to go, etc.
Past Tense: başlayabildik - we could have started, etc..
The Interrogative is formed in the similar manner as the Basic Verb by using the correct question tag according to the number of the personal pronoun:
gelebiliyor muyum? - Can I come?

gelebiliyor musun/musunuz? - Can you come?
gelebilirmiyim? - Can I come (simple present)

Future

kalmak- to stay, to remain- becomes in the Future Potential mood - kalabilmek- to be able to stay, remainkalabileceğim - I will be able to stay
kalabileceksin - you will be able to stay
kalabilecek - he will be able to stay
kalabileceğiz - we will be able to stay
kalabileceksiniz - you will be able to stay
kalabilecekler - they will be able to stay
Future Interrogative
gelebilecek misiniz? - will you be able to come?

Simple Past Tense

beklemek - to wait, to expect - becomes in the Past Definite Potential Form - bekleyebilmek- to be able to wait, expect
bekleyebildim - I could have waited
bekleyebildin - you could have waited
bekleyebildi - he could have waited
bekleyebildik - we could have waited
bekleyebildiniz - you could have waited
bekleyebildiler - they could have waited

Past Interrogative

bekleyebildi mi? - could he have waited

bekleyebildiler mi? - could they have waited

Past Continuous

yapmak - to do, to make - becomes in the Imperfect Past Potential Form - yapabilmek - to be able to do
yapabiliyordum - I was able to do
yapabiliyordun - you were able to do
yapabiliyordu - he was able to do
yapabiliyorduk - we were able to do
yapabiliyordunuz - you were able to do
yapabiliyorlardı - they were able to do

Imperfect Interrogative

Okuyabiliyorlardı mı? - were they able to read?

Past Indefinite Tense

düşünmek - to think - becomes in the Past Indefinite Potential Form - düşünebilmek- to be able to think
düşünebilmişim - it seems I was able to think
düşünebilmişsin - it seems you were able to think
düşünebilmiş - it seems he was able to think
düşünebilmişiz - it seems we were able to think
düşünebilmişsiniz - it seems you were able to think
düşünebilmişler - it seems they were able to think This mood is easily formed in all tenses just by inserting an -(y)e or -(y)a before the negative suffix of any negative verb whether it be active, passive, reflexive, reciprocal,or causative - (it is a case of a completely new verb - with its own infinitive).The buffer letter "Y" is used in case the infinitive stem ends in vowel.
A few examples will help better understand this rule:

Present Continuous Tense:
gelemiyorum - I can't come, I am notable to come, I may not come, I might not come
Okuyamıyorum - I can't read, I am not able to come, I may not come, I might not come
I mentioned only the resent Continuou for brevity reasons.The rule applies to all the tenses.