Time adverbs locate an action in time — now, later, yesterday, always. Most Turkish time adverbs are simple words you learn directly, and they go before the verb like other adverbs. The genuinely tricky part is a small set of aspectual words — artık, daha, henüz, hâlâ — that mark change of state and continuation. English splits these meanings across "no longer," "anymore," "still," "yet," and "not yet," and getting them wrong is one of the most persistent learner errors. This page covers the everyday time adverbs first, then untangles the aspectual set.
The everyday time adverbs
These are fixed words. Learn them, place them before the verb, and you're done.
| Turkish | English |
|---|---|
| şimdi | now |
| sonra | later / after / then |
| önce | before / earlier / first |
| dün | yesterday |
| bugün | today |
| yarın | tomorrow |
| az önce | just now / a moment ago |
| biraz sonra | in a little while |
| her zaman | always / every time |
| bazen | sometimes |
Şimdi çıkıyorum, yarım saate oradayım.
I'm leaving now — I'll be there in half an hour.
Dün seni aradım ama açmadın.
I called you yesterday but you didn't pick up.
Az önce geldim, daha üstümü bile değiştirmedim.
I arrived just now — I haven't even changed my clothes yet.
önce and sonra also work as postpositions ("before/after X"), covered on their own page; here they stand alone as plain time adverbs ("earlier," "later").
Nouns of time as bare adverbs
Many time expressions are simply nouns used adverbially with no case ending at all — the noun drops into the sentence and tells you when. This is a place where Turkish needs no preposition where English needs "on," "in," or "this."
Bu sabah erken çıktım, trafik yoktu.
I left early this morning — there was no traffic.
Geçen hafta İstanbul'daydık, harika bir tatildi.
We were in Istanbul last week — it was a wonderful holiday.
Gelecek yıl üniversiteye başlıyorum.
I'm starting university next year.
bu sabah ("this morning"), geçen hafta ("last week"), gelecek yıl ("next year") need no "on/in" — the bare noun phrase is the adverb. geçen ("past/last") and gelecek ("coming/next") are the standard modifiers for "last" and "next" with time words.
Time-of-day with case: sabahları
To say "in the mornings," "in the evenings," and so on — a habitual, repeated time frame — Turkish uses the noun in the plural with a third-person possessive suffix. sabah ("morning") → sabahları ("in the mornings").
Sabahları erken kalkar, akşamları geç yatarım.
I get up early in the mornings and go to bed late in the evenings.
Geceleri çalışmayı severim, daha sessiz oluyor.
I like working at night — it's quieter.
This -lArI pattern signals a recurring time-of-day ("on mornings in general"), as opposed to the locative sabahta or the bare sabah for a specific morning. akşamları ("in the evenings"), geceleri ("at night"), öğlenleri ("at midday") all follow it.
The aspectual set: artık vs. daha/henüz vs. hâlâ
Now the hard part. Four words cluster around "still / yet / anymore / no longer," and they encode aspect — whether a state continues or has changed — in a way English handles with a scatter of different words. Get them straight by anchoring each to its core meaning.
artık — change of state ("no longer / from now on / anymore")
artık marks that something has crossed over from one state to another. With a negative verb it means "no longer / not anymore"; with a positive verb it means "from now on / by now."
Artık burada çalışmıyorum, geçen ay istifa ettim.
I don't work here anymore — I resigned last month.
Artık her şey daha kolay, alışkanlık yaptık.
Everything's easier now — we've got used to it.
Yeter artık, bu konuyu kapatalım.
That's enough now — let's close this subject.
The thread running through all of these is a switch has been flipped: a former state has ended, or a new state now holds. That is the heart of artık.
hâlâ — continuation ("still")
hâlâ marks that a state persists — it's still going on, often longer than expected. It's the mirror image of artık: where artık says "this has changed," hâlâ says "this hasn't changed."
Hâlâ bekliyorum, otobüs bir türlü gelmedi.
