9 Turkish Verb Moods Explained [STEP-BY-STEP]

We can investigate Turkish verb moods under nine different categories:

Indicative mood
Passive mood
Potential mood
Obligation mood
Imperative mood
Causative mood
Reflexive mood
Subjunctive mood.

On this page, we are going to learn these verb moods in Turkish with details and examples but let's learn what exactly does a 'mood' mean? (lat. modus, mode, mood, Modus)

Google defines mood as 'a category or form which indicates whether a verb expresses a fact (indicative mood), or a command (imperative mood), question (interrogative mood), wish (optative mood), or conditionality (subjunctive mood).' In Turkish grammar, 'kip' is used to refer to the word 'mood' which means shape, pattern, or sample.

Turkish verb moods are formed either by conjugating a verb (with personal pronouns) or by simply adding a suffix. (e.g. -dir,-t) Turkish verb moods are easy to understand both the concept and the form. So let's just begin with the imperative form.

Turkish Imperative Mood (How to give a command in Turkish?)

The imperative is the verb mood that is used to give commands and instructions. In Turkish, it is called "Emir kipi". Giving order/command is called "Emir vermek" in Turkish. Forming this mood is quite easy for the second-person-singular.

In English, the imperative is formed by the infinitive form of the verb only (without "to")

Not too different in Turkish. When you eliminate -mek/-mak, you form the imperative for the second person singular. Among other Turkish verb moods, the imperative must be the easiest and the most useful. However, if you want to be polite while giving a command, things get a little bit complicated:

Turkish Imperative Mood Examples

'Giriniz' is formed for the second person singular, not the second person plural. If it was the second person plural:

Kendine gel, lütfen!
lit. Come to yourself
Pull yourself together

Note that there is no problem using imperative with "lütfen" in the sense of politeness. If you do not want to look like someone impolite, always use "lütfen" no matter whom you are talking.

Negative Imperative Mood

Forming negative imperative is not hard. You simply add the negative suffix -me/-ma:

Question form of Imperative

Gelsin mi? gelmesin mi?

Subjunctive Mood

Some grammar books also call optative mood. Subjunctive mood refers to 'dilek kipi' in Turkish and is used to express wish or desire. Its suffix is -e/-a attached to the verb stem. Then, for the first person singular, it becomes -eyim/-ayım.

The subjunctive mood of English has been used less frequently in the recent five-six centuries. Instead, Modals such as could or would have been used to give the meaning of imaginary, contrary to reality meanings. However, subjunctive mood survives in some structures like 'let' and the meaning is very similar to the one of Turkish.

Subjunctive Mood Example:

But,

If the verb stem ends with a vowel, buffer letter 'y' is added before the suffix so that the vowel-consonant sequence will be accomplished.

Let's see with an example:

The subjunctive is a kind of mood that can be formed by adding -e/-a (without personal pronoun). Its English equivalent is "let" for the first-person-singular and first-person-plural.

If you have realized we didn't use for other personal pronouns but only the first person singular/plural. In modern language, the subjunctive is not used with other personal pronouns.

Another function of the subjunctive mood is to describe an imagined action related to the speaker.

This structure is very similar to the Spanish Subjunctive. For those who speak Spanish, this example will be very helpful:

Gideyim ister misim?
Quieres que me vaya?
Do you want me to go?

Note that natives often use "gitmeni" (lit. I don't want your-going) instead of "gidesin istemiyorum". Again, the Turkish subjunctive is mostly used for first-person singular/plural. But don't worry, another use is also acceptable.

In some parts of Turkey, first-person-singular and third-person-plural forms differ. This change is related to provincialism and not used in formal texts. Instead of saying "geleyim" one says "gelem" or "gelelim" or "gelek". You may hear these, but avoid using them.

Choosing the right verb mood isn't just grammar — it's about tone, politeness, and social context. That's the kind of thing that's hard to pick up from a page. If you're thinking about working with a native speaker who can help you feel the difference, I offer a free consultation where we can talk about your goals. No commitment — just a conversation.

Desiderative mood (dilek-şart kipi) (subjunctive conditional)

Let's shortly remember what was the subjunctive conditional mood of English. It is used to state or describe a hypothetical thing:

We call the conditional of subjunctive mood 'desiderative mood'. As the concept, it is not very different nor hard. Its suffix is -se/sa and both in past and present can be formed.

Subjunctive Conditional - Conjugations

Plural

Subjunctive Conditional - Examples

It is often translated into English as an if clause with the subjunctive.

Check that the verb of the second sentence is formed differently.

More examples:

It must express a desire, a wish.

Negative Subjunctive Conditional

Negative is formed with the negative suffix -me/-ma before the subjunctive suffix -se/-sa. All the Turkish verb moods have the same pattern for negatives without exception. Let's see with an example:

Turkish Passive Mood : il

Turkish passive mood and the English are quite similar in the sense of meaning. The suffix of passive mood is -il/-ıl/ul/ül. Turkish passive mood is mostly used impersonally. For instance, when declaring public rules, the passive form is preferred.

Passive Mood Examples:

Havuz başında sigara içilmez.
lit. the cigarette is not smoked at poolside.
do not smoke at poolside.

If you have realized, Turkish passive does not give much formality or 'elegance' as in English.

Turkish Reflexive Mood: in

Wikipedia defines reflexivity as: In grammar, a reflexive verb is, loosely, a verb whose direct object is the same as its subject, for example, "I wash myself".

In Spanish, we encounter this concept a lot: If you wash something/one, you'd use 'lavar + noun' (to wash) if made reflexive, it becomes 'lavarse'. In Turkish, it is quite similar:

Here is a couple of example.

Note (1): You may confuse the reflexive mood and the passive mood for some verbs. No need to worry, distinguishing between them is not an easy job (even for natives). Also, Turkish verb moods are not the same as the subjunctives of your mother tongue. Nevertheless, the examples above clarify correctly for which situations they're used and what they mean.

Note (2): It should be noted that these mood suffixes are not applicable to all Turkish verbs. However, knowing the features will help you identify new forms of verbs and guess the meaning without checking a dictionary. Yet If you can reach a dictionary, you should check its meaning because sometimes meaning can say something different than the structure is dictating (rarely).

Turkish Causative Moods

There are five different suffixes to make a verb in a causative mood in Turkish. Compare to other Turkish verb moods, it is plenty.

Turkish Causative mood is responsible to give the meaning of 'make' + verb of English. For example:

There are numerous suffixes to make a verb in causative mood. And there is not a certain rule when deciding which suffix should be attached to which type of verb. These suffixes (-dir), (-r), (-it), (-er), (-t)

This is the morphology : Make + Verb (English) = Verbstem + Suffix (Turkish)

a. (-(t)dir)

b. Turkish Suffix: (-ir)

Çocuğunuza kola içirmeyin
lit. Don't make your child drink Coke.
Don't let your child drink Coke.

Hastaya ilaçlarını içirdiniz mi?
Did you make the patient take his/her medicine?
lit. Did you make the patience drink his/her medicine?

c. Turkish Suffix : it

kork- (eng. fear); korkut (eng. frigthen)

d. Turkish Suffix : er

Turkish Suffix : t

Yurtdışında üç çocuk okutuyorum.
lit. I make three people read abroad
I pay for the education of three people abroad

As mentioned before, there is a variety of suffixes in Turkish. It's not effective to memorize all at once but you should take notes and when you come across similar verbs, you'll automatically figure out there is a similarity going on. Many textbooks prefer to teach these verbs separately as if "okumak" and "okutmak" are totally different. In fact, they are just variations of the same verb.