Turkish Negative Potential Mood – not able to, can’t
Negative Potential Mood is formed inserting an -e- or -a- before the negative verb:
- gelmekto come → gelememek
[gel-eme-mek[not to be able to come. - bakmakto look → bakamamak
[bak-ama-mak]not to be able to look
The verb can be active, passive, reflexive, reciprocal, or causative, thus forming a completely new verb with its own infinitive:
Turkish Negative Potential -Examples in various moods and tenses:
- bakmamakto not look → bakamamak
[bak-a-ma-mak]not to be able to look - bakamıyorum
I can’t look. I might not 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
Tense and personal endings are added to make the full verb form.
This includes the if.. forms of the -sa, -se Conditional Mood.
Turkish Negative Potential – A-UnDotted Verbs ending in a Vowel
The buffer letter -y- is used to keep the last vowel of the verb stem separate from the ‑e‑ ‑a‑ negative potential particle.
- anlamamakto understand → 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
[conditionalif] - anlayamamış
it seems he could not understand
[inferential Tense] - anlaşılamayacaksak
if we will not be able to understood
[passive mood] - anlayamazsınız
you cannot understand
[simple tense -maz] - anlaşamadılar
they could not agree
[reciprocal ş form]
Turkish Negative Potential – E-Dotted Verb Formation:
- çekmemekto not pull → çekememek
[çek-e-me-mek]not to be able to pull - çekemem
I can’t pull - çekemiyorsun
you cannot pull - çekilemedi
[çek-il-e-me-di]
it could not be pulled
[passive form] - çekemeyeceğiz
we will not be able to pull - çekememiştiniz
you had not been able to pull
Turkish Negative Potential – E-Dotted Verbs ending in a Vowel
- beklemekto wait, expect → bekleyememek
[bekle-y-e-memek]not to be able to wait - bekleyemesem
if I cannot wait
[conditional tense] - bekletemeyeceksin
[bekle-t-e-me-y-ecek-sin]
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 could not wait
[inferential tense]
Turkish Negative Potential Conversational Stress
In speech this negative potential particle -a- / -ya- or -e- / -ye- is heavily accented in order to draw the attention of the listener to the correct tense and mood.
- GörEmedim
[Gör-Eme-dim] I could not see - GülEmediniz
[Gül-Eme-diniz]You could not laugh - Mehmet ağlaYAmayacak
[ağla-YAma-y-acak]Mehmet will not be able to cry. - DinleYEmedik onu!
Dinle-YEme-dikWe could not listen to it!