English links clauses with little words: and, while, when, by, without. Turkish prefers to do this with suffixes on the verb. These adverbial verb forms are called converbs, and they let a single sentence string together several events before reaching one final, fully conjugated verb. Once you know the main converbs, long Turkish sentences stop looking intimidating — they are just a chain of suffix-marked verbs ending in one tensed verb.
What a converb is
A converb is a verb form that works like an adverb: it tells you how, when, or in what sequence the main action happens, but it carries no tense and no person of its own. It borrows those from the final verb of the sentence. This is the opposite of English, where you typically conjugate both verbs (I went home *and I ate*). In Turkish, only the last verb is conjugated.
Eve gidip yemek yedim.
I went home and ate.
Here gidip (the -(y)Ip converb of gitmek) has no tense — it simply means "having gone / and then". The tense (past) and person (I) live on the final verb yedim. One subject, one tense, marked once.
The main converbs at a glance
| Converb | Core meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -(y)Ip | and (then) — sequence, same subject | kalkıp gitti (he got up and left) |
| -(y)ArAk | by / while doing — manner | koşarak geldi (he came running) |
| -(y)IncA | when / as soon as | eve gelince ara (call when you get home) |
| -ken | while — simultaneous | yürürken düştü (he fell while walking) |
| -mAdAn | without / before doing | sormadan aldı (he took it without asking) |
| -DIkçA | as long as / the more | yağmur yağdıkça soğudu (the more it rained, the colder it got) |
Each of these gets its own page; this overview shows how they relate. The first two, -(y)Ip and -(y)ArAk, are the workhorses of clause-chaining and are treated in detail on the -(y)Ip page and the -(y)ArAk page. The time converbs -(y)IncA and -ken handle "when" and "while" — see -(y)IncA and -ken.
Kapıyı kapatmadan çıkma, soğuk giriyor.
Don't leave without closing the door; cold is getting in.
Sen anlattıkça olay daha da ilginçleşiyor.
The more you tell it, the more interesting the story gets.
Chaining several clauses before one finite verb
The real power of converbs shows when you link three or more actions. English would need and twice and three conjugated verbs; Turkish needs converbs on the first verbs and one finite verb at the end.
Markete uğrayıp ekmek alarak eve döndüm.
I stopped by the market, bought bread, and headed home.
Read the chain: uğrayıp (-(y)Ip: stopped by, and then) → alarak (-(y)ArAk: by buying / buying) → döndüm (the one finite verb: I returned). Three events, one tense, one subject. The converbs uğrayıp and alarak hang on döndüm.
Telefonu açıp dinleyip hiçbir şey söylemeden kapattı.
He picked up the phone, listened, and hung up without saying anything.
This sentence chains four ideas — açıp (picked up and), dinleyip (listened and), söylemeden (without saying), kapattı (the final verb, hung up) — yet conjugates only once. That economy is why converbs are everywhere in spoken and written Turkish.
Vowel harmony and the buffer -y-
All converb suffixes obey vowel harmony, and several insert a buffer -y- after a vowel-final stem so two vowels don't collide.
- -(y)Ip is four-way (-ıp / -ip / -up / -üp): bak-ıp, gel-ip, oku-yup, gör-üp.
- -(y)ArAk is two-way (-arak / -erek): bak-arak, gel-erek, oku-yarak.
- -(y)IncA is four-way (-ınca / -ince / -unca / -ünce), with buffer -y-: bak-ınca, oku-yunca.
- -mAdAn is two-way (-madan / -meden) and attaches to the negative-like stem without a buffer: sor-madan, gel-meden.
- -DIkçA harmonizes four ways and assimilates d/t: yağ-dıkça, bak-tıkça.
Okuyup düşünerek karar verdim.
I read, thought it over, and decided.
Note okuyup (buffer -y- after the vowel of oku-) and düşünerek (vowel harmony -erek on the front-vowel stem düşün-).
When the subject changes
The same-subject default holds for -(y)Ip and -(y)ArAk: the converb and the final verb share one subject. The time converbs are more flexible. -(y)IncA and -ken routinely link clauses with different subjects.
Ben yemek yaparken çocuklar masayı kurdu.
While I was cooking, the children set the table.
Misafirler gelince herkes sustu.
When the guests arrived, everyone fell silent.
In both, the converb clause has one subject and the main clause another — something -(y)Ip would not allow. Choosing the right converb therefore depends partly on whether the subject stays the same.
Common mistakes
The most frequent error is reaching for ve ("and") where a converb is idiomatic. Coordinating two same-subject verbs with ve is grammatical but heavy and often unnatural; -(y)Ip is the natural choice.
❌ Kalktı ve gitti
Wrong register/naturalness: for one subject's sequenced actions Turkish prefers the converb → kalkıp gitti.
✅ Kalkıp gitti
He got up and left.
Conjugating the non-final verb for tense, which a converb must not carry:
❌ Eve gittim yemek yedim
Wrong: the first verb shouldn't carry its own tense in a chain; use the converb → eve gidip yemek yedim.
✅ Eve gidip yemek yedim
I went home and ate.
Forgetting the buffer -y- after a vowel-final stem:
❌ Okuup düşündüm
Wrong: a buffer -y- separates the two vowels → okuyup.
✅ Okuyup düşündüm
I read and then thought.
Using same-subject -(y)Ip across a subject change, where a time converb is needed:
❌ Ben yemek yapıp çocuklar masayı kurdu
Wrong: the subjects differ, so -(y)Ip can't link them; use -ken or -(y)IncA → ben yemek yaparken…
✅ Ben yemek yaparken çocuklar masayı kurdu
While I was cooking, the children set the table.
Key takeaways
- Converbs are adverbial verb forms that link clauses without conjunctions; they carry no tense and no person, inheriting both from the final finite verb.
- The core set: -(y)Ip (and then), -(y)ArAk (by/while doing), -(y)IncA (when), -ken (while), -mAdAn (without/before), -DIkçA (as long as / the more).
- A sentence can chain several converbs before one finite verb, conjugating only once.
- -(y)Ip and -(y)ArAk require the same subject; -(y)IncA and -ken allow a subject change.
- All converb suffixes harmonize, and several add a buffer -y- after a vowel.
Now practice Turkish
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Start learning Turkish→Related Topics
- The Converb -(y)Ip ('and then / -ing')B1 — How -(y)Ip joins same-subject actions into one chain, dropping tense and person from every verb but the last.
- The Converb -(y)ArAk ('by / while doing')B1 — How -(y)ArAk marks the manner or means of a same-subject action — answering 'how?' rather than sequencing events like -(y)Ip.
- The Converb -(y)IncA ('when / as soon as')B1 — How -(y)IncA forms the everyday 'when' clause with no tense at all, replacing a finite conjunction-based clause.
- The Converb -ken ('while')B1 — How the invariant -ken attaches to a tense stem or a noun to mark simultaneity, never harmonizing and never taking a tense of its own.