I'm still waiting — the bus just hasn't come.
İki saat oldu, hâlâ çalışıyor mu o makine?
It's been two hours — is that machine still running?
hâlâ is often written with circumflexes (hâlâ) to distinguish it in writing and to mark the long vowels; you will also see it written hala, but the circumflex form is the careful spelling. (Note: hala without circumflex is a different word — "paternal aunt" — so the accent disambiguates.)
daha / henüz — "yet / still," and "not yet" in the negative
daha and henüz overlap heavily, both covering "yet/still," but henüz is the more emphatic "as yet" and leans toward negative/incompletion contexts. In a negative sentence they give "not yet."
Henüz gelmedi, yolda olabilir.
He hasn't come yet — he might be on the way.
Yemek daha hazır değil, on dakika daha lazım.
The food isn't ready yet — we need ten more minutes.
Henüz karar vermedim, biraz daha düşüneceğim.
I haven't decided yet — I'll think a bit more.
In henüz gelmedi ("hasn't come yet"), the action is incomplete but still expected — that "expected to happen" flavour is exactly what henüz adds. daha can also mean "more" (bir kahve daha = "one more coffee"), so context disambiguates.
| Word | Core sense | With positive verb | With negative verb |
|---|---|---|---|
| artık | change of state | from now on / by now | no longer / not anymore |
| hâlâ | continuation | still (going on) | still not |
| daha / henüz | yet / as yet | still (more to come) | not yet |
Common mistakes
The aspectual set produces the densest cluster of learner errors of any time-adverb topic.
❌ Hâlâ burada çalışmıyorum.
Incorrect for 'I don't work here anymore' — 'hâlâ' means 'still', not 'anymore'.
✅ Artık burada çalışmıyorum.
I don't work here anymore.
"Anymore / no longer" is artık, not hâlâ. Hâlâ … çalışmıyorum would mean "I'm still not working (here)."
❌ Artık gelmedi, biraz bekleyelim.
Incorrect for 'he hasn't come yet' — 'artık' is change-of-state, not incompletion.
✅ Henüz gelmedi, biraz bekleyelim.
He hasn't come yet — let's wait a bit.
"Not yet" (still expected) is henüz / daha, not artık. Artık gelmedi would awkwardly suggest "he no longer came/comes."
❌ Sabah erken kalkarım her gün.
Understood, but for a habit 'in the mornings' use the -lArI form.
✅ Sabahları erken kalkarım.
I get up early in the mornings.
For a habitual time-of-day, use sabahları, not the bare sabah (which points at one specific morning).
❌ Henüz çalışıyor, durmadı.
Odd — 'henüz' leans to incompletion; for an ongoing state use 'hâlâ'.
✅ Hâlâ çalışıyor, durmadı.
It's still running — it hasn't stopped.
For a state that continues, use hâlâ ("still"), not henüz.
❌ Hala bekliyorum.
Without the circumflex this collides with 'hala' (paternal aunt); for 'still' write 'hâlâ'.
✅ Hâlâ bekliyorum.
I'm still waiting.
In careful writing, mark the circumflex: hâlâ ("still") versus hala ("aunt").
Key takeaways
- Everyday time adverbs — şimdi, sonra, önce, dün, bugün, yarın, her zaman, bazen — are fixed words placed before the verb.
- For a habitual time-of-day, use the -lArI pattern: sabahları (in the mornings), akşamları, geceleri — not the bare noun, which marks one specific time.
- The aspectual set splits by core meaning: artık = change of state (no longer / from now on), hâlâ = continuation (still), daha / henüz = incompletion (yet; "not yet" in the negative, as in henüz gelmedi).
- English scatters these across "still / yet / not yet / anymore / no longer"; anchor each Turkish word to continuation / change / incompletion.
- Write hâlâ with circumflexes in careful prose to keep it distinct from hala ("paternal aunt").
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