The Converb -(y)IncA ('when / as soon as')

The converb -(y)IncA is the everyday Turkish way to say "when" or "as soon as". Eve gelince ara beni — "call me when you get home". The whole "when"-clause collapses onto a single suffixed verb that carries no tense of its own, which is why -(y)IncA feels so light and is by far the most common "when" in speech. Crucially, Turkish has no subordinating conjunction when sitting in front of the clause; the timing is built into the verb's ending.

What -(y)IncA does

-(y)IncA attaches to a verb stem and means "when X happens / once X happens / as soon as X happens". The verb takes no tense marker — present, past, or future is read off the main verb — and the subject of the -(y)IncA clause can be the same as the main clause or different.

Notice there is no separate word for "when" anywhere in these sentences — gelince, görünce, duyunca each carry the whole "when X" idea by themselves. This is the central mental shift for an English speaker: do not translate "when" as a conjunction and then build a clause behind it. The "when" is the suffix.

The clause can hang on a past, present, or future main verb without changing shape. Görünce tanıdım is past ("when I saw him, I recognized him"); görünce tanırım is habitual ("when I see him, I recognize him"); görünce tanırsın is future-leaning ("when you see him, you'll recognize him"). The -(y)IncA form itself never moves.

The "as soon as" reading

-(y)IncA often shades into "as soon as / the moment that", stressing that the main action follows immediately. Context, or an added çıkmaz / -mez aorist nuance elsewhere, sharpens this, but plain -(y)IncA already carries it well.

In hava kararınca döneriz, the subject of the clause (hava, "the weather/sky") differs from the subject of the main verb (we) — and that is completely fine. This different-subject freedom is what makes -(y)IncA so much more flexible than the same-subject converbs -(y)Ip and -(y)ArAk, which cannot cross a subject change.

The four-way form and the buffer -y-

-(y)IncA harmonizes four ways, taking the high vowel ı, i, u, ü from the last stem vowel:

After a vowel-final stem, insert the buffer -y-: oku- → okuyunca, bekle- → bekleyince, ye- → yiyince (with the yemek stem change).

Note okuyunca — the buffer -y- sits between the vowel of oku- and the suffix. This is the same buffer you see across the converb family.

-(y)IncA vs -DIğI zaman: the plain vs the explicit "when"

Turkish has a second, noun-based way to say "when": the participle -DIğI zaman / -DIğIndA, literally "at the time that...". The two overlap heavily, but they are not stylistically identical:

• -(y)IncA is the default, compact, conversational "when". It is what you say.
• -DIğI zaman is the explicit, slightly more formal alternative, and it is preferred when you want to spell out a specific time, or when the clause is long and benefits from the heavier zaman anchor.

Both are correct; -(y)IncA is simply the one a native speaker reaches for first in ordinary speech. The detailed decision guide is on choosing -(y)IncA vs -DIğI zaman. And do not confuse "when" with "while": ongoing simultaneity ("while I was reading") belongs to -ken, not -(y)IncA.

Common mistakes

Building a finite "when"-clause with a conjunction, mirroring English:

Putting a tense on the -(y)IncA verb (it must stay bare):

Forgetting the buffer -y- after a vowel-final stem:

Using -(y)IncA for ongoing "while" instead of point-in-time "when":

Choosing the wrong harmony vowel:

Key takeaways

• -(y)IncA is the everyday "when / as soon as": it replaces a whole finite clause and carries no tense.
• There is no conjunction "when" — the timing is in the suffix; do not put ne zaman in front of the clause.
• It is four-way harmonic (-ınca / -ince / -unca / -ünce) and takes a buffer -y- after a vowel (okuyunca).
• The clause subject may differ from the main subject (hava kararınca eve döneriz).
• For an explicit, named-moment "when", use -DIğI zaman; for ongoing "while", use -ken — not -(y)IncA.