To say what is not happening right now, insert a negative suffix between the verb root and the present continuous tense marker (-yor).
Normally, the negative suffix is -ma or -me. However, the -y in -yor "narrows" the preceding vowel. Because of 4-way vowel harmony, the negative suffix changes to -mı, -mi, -mu, or -mü to match the last vowel of the verb root.
| Root | Negative | Tense & Person | Full Word | Meaning |
|---|
| iç | -mi | -yoruz | içmiyoruz | We are not drinking |
| yap | -mı | -yorsun | yapmıyorsun | You are not doing |
| sus | -mu | -yor | susmuyor | He/She/It is not being quiet |
The Third Person (He/She/It)
For the third-person singular, simply attach the negative suffix and -yor to the root, with no personal suffix needed.
Adding Personal Suffixes
Because the tense marker still ends in -yor, the personal suffixes are exactly the same as they are in the positive form. They continue to follow vowel harmony for the letter o (-um, -sun, -uz, -sunuz, -lar).
You can drop the subject pronoun, but including it helps add contrast—for example, clarifying that you aren't doing something, but someone else is.
