Turkish draws a line through "if" that English never draws: is the condition hypothetical, or is it real? It marks the answer with two different structures. The verbal conditional -sA clips straight onto a bare verb stem (gelsem "if I were to come") and signals the hypothetical and the wished-for. The real conditional -(y)sA attaches to a complete tense form (gelirsem "if I come," geliyorsam "if I'm coming") and signals a factual, expected condition. Putting the two paradigms beside each other is the fastest way to internalise the split — and to see that they share one set of personal endings. For the standalone hypothetical, see conditional -sA; for the factual one, the real conditional; for the whole landscape, conditionals overview.
The verbal conditional -sA (bare stem, hypothetical)
This goes directly on the bare stem and takes the compact Type-2 personal endings (-m, -n, -k, -nIz), the same short set used by the copular conditional. It harmonises two ways (a / e).
| Person | gel- (come) | yap- (do) | ol- (be) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ben (I) | gelsem | yapsam | olsam |
| sen (you, sg.) | gelsen | yapsan | olsan |
| o (he/she/it) | gelse | yapsa | olsa |
| biz (we) | gelsek | yapsak | olsak |
| siz (you, pl.) | gelseniz | yapsanız | olsanız |
| onlar (they) | gelseler | yapsalar | olsalar |
This form is for conditions you are imagining, not predicting. On its own — especially after keşke "if only" — it tips over into an outright wish.
Yerinde olsam, o işi hemen kabul ederdim.
If I were in your place, I'd take that job right away.
Keşke biraz daha sabretsen, neredeyse bitiyordu.
If only you'd be a little more patient — it was almost finished.
Param olsa hemen bir bilet alırdım.
If I had money, I'd buy a ticket immediately.
The real conditional -(y)sA (full tense, factual)
The real "if" does not touch the bare stem. It attaches -(y)sA to an already-complete tense form — aorist, present continuous, past, or future — and the personal ending comes after the conditional. The endings are the same Type-2 set (-m, -n, -k, -nIz) you just saw, which is why the two paradigms feel related. The buffer -y- only surfaces after the few tense stems that end in a vowel — chiefly the past -DI form, which ends in a vowel, so -(y)sA takes its buffer and the two fuse into -yse, written together as in geldiyse.
| Person | Aorist (gelir-) | Continuous (geliyor-) | Past (geldi-) | Future (gelecek-) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ben (I) | gelirsem | geliyorsam | geldiysem | geleceksem |
| sen (you, sg.) | gelirsen | geliyorsan | geldiysen | geleceksen |
| o (he/she/it) | gelirse | geliyorsa | geldiyse | gelecekse |
| biz (we) | gelirsek | geliyorsak | geldiysek | geleceksek |
| siz (you, pl.) | gelirseniz | geliyorsanız | geldiyseniz | gelecekseniz |
| onlar (they) | gelirlerse | geliyorlarsa | geldilerse | geleceklerse |
Each column means something specific, because the conditional sits on a real tense and inherits its time/aspect. Gelirsem "if I come (as a general/likely matter)"; geliyorsam "if I am (in fact) coming"; geldiysem "if I (did) come / if it's the case that I came"; geleceksem "if I am going to come / if it turns out I will come."
Yarın yağmur yağarsa pikniği iptal ederiz.
If it rains tomorrow, we'll cancel the picnic.
Madem bu kadar üşüyorsan, ceketimi al.
If you're (really) that cold, take my jacket.
Faturayı zaten ödediysen, ikinci kez ödeme.
If you've already paid the bill, don't pay a second time.
Toplantıya kalacaksan, bana haber ver, yerini ayırtayım.
If you're going to stay for the meeting, let me know — I'll reserve you a spot.
The split, made concrete
Lay the two "if I come" forms next to each other and the whole system snaps into focus:
| Form | Built on | Meaning | Flavour |
|---|---|---|---|
| gelsem | bare stem + -sA | "if I were to come" | hypothetical / wished |
| gelirsem | aorist gelir + -(y)sA | "if I come" | real / expected |
The English translations sit close together — "if I were to come" vs "if I come" — but the Turkish keeps them rigorously apart, and choosing the wrong one changes whether you sound like you are daydreaming or stating a likely condition. The cleanest rule: if you expect the condition might actually be met, build on a tense (gelirse, geliyorsa, geldiyse, gelecekse). If you are only imagining it, use the bare stem (gelse). Note especially the weather case: "if it rains (tomorrow)" is an expected condition, so it is yağarsa, built on the aorist — never the bare-stem yağsa, which would mean "if it were to rain (imagine that)."
Counterfactuals stack on top
When you want "if I had…" — a condition you know did not hold — you stack the past copula -(y)DI after the bare-stem conditional: gelsem → gelseydim "if I had come," gelsen → gelseydin "if you had come." This -sAydI form is the backbone of "I wish I had…" sentences. It is covered fully in the conditionals overview; the point here is just that it grows out of the left-hand (bare-stem) paradigm, not the right-hand one.
Daha erken çıksaydık trene yetişirdik.
If we'd left earlier, we'd have caught the train.
Common mistakes
❌ Yarın yağmur yağsa pikniği iptal ederiz.
Wrong mood — an expected condition needs the real conditional on a tense: yağmur yağarsa.
✅ Yarın yağmur yağarsa pikniği iptal ederiz.
If it rains tomorrow, we'll cancel the picnic.
Using the bare-stem -sA for a genuinely expected condition is the most common error. "If it rains" (a real possibility) is yağarsa, not yağsa.
❌ Gelseyim sana haber veririm.
Incorrect — the conditional uses Type-2 endings (-m), not the optative -(y)Im: gelsem.
✅ Gelsem sana haber veririm.
If I were to come, I'd let you know.
❌ Eğer gelirsem mi gelmem mi, bilmiyorum.
Incorrect — don't drop a question particle into a conditional; restructure with an embedded clause: gelip gelmeyeceğimi bilmiyorum.
✅ Gelip gelmeyeceğimi bilmiyorum.
I don't know whether I'll come or not.
❌ Param olursa hemen bir bilet alırdım.
Meaning shift — 'would buy' (counterfactual) pairs with the hypothetical olsa, not the real olursa.
✅ Param olsa hemen bir bilet alırdım.
If I had money, I'd buy a ticket right away.
Key takeaways
- Turkish splits "if" by reality: bare stem + -sA = hypothetical/wish (gelsem); a full tense
- -(y)sA = real/expected (gelirsem, geliyorsam, geldiysem, geleceksem).
- Both conditionals share the Type-2 personal endings (-m, -n, -k, -nIz); see Type-2 endings.
- The real conditional sits on a complete tense and inherits its time/aspect; the hypothetical sits on the bare stem and means "imagine that."
- "If it rains (tomorrow)" is the expected yağarsa, never the imagined yağsa.
- Stack the past copula for counterfactuals: gelseydim "if I had come" — built on the bare-stem side; see conditionals overview.
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- The Conditional -sA ('if')A2 — The verbal conditional -sA attaches to a bare verb stem for hypothetical and wish conditions — gelsem 'if I come', Keşke gelse 'if only he'd come' — and contrasts with the real/factual conditional -(y)sA, which attaches to a full tense (gelirse 'if he comes').
- The Conditional SystemB1 — How Turkish encodes the reality of a condition by where the suffix -sA attaches — bare stem for hypotheticals, a full tense for real conditions, and -sAydI for counterfactuals.
- Real Conditions: -(y)sA on TensesB2 — Factual, open conditions formed by clipping -(y)sA onto a finished tense — gelirse, geliyorsa, geldiyse, gelecekse — with the result clause in the aorist or future.
- Type 2 Endings (-m set)A2 — The Type 2 personal endings -m, -n, -Ø, -k, -nIz, -lAr are the short subject markers used only after the definite past -DI and the conditional -sA — so 'I came' is geldim and 'we came' is geldik, never the Type-1 forms.