The Future Tense (-acak / -ecek)
To talk about events that will happen in the future, Turkish uses the future tense suffix. For verbs ending in a consonant, add -acak or -ecek to the stem, according to two-way vowel harmony.
- If the last vowel of the verb stem is a, ı, o, u, use -acak.
- If the last vowel of the verb stem is e, i, ö, ü, use -ecek.
By itself, this creates the third-person singular ("he/she/it will").
| The tourist will arrive at the hotel tomorrow. | Turist yarın otele varacak. |
| The hotel reservation will end tomorrow. | Otel rezervasyonu yarın bitecek. |
Adding Personal Suffixes
To conjugate the future tense for other people, add the appropriate personal suffixes to the end of the future tense marker.
Notice an important spelling rule: when a personal suffix begins with a vowel (which happens for "I" and "we"), the k at the end of -acak or -ecek softens into a ğ (soft g).
| Person | Suffix | Example (yap- : to do) | Example (gez- : to visit) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ben (I) | -ım / -im | yapacağım | gezeceğim |
| Sen (You) | -sın / -sin | yapacaksın | gezeceksin |
| O (He/She/It) | - | yapacak | gezecek |
| Biz (We) | -ız / -iz | yapacağız | gezeceğiz |
| Siz (You plural) | -sınız / -siniz | yapacaksınız | gezeceksiniz |
| Onlar (They) | -lar / -ler | yapacaklar | gezecekler |
| I will leave the hotel in the morning. | Sabah otelden ayrılacağım. |
| You will buy a ticket for the trip. | Gezi için bilet alacaksın. |
| We will make a reservation at the reception. | Resepsiyonda rezervasyon yapacağız. |
Root Consonant Mutation (t to d)
Just as you have seen with other vowel-starting suffixes, if a verb stem ends in t, such as gitmek (to go), the t softens to a d before the future suffix. For example, the stem git- becomes gid- (gidecek, gideceğiz).
| We will go to visit the city tomorrow. | Yarın şehri gezmeye gideceğiz. |
