Chinese (Mandarin)

Spanish

English

Hindi

Arabic (Modern Standard)

Portuguese

Bengali

Russian

Japanese

Punjabi

German

Javanese

Malay

Telugu

Vietnamese

Korean

French

Marathi

Tamil

Urdu

Turkish

Italian

Chinese, Yue / Cantonese

Thai

Gujarati

Chinese, Jin

Chinese, Min Nan

Dari

Farsi

Polish

Pashto

Kannada

Chinese, Xiang

Malayalam

Sundanese

Hausa

Odia

Burmese

Chinese, Hakka

Ukrainian

Bihari, Bhojpuri

Tagalog

Yoruba

Bihari, Maithili

Uzbek

Sindhi

Amharic

Fula

Romanian

Oromo

Igbo

Azerbaijani

Chinese, Gan

Dutch

Kurdish, Central

Kurdish, Northern

Kurdish, Southern

Malagasy

Lahnda, Saraiki

Nepali

Sinhