Thirteen Short Verbs That Break the Rule
You learned that single-syllable verb stems ending in a consonant usually take -ar or -er in the aorist (simple present): satmak becomes satar and seçmek becomes seçer.
A small group of very common short verbs does not follow this rule. They take -ır, -ir, -ur or -ür instead, with the same four-way vowel harmony as longer verbs:
| Infinitive | Aorist | Meaning |
|---|
| almak | alır | takes, buys |
| bilmek | bilir | knows |
| bulmak | bulur | finds |
| durmak | durur | stops, stands |
| gelmek | gelir | comes |
| görmek | görür | sees |
| kalmak | kalır | stays |
| olmak | olur | is, becomes |
| ölmek | ölür | dies |
| sanmak | sanır | supposes |
| varmak | varır | arrives |
| vermek | verir | gives |
| vurmak | vurur | hits |
There are only thirteen of them, so they are worth learning by heart. Every other single-syllable verb takes -ar or -er.
Buying and Giving
A trip to the market is full of these verbs. People buy with alır, sellers give with verir, and fruit comes into season with gelir.
Finding, Knowing and Staying
Bulmak (to find), bilmek (to know) and kalmak (to stay) belong to the same group, so they become bulur, bilir and kalır.
Olmak becomes olur. With an adjective, it describes how something generally is:
Short Verbs That Stay Regular
Compare the rule-breakers with ordinary short verbs. Koymak (to put) and seçmek (to choose) take -ar and -er, while durmak (to stand) is one of the thirteen and takes -ur.
