-(y)IncA vs -DIğI zaman: 'When'

English has one word, when, for time clauses. Turkish gives you two main strategies, and choosing between them is a genuine B2 skill. -(y)IncA is a compact converb that means "when / as soon as" and stays neutral about who the subject is; -DIğI zaman ("at the time that _ did") spells out the subject and pins down a specific time. This page shows you when each is the better tool. For the forms, see the -(y)IncA converb and time clauses with zaman.

The core distinction

Both clauses precede the main clause and both translate as "when". The difference is how much they say out loud:

• -(y)IncA is light and economical. It attaches straight to the verb stem (gel- → gelince) and does not visibly carry tense. It is the default for general "when / as soon as".
• -DIğI zaman is explicit. It is built on the -DIK participle plus a possessive plus the noun zaman ("time"), so it literally names the subject in its possessive ending and locates a definite "time that X happened".

Both are correct. The first is the unmarked, conversational choice. The second foregrounds you: the possessive -in on geldiğin spells out the subject, which is useful when you want to be precise or to contrast subjects.

When the subject matters: choose -DIğI zaman

The decisive case is when the time clause and the main clause have different subjects, or when you are contrasting who did what. -(y)IncA technically allows different subjects, but it leaves the subject implicit, which can be vague. -DIğI zaman carries the subject in its possessive ending, so it is the safer, clearer choice.

In both, the time-clause subject (I, you) differs from the main-clause subject (everyone, I), and the possessive on geldiğim / aradığın makes that unmistakable. Try to feel why a bare -(y)IncA would be weaker here: eve gelince herkes uyuyordu leaves "who came home?" floating, and a listener may default to assuming the subjects match.

Here is the contrastive minimal pair the whole page turns on:

The first uses -(y)IncA because the subject is obvious and shared with the main clause ("I saw, I was overjoyed") — compact is perfect. The second uses -DIğI zaman precisely because the time-clause subject is you while the main clause is about me; the possessive -ün on gördüğün and the pronoun sen nail that down.

-(y)IncA leans toward "as soon as"

Beyond explicitness, there is a nuance of immediacy. -(y)IncA often carries an "as soon as / the moment that" flavour — one event triggering the next. -DIğI zaman is more neutral about timing and can describe habitual or extended "whenever / at the time when" situations more comfortably.

The first snaps two events together — that immediacy is -(y)IncA's home turf. The second is a habitual condition over many occasions; -DIğI zaman (and its locative twin -DIğIndA) sits comfortably here.

-DIğIndA: the locative variant

A common compression of -DIğI zaman is -DIğIndA, the -DIK participle plus possessive plus the locative -DA. It means the same thing, is slightly more compact, and is very frequent in writing and careful speech.

Note the spelling: doğduğunda = doğ + duk → doğduğ (k → ğ) + u (possessive) + n (buffer) + da. The k → ğ softening and the buffer n before the locative are both obligatory.

Form check: building -DIğI zaman

Because -DIğI zaman is built on the -DIK participle, the same sound changes apply as in object relative clauses: the participle is four-way harmonic, D/T alternates after voiceless stems, and the final k softens to ğ before the possessive.

By contrast, -(y)IncA is gloriously simple: just stem + (y)IncA, harmonizing two ways (-ınca / -ince / -unca / -ünce), with a buffer y after a vowel (bekle- → bekleyince). The full paradigm lives on the -(y)IncA page; for the wider family of linking forms, see the converbs overview.

Common mistakes

The classic error is using -(y)IncA where the subject must be made explicit, leaving the sentence ambiguous.

Forgetting the k → ğ softening in the -DIğI zaman form:

Adding tense or a person ending onto the -(y)IncA verb (it carries neither):

Dropping the buffer y before -(y)IncA after a vowel-final stem:

Key takeaways

• Both render English "when"; the choice is about how much you spell out.
• -(y)IncA is the compact, neutral default — gelince — and leans toward "as soon as". The subject stays implicit.
• -DIğI zaman (and its tighter twin -DIğIndA) spells out the subject (via the possessive) and a specific time — geldiğin zaman "when you came".
• Choose -DIğI zaman when the time-clause subject differs from the main clause, needs contrast, or wants emphasis.
• The -DIK machinery applies to -DIğI zaman: genitive subject, k → ğ softening, harmonic vowels. -(y)IncA is just stem + (y)IncA with a buffer y after vowels.