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Returning to your childhood neighborhood after a long time away can be a melancholic experience. Things change, and you might feel like a tourist in your own hometown. To describe how long it has been since an action last occurred, Turkish uses a specific temporal converb.

### Elapsed Time: -mayalı / -meyeli

Adding the suffix **-(y)alı** or **-(y)eli** to a positive verb means "since doing" an action. To express how much time has passed since an action *last* occurred, add this suffix to the *negative* verb stem.

**Verb Stem + -ma / -me + -yalı / -yeli** 

This always forms **-mayalı** or **-meyeli**. While it literally translates to "since not doing," it is understood in English as "since [someone] last did."

This converb does not take personal endings; the subject is understood from context, pronouns, or the main clause.

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### Observing Changes

The main clause often describes what has changed or happened during your absence.

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### Expressing Unfamiliarity

A common way to complete a **-mayalı** sentence is by stating that a long time has passed (using phrases like *zaman geçti*, *zaman oldu*, or *yıllar geçti*).

When enough time passes, returning home might make you feel like a stranger:

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This noun pairs with the verb **çekmek** (to experience/suffer) to create the phrase **yabancılık çekmek** (to feel like a stranger / to feel out of place). 

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Elapsed time without action (-mayalı)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

postposition

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Demonstrative pronouns (bu, şu, o)

Basic question words (kim, ne)

Plural nouns (-lar, -ler)

I am and you are (-(y)ım, -sın)

We, you, and they are (-(y)ız, -sınız)

Negative statements (değil)

Yes and no questions (mı, mi, mu, mü)

Questions with 'to be' (mısın, mıyım)

Numbers 1 to 10 (bir, iki, üç)

Numbers 11 to 20 (on bir, on iki)

Numbers by tens to 100 (otuz, kırk...)

Counting objects (tane)

The locative case (-da, -de)

Consonant assimilation (-ta, -te)

Asking where (nerede)

There is / there are (var)

There is not / there are not (yok)

Asking how many (kaç)

Infinitive verbs (-mak, -mek)

Informal commands (git, gel)

Negative commands (-ma, -me)

Polite and plural commands (-In, -InIz)

Basic word order

Present continuous for consonant roots (-iyor)

Present continuous for vowel roots (-iyor)

Present continuous personal suffixes (-iyorum)

Negative present continuous (-miyor)

Present continuous questions (-iyor mu)

Future plans with present continuous

The dative case (-(y)a, -(y)e)

Consonant mutation (k, t, p, ç to ğ, d, b, c)

From or out of (-dan / -den)

Directional question words (nereye, nereden)

First and second person possessives (-(i)m, -(i)n)

Third person possessive (-(s)i)

Plural possessives (-imiz, -iniz, -leri)

The genitive case (-(n)in)

Definite noun compounds (-nin ... -si)

Indefinite noun compounds (bare noun + -(s)i)

Possessive buffer letter (n)

Spatial postpositions (içinde, üstünde)

The definite direct object (-(y)ı, -(y)i)

Object question words (kimi, neyi)

Adjectives modifying nouns

Manner and choice questions (nasıl, hangi)

Basic degree modifiers (çok, biraz)

Comparisons (daha, en)

Days of the week

Months of the year

The time question word (ne zaman)

Telling time (saat, buçuk)

Asking the time (saat kaç, saat kaçta)

Basic conjunctions (ve, ama, veya)

Causality conjunction (çünkü)

Means and accompaniment (ile, -(y)lA)

Purpose and beneficiaries (için)

Expressing desire (-mak istemek)

The past copula (-(y)DI)

The direct past tense (-DI)

Past tense personal suffixes (-DIm, -DIn)

Past tense negative (-mAdI)

Past tense questions (-DI mI)

Ordinal numbers (-(I)ncI)

Greetings and politeness

Saying 'too' (de, da)

Conversation fillers (şey, yani, hadi)

Conversational essentials

Reflexive pronouns (kendim, kendin)

Reciprocal pronouns (birbiri)

Indefinite pronouns for people (herkes, kimse)

Indefinite pronouns for things and places (her şey, hiçbir şey)

Conjunctions of consequence (bu yüzden, bu nedenle)

Correlative conjunctions (hem... hem, ne... ne)

Verbs taking the dative case (-e / -a)

Verbs taking the ablative case (-den / -dan)

Time origin (beri)

Time duration (-DIr)

Comparisons of similarity (gibi)

Comparisons of equality (kadar)

Perspectives (göre)

Verbal nouns (-mA / -mE)

Verbal nouns as objects (-mAyI / -mEyI)

Verbal nouns with the dative (-mAyA / -mEyA)

General necessity (lazım / gerek)

Personal necessity (-mAm lazım)

Third-person commands (-sIn / -sInlAr)

First person singular optative (-(y)AyIm)

Question	Answer
to pace, to walk along	adımlamak
brand new	yepyeni
Since I last walked these streets, they built brand new buildings.	Bu sokakları adımlamayalı yepyeni binalar yaptılar.
traditional coffeehouse	kıraathane
regular customer	müdavim
Since I last went to that old coffeehouse, the regulars changed completely.	O eski kıraathaneye gitmeyeli müdavimler tamamen değişti.
to become covered in concrete	betonlaşmak
familiar	aşina
Since I last returned to this city, both the neighborhood became covered in concrete and familiar people decreased.	Bu şehre gelmeyeli hem mahalle betonlaştı hem de aşina insanlar azaldı.
So much time has passed since I last returned to my hometown that I feel like a stranger.	Memlekete dönmeyeli o kadar zaman geçti ki kendimi yabancı hissediyorum.
sad, melancholic	hüzünlü
to remind	anımsatmak
Everything I see along the way will remind me of my sad childhood.	Yol boyunca gördüğüm her şey bana hüzünlü çocukluğumu anımsatacak.
Since I last saw my old school, they built a brand new building; it reminds me of nothing.	Eski okulumu görmeyeli yepyeni bir bina yaptılar, bana hiçbir şey anımsatmıyor.
Since I last passed in front of the coffeehouse, I haven't heard a familiar voice.	Kıraathanenin önünden geçmeyeli aşina bir ses duymadım.
being away from home, exile	gurbet
Inevitably, I will miss those old regulars when I'm away from home.	Gurbette, o eski müdavimleri ister istemez özleyeceğim.
The neighborhood became covered in concrete; this reminded me of the old days.	Mahalle çok betonlaştı, bu bana eski günleri anımsattı.
Much time has passed since I last walked these streets, but I have no worries.	Bu sokakları adımlamayalı çok zaman geçti ama hiç endişem yok.
feeling of being a stranger	yabancılık
to suffer / experience (in collocations like 'yabancılık çekmek')	çekmek
It has been a long time since I returned to the neighborhood, I feel unfamiliarity as if in exile.	Mahalleye dönmeyeli uzun zaman oldu, sanki gurbette gibi yabancılık çekiyorum.
Years have passed since I saw the old neighbors, now I feel a sad unfamiliarity.	Eski komşuları görmeyeli yıllar geçti, şimdi hüzünlü bir yabancılık çekiyorum.