Grammar

Person Suffixes

Personal suffixes (şahıs ekleri) are added to verbs to indicate the person (I, you, he/she/it, we, you (pl./formal), they) performing the action. These suffixes vary depending on the tense and mood of the verb.

Below is a general overview. Specific suffixes will be detailed with each tense/mood.

Common Patterns:

  • 1st Person Singular (Ben - I): Often involves -m or -im/-ım/-um/-üm.
  • 2nd Person Singular (Sen - You): Often involves -n or -sin/-sın/-sun/-sün.
  • 3rd Person Singular (O - He/She/It): Often has no suffix or a specific tense marker suffix (like -dir).
  • 1st Person Plural (Biz - We): Often involves -z or -iz/-ız/-uz/-üz.
  • 2nd Person Plural/Formal (Siz - You): Often involves -siniz/-sınız/-sunuz/-sünüz.
  • 3rd Person Plural (Onlar - They): Often involves -lar/-ler added after other tense/mood suffixes.

Example with Present Continuous Tense (using gelmek - to come → geliyor - is coming):

PersonSuffixExampleTranslation
Ben-umGeliyorumI am coming
Sen-sunGeliyorsunYou are coming
O(none)GeliyorHe/She/It is coming
Biz-uzGeliyoruzWe are coming
Siz-sunuzGeliyorsunuzYou (pl./formal) are coming
Onlar-larGeliyorlarThey are coming

Note: The suffixes shown here (-um, -sun, etc.) are specific to the -iyor tense and follow vowel harmony with the 'o' in -iyor.

Practice Zone

1. In the present continuous tense, 'geliyorum' means 'I am coming'. What part is the 1st person singular suffix?

2. What is the verb stem of 'yapmak' (to do/make)?