bilmek (to know / can) | Turkish Grammar

bilmek means "to know" — and it leads a double life. As an ordinary verb it covers knowing a fact and knowing how to do something. But the same root has grammaticalized into the abilitative auxiliary -(y)Abil-, Turkish's way of saying "can / be able to." So this one verb spans both knowledge and ability: biliyorum ("I know") and yapabilirim ("I can do it") are, at root, the same word. Understanding that connection is the key to the whole "can" system.

bilmek as a full verb: forms

The stem is bil-, a regular consonant-final monosyllable. The one form to flag is the aorist: bilmek is in the irregular thirteen that take -Ir instead of the expected -Ar, so the aorist is bilir (not "biler").

Tense / suffix	1st sg. (I)	3rd sg. (he/she/it)
Present continuous -(I)yor	biliyorum	biliyor
Aorist -(A/I)r	bilirim	bilir
Past -DI	bildim	bildi
Future -(y)AcAK	bileceğim	bilecek
Evidential -mIş	bilmişim	bilmiş

A subtle but important point about meaning: the present continuous biliyorum is the normal way to say "I know" (a current state), even though -(I)yor is usually a progressive. The aorist bilirim shifts the sense to "I would know / I generally know / I can (in principle) know" — used for general competence and willingness, as in Ben bilirim ("I'm the one who knows about this"). The past bildim often means "I figured it out / I got it (right)," as when guessing an answer.

Onun nerede oturduğunu biliyorum, istersen seni götürürüm.

I know where he lives — I'll take you there if you like.

Bu soruyu kimse çözemedi ama ben hemen bildim.

Nobody could solve this question, but I got it right away.

bilmek "to know how to"

With a -mAk infinitive object, bilmek means "to know how to" — a learned skill. yüzmek bilmek is "to know how to swim," Türkçe bilmek (with a noun) is "to know Turkish." This is distinct from the auxiliary "can" below: yüzmek bilmiyorum is "I don't know how to swim (I never learned)," a statement about skill, whereas yüzemiyorum ("I can't swim right now") is about momentary ability.

Araba kullanmayı biliyor musun, yoksa ben mi süreyim?

Do you know how to drive, or should I drive?

Üç dil biliyor: Türkçe, Almanca ve biraz da Arapça.

She knows three languages: Turkish, German and a little Arabic too.

The -DIK complement: "to know that…"

To say "I know that X happened," Turkish nominalizes the embedded clause with -DIK (for facts) or -(y)AcAK (for future), adds a possessive naming the clause's subject, and marks it accusative as the object of bilmek. "I know that he came" is geldiğini biliyorum — gel-diğ-i-ni, "his-having-come I-know."

Yalan söylediğini biliyorum, gözlerin seni ele veriyor.

I know you're lying — your eyes give you away.

Toplantının iptal olduğunu bilmiyordum, boşuna gelmişim.

I didn't know the meeting was cancelled — I came for nothing.

English uses "that" plus a full finite clause ("I know that he came"). Turkish has no "that" here; the proposition is compressed into a single nominal -DIK word whose possessive does the job English assigns to the embedded subject pronoun. This is the same nominalization machinery used after söylemek and other cognition verbs.

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"Know a fact" → biliyorum. "Know how to (a skill)" → infinitive + bilmek (yüzmek bilmek). "Know that (a proposition)" → -DIK clause + bilmek (geldiğini biliyorum). Three meanings, three complement shapes — match the complement to the meaning.

bilmek grammaticalized: the abilitative -(y)Abil-

Here is the payoff. Turkish forms "can / be able to" by gluing the converb -(y)A to the main verb and then attaching bil-: yap-a-bil- → yapabilmek, "to be able to do." Historically this is "to know how to do" with bilmek as the second verb; over time it fused into a productive ability suffix. Because the auxiliary is bilmek, it carries bilmek's -Ir aorist, so the default "can" form is -(y)Abilir: yapabilirim ("I can do it"), gelebilir ("he can come / he may come").

Verb	"can" (aorist)	Meaning
yapmak	yapabilirim	I can do
gelmek	gelebilirim	I can come
okumak (vowel stem → +y)	okuyabilirim	I can read
gitmek	gidebilirim	I can go

Note gidebilirim: the host verb gitmek still softens its t to d before the vowel of -(y)A. The auxiliary also conveys possibility / permission, not just ability — gelebilir can mean "he may come / he might come" as well as "he is able to come," exactly like English "can / may."

Bu akşam müsaitsen sana yardım edebilirim.

If you're free this evening, I can help you.

Yağmur yağabilir, şemsiyeni yanına al.

It might rain — take your umbrella with you.

The negative collapses to -(y)AmA

The negative of the abilitative is irregular and worth memorizing: it is not -yAbilme- but the contracted -(y)AmA-, "to be unable to." So "I can do" is yapabilirim, but "I can't do" is yapamam (aorist) or yapamıyorum (present continuous). The bil- element disappears entirely in the negative.

Polarity	Form	Meaning
positive aorist	gelebilirim	I can come
negative aorist	gelemem	I can't come
negative present cont.	gelemiyorum	I can't come (right now)

Çok özür dilerim ama bu hafta sonu gelemem, işim var.

I'm so sorry, but I can't come this weekend — I have work.

Gözlüğüm olmadan tabelayı okuyamıyorum.

I can't read the sign without my glasses.

Negative and question of bilmek itself

As a plain verb, bilmek negates regularly: bilmiyorum ("I don't know"), bilmedim, bilmem (negative aorist, "I wouldn't know / I have no idea"). The casual Bilmem and Bilmiyorum are both everyday ways to say "I don't know." Questions use the particle: biliyor musun?, bilir misin?.

Bu kelimenin anlamını biliyor musun? Ben hiç duymadım.

Do you know the meaning of this word? I've never heard it.

Common mistakes

❌ Ben her şeyi biler.

Incorrect — bilmek is in the irregular thirteen and takes -Ir: bilir, not biler.

✅ O her şeyi bilir.

He knows everything.

❌ Geldi biliyorum.

Incorrect — 'know that' needs a nominalized -DIK clause, not a finite verb: geldiğini biliyorum.

✅ Geldiğini biliyorum.

I know that he came.

❌ Bu işi yapabilmem.

Incorrect — the negative of the abilitative is -(y)AmA, not -Abilme: yapamam.

✅ Bu işi yapamam.

I can't do this job.

❌ Yüzmeyi bilemiyorum.

Incorrect — for a learned skill use bilmek ('know how'): yüzmek bilmiyorum. Yüzemiyorum would mean 'I can't swim right now'.

✅ Yüzmek bilmiyorum.

I don't know how to swim.

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One root, two systems: free-standing bilmek = "know"; bound -(y)Abil- = "can." When you see bil at the end of a long verb chain (gidebilirsin), it's the auxiliary; when bil starts the word (biliyorum), it's the main verb. And remember the auxiliary's negative drops bil entirely: gidemezsin, not gidebilmezsin.

Key takeaways

bilmek is regular except for its aorist bilir (one of the irregular thirteen -Ir verbs).
"Know a fact" → biliyorum; "know how to" → infinitive + bilmek; "know that" → -DIK clause + bilmek (geldiğini biliyorum).
The same root powers the abilitative -(y)Abil-: yapabilirim ("I can do"), inheriting bilmek's -Ir aorist.
The abilitative negative collapses to -(y)AmA: yapamam, gelemiyorum — the bil- element vanishes.

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