The "As Soon As" Converb
To express that one action happens immediately after another—like saying "as soon as" or "the moment that" in English—Turkish uses a special structure combining the affirmative and negative forms of the aorist tense.
The formula pairs the same verb stem back-to-back:
- First word: Verb stem + aorist affirmative suffix (
-ır,-ir,-ur,-ür,-ar,-er, or-r) - Second word: Verb stem + aorist negative suffix (
-mazor-mez)
| Verb Stem | Affirmative | Negative | Structure | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| duy- (to hear) | duyar | duymaz | duyar duymaz | as soon as (someone) hears |
| çök- (to collapse) | çöker | çökmez | çöker çökmez | as soon as (something) collapses |
| gel- (to arrive) | gelir | gelmez | gelir gelmez | as soon as (someone) arrives |
Notice that this structure does not take any personal suffixes. It acts purely as a time phrase, locking the two actions together in immediate succession.
| Would you clear the way for the ambulance as soon as you hear the siren sound? | Siren sesini duyar duymaz ambulans için yolu açar mısınız? |
| Help arrived for those who remained under the debris as soon as the building collapsed. | Bina çöker çökmez enkaz altında kalanlar için yardım geldi. |
Tense and Context
Because the -Ir -mAz structure functions as an adverb of time, it does not carry a tense of its own. The time frame of the sentence (past, present, or future) is determined entirely by the main verb at the end of the sentence.
| The injured man fainted as soon as he saw the blood. | Yaralı adam kanı görür görmez bayıldı. |
| We moved the injured person onto the stretcher as soon as the ambulance arrived. | Ambulans gelir gelmez yaralıyı sedyeye aldık. |
Different Subjects
Often, the person or thing performing the first action is different from the subject of the main clause. When this happens, simply state the subject of the first action right before the -Ir -mAz verb pair.
| As soon as the injured woman fainted, the doctors ran to intervene. | Yaralı kadın bayılır bayılmaz doktorlar müdahale etmek için koştu. |
| As soon as the cars collided, the police officer took the radio and requested an ambulance. | Arabalar çarpışır çarpışmaz polis telsizi aldı ve ambulans istedi. |
You can also use this structure to ask questions about the exact moment something occurred, simply by keeping the -Ir -mAz phrase intact and using a question word or suffix in the main clause.
| Who called the emergency team as soon as they saw the accident? | Kim kazayı görür görmez acil durum ekibini aradı? |