Sentence Adverbs and Evidential Adverbs | Turkish Grammar

Most adverbs modify the verb — quickly, here, yesterday. Sentence adverbs are different: they comment on the whole clause, telling the listener how sure you are, how you feel about it, or where your information came from. English does this with maybe, probably, unfortunately, apparently. Turkish has the same set, but with a twist that English lacks: several of these adverbs must agree with the mood or evidential suffix on the verb. Say "maybe" and the verb wants the aorist or the -(y)Abil possibility ending; say "so it turns out" and the verb almost always carries the evidential -mIş. This page teaches the adverbs and the agreements that make them sound native.

Where sentence adverbs sit

A sentence adverb usually opens the clause, before the subject, framing everything that follows. Some can also slide just before the verb. They are invariant words — no harmony, no attachment.

Maalesef toplantıya yetişemedim, trafik berbattı.

Unfortunately I couldn't make it to the meeting — the traffic was terrible.

Açıkçası bu fikir bana hiç mantıklı gelmiyor.

Honestly, this idea doesn't make any sense to me at all.

Certainty: kesinlikle, mutlaka, elbette

For full commitment, Turkish uses kesinlikle "definitely, absolutely," mutlaka "without fail, definitely," and elbette / tabii "of course." These pair naturally with plain assertive verb forms — the future, the aorist, the definite past — because you are presenting the clause as certain.

Kesinlikle haklısın, ben de aynı şeyi düşünüyordum.

You're absolutely right — I was thinking the same thing.

Yarın sınav var, mutlaka erken yatmalısın.

There's an exam tomorrow — you definitely have to go to bed early.

Elbette sana yardım ederim, hiç çekinme.

Of course I'll help you — don't hesitate at all.

Probability: galiba, herhalde, sanırım

For "probably, I think, I guess," Turkish has galiba, herhalde "presumably, most likely," and sanırım "I think / I suppose" (literally "I suppose"). These mark the clause as a confident guess, not a fact you witnessed.

Galiba anahtarımı arabada unuttum, bir bakayım.

I think I left my key in the car — let me check.

Telefonu açmıyor, herhalde uyuyordur.

He's not picking up — he's probably asleep.

Sanırım bu yolu daha önce de görmüştük, tanıdık geliyor.

I think we've seen this road before — it looks familiar.

Notice uyuyordur above: the -DIr suffix turns a present-tense verb into a probability ("he's probably sleeping"), and it pairs beautifully with herhalde. This is your first taste of adverb–mood agreement: probability adverbs love verb forms that themselves signal probability.

Possibility: belki and the aorist or -(y)Abil

belki "maybe, perhaps" is the weakest of the certainty adverbs — it opens the door to a possibility without claiming it. Crucially, belki does not usually go with a flat future or definite past. It pairs with the aorist (the -(A/I)r present-general) or with the possibility ending -(y)Abil, because both forms express something that may or may not happen.

Belki gelir, belki gelmez — ona güvenemeyiz.

Maybe he'll come, maybe he won't — we can't count on him.

Belki yarın yağmur yağabilir, şemsiyeni al.

It might rain tomorrow — take your umbrella.

Belki de en baştan yanlış anladım, bir daha anlat.

Maybe I misunderstood from the start — tell me again.

The pairing belki ... gelir (aorist) feels far more natural than belki ... gelecek (flat future), because the future asserts the event while belki hedges it. The aorist and -(y)Abil match the hedge.

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Match the adverb to the verb's mood. Certainty adverbs (kesinlikle, mutlaka) take assertive forms — future, definite past. Probability adverbs (galiba, herhalde) love -DIr. Possibility belki takes the aorist or -(y)Abil. The adverb and the verb must agree on how sure you are.

Evidential adverbs: meğer and demek ki with -mIş

Here is the feature English has no clean equivalent for. Turkish marks source of knowledge on the verb: the evidential -mIş signals that you did not witness the event directly — you inferred it, heard it, or just discovered it. Two sentence adverbs are tightly bound to this system.

meğer "so it turns out, as it happens" introduces a fact you have just discovered to be true, often overturning what you previously believed. Because the discovery is new information you did not directly witness happening, the verb in a meğer clause almost always carries -mIş.

Onu kibirli sanıyordum, meğer çok utangaçmış.

I thought he was arrogant — turns out he's very shy.

Her yeri aradık, meğer çantam baştan beri arabadaymış.

We searched everywhere — turns out my bag was in the car the whole time.

Bana kızgın değilmiş, meğer haklıymışsın.

He wasn't angry with me — turns out you were right.

demek ki (two words) "so, that means, it follows that" draws an inference from evidence in front of you: you reason from what you see to a conclusion. It often pairs with -mIş too, or with a present-tense verb plus -DIr, because the conclusion is reasoned rather than witnessed.

Işıklar yanmıyor, demek ki kimse evde yok.

The lights aren't on — so that means nobody's home.

Telefonuna hiç bakmamış, demek ki mesajımı görmemiş.

He hasn't looked at his phone at all — so he hasn't seen my message.

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meğer = a surprise discovery ("turns out..."), almost always with -mIş: Meğer gitmiş "Turns out he left." demek ki = a reasoned inference ("so that means..."), also fond of -mIş. Both belong to the evidential system — they tell the listener your knowledge is indirect.

Regret and attitude: maalesef, ne yazık ki, açıkçası

A final group comments on your attitude toward the clause rather than its truth: maalesef / ne yazık ki "unfortunately," açıkçası "frankly," umarım "I hope," keşke "if only / I wish." These do not constrain the evidential, but keşke triggers a counterfactual (it pairs with past or conditional forms).

Ne yazık ki bilet kalmamış, sonraki seansa gireriz.

Unfortunately there are no tickets left — we'll go to the next showing.

Keşke daha erken haber verseydin, planımı değiştirirdim.

If only you'd told me earlier — I'd have changed my plan.

Common mistakes

The errors below all come from treating sentence adverbs as free-floating words that don't care about the verb. In Turkish they do.

❌ Belki yarın gelecek.

Incorrect — flat future clashes with the hedge 'belki'.

✅ Belki yarın gelir.

Maybe he'll come tomorrow.

❌ Meğer haklısın.

Incorrect — 'meğer' (a new discovery) needs the evidential -mIş.

✅ Meğer haklıymışsın.

Turns out you were right.

❌ Demekki yağmur yağmış.

Incorrect — 'demek ki' is two words.

✅ Demek ki yağmur yağmış.

So it must have rained.

❌ Galiba o kesinlikle gelmedi.

Incorrect — you can't combine a guess (galiba) with certainty (kesinlikle).

✅ Galiba gelmedi.

I don't think he came. / He probably didn't come.

❌ Keşke daha erken söyledin.

Incorrect — 'keşke' (if only) needs the counterfactual -sAydI, not the plain past.

✅ Keşke daha erken söyleseydin.

If only you'd said so earlier.

Key takeaways

Sentence adverbs frame the whole clause — your certainty, attitude, or source of knowledge — and usually open the sentence.
They agree with the verb's mood: certainty adverbs take assertive forms, probability adverbs love -DIr, and belki takes the aorist or -(y)Abil.
meğer "turns out" and demek ki "so that means" belong to the evidential system and pair with -mIş: Meğer gitmiş, Demek ki görmemiş.
demek ki is two words; galiba, herhalde, sanırım mean "probably / I think."
Don't mix incompatible adverbs (galiba
- kesinlikle), and remember keşke triggers the counterfactual -sAydI.

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