Turkish splits "if" along a line English never draws: is this condition real or hypothetical? The verbal conditional -sA, clipped straight onto a bare verb stem (gelsem "if I come/were to come"), is for the hypothetical and the wished-for — things imagined rather than expected. The real/factual "if," by contrast, attaches -(y)sA to a complete tense form (gelirse "if he comes," gidiyorsa "if he is going"). Choosing the wrong one isn't a small slip; it changes whether you sound like you're stating a likely condition or daydreaming. This page teaches the verbal -sA and shows exactly where it parts ways from the tense-based -(y)sA.
The form: bare stem + -sA + Type-2 endings
The verbal conditional takes the bare verb stem (no tense between the stem and -sA) and the Type-2 personal endings — the possessive-style set -m, -n, -k, -nIz (3sg and 3pl are bare):
| Person | gel- (come) | yap- (do) | ol- (be/have) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
The -sA harmonizes two ways (a / e): gel-se, yap-sa. The endings are the same compact set used by the copular conditional — -m, -n, -k, -nIz — not the long Type-1 endings. So "if I come" is gelsem, and "if we did it" is yapsak.
Param olsa o arabayı hemen alırdım, çok beğendim.
If I had the money I'd buy that car right away — I really liked it.
Bir dakikan olsa sana bir şey göstermek isterim.
If you had a minute, I'd like to show you something.
Sen olsan ne yapardın bu durumda?
What would you do in this situation if you were me?
What bare -sA means: hypotheticals and wishes
A bare stem + -sA frames the condition as imagined — not something you expect to happen, but something you're entertaining or longing for. It pairs naturally with a main clause in the conditional/aorist-past (the -(y)ArdI "would" form) for "if X, (then) Y would...":
Biraz daha çabalasan kesinlikle başarırsın.
If you tried a little harder, you'd definitely succeed.
Bu kadar şeker yemesen daha iyi olur.
It'd be better if you didn't eat this much sugar.
On its own, especially with keşke "if only," bare -sA becomes an outright wish: Keşke gelse "If only he'd come," Keşke param olsa "If only I had money." This wish use is so important it has its own page.
Keşke bu yağmur dinse de biraz dışarı çıksak.
If only this rain would stop so we could go out a bit.
The contrast: real 'if' uses -(y)sA on a tense
Now the dividing line. When the condition is a real, factual possibility — something you genuinely expect might happen — you do not use bare -sA. Instead you take a complete tense and add the copular conditional -(y)sA to it. The most common is aorist + -(y)sA = -Irse "if (X) does":
Yarın yağmur yağarsa pikniği iptal ederiz.
If it rains tomorrow we'll cancel the picnic.
Otobüsü kaçırırsan bana haber ver, gelir alırım.
If you miss the bus, let me know — I'll come pick you up.
Compare directly:
- gelse = "if he came / were to come" (hypothetical, imagined) — bare stem + -sA
- gelirse = "if he comes" (real, expected possibility) — aorist gelir
- -se
You can attach -(y)sA to other tenses too, each keeping its own time and aspect: geldiyse "if he came / has come" (past + -(y)sA), gidiyorsa "if he is going" (continuous + -(y)sA), gelecekse "if he is going to come" (future + -(y)sA). These factual conditions live on the real conditional page; the point here is simply that the bare stem is reserved for the hypothetical.
Bu mesajı okuduysan lütfen bir cevap yaz.
If you've read this message, please write back.
The counterfactual: -sAydI ('if X had...')
To push a condition into the unreal past — "if you had come" (but you didn't) — combine -sA with the past copula -(y)DI: -sAydI. The ending again is the short Type-2 set:
Bana önceden söyleseydin yardım edebilirdim.
If you had told me beforehand, I could have helped.
Trene binseydik şimdiye çoktan varmıştık.
If we'd taken the train, we'd have arrived long ago.
So gelsen "if you come" → gelseydin "if you had come." This -sAydI form is the backbone of counterfactual "I wish" sentences; see the counterfactual conditionals page and the keşke page. The whole landscape — real, hypothetical, counterfactual — is mapped on the conditionals overview.
Common mistakes
❌ Yarın yağmur yağsa pikniği iptal ederiz.
Incorrect for a real, expected condition — use the aorist + -(y)sA: yağmur yağarsa.
✅ Yarın yağmur yağarsa pikniği iptal ederiz.
If it rains tomorrow we'll cancel the picnic.
The classic error is using bare -sA for a real "if." Bare yağsa sounds hypothetical ("if it were to rain"); for a genuine forecast you need the tense-based yağarsa.
❌ Gelirsem mutlu olurum.
Not wrong, but watch the layers — for an expected 'if I come' this is right (gel-ir-se-m); just don't confuse it with the hypothetical gelsem 'if I were to come'.
✅ Gelsem sana uğrarım.
If I (were to) come, I'd drop by you.
❌ Gelseyim.
Incorrect — the conditional uses Type-2 endings, not the optative -(y)Im: gelsem.
✅ Gelsem.
If I come / were to come.
❌ Param olursa o arabayı alırdım.
Mismatched — with a 'would' main clause (alırdım) the if-clause should be hypothetical -sA: Param olsa alırdım.
✅ Param olsa o arabayı alırdım.
If I had the money, I'd buy that car.
The pattern: reserve bare -sA for the hypothetical/wish, attach -(y)sA to a tense for the real condition, use Type-2 endings (not the optative), and match an unreal "would" main clause with a hypothetical if-clause.
Key takeaways
- The verbal conditional -sA sits on the bare stem with Type-2 endings: gelsem, yapsan, gitse, olsak.
- Bare stem + -sA = hypothetical or wished-for ("if I were to..."; with keşke, an outright wish).
- The real, factual "if" attaches -(y)sA to a full tense: gelirse "if he comes," geldiyse "if he came," gidiyorsa "if he is going."
- The split is reality vs hypotheticality — yağarsa (expected rain) vs yağsa (imagined rain).
- -sAydI (-sA + past copula) makes the counterfactual "if X had...": gelseydin "if you had come."
- For the real "if" in depth see conditional-real; for wishes see keşke and the conditional; for the copular "if (it) is," see -(y)sA / ise.
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- Conditional Copula: -(y)sA / iseB1 — The copular conditional -(y)sA / ise means 'if (it) is' for states (zenginse 'if he is rich'), and as the separate word ise also works as a contrastive topic marker 'as for' (Ayşe ise gelmez 'as for Ayşe, she won't come').
- 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.
- Counterfactual and Past Conditions: -sAydIB2 — The unreal-past frame -sAydI … -Irdi — saying 'if X had happened, Y would have happened' about a world that did not come true, plus keşke wishes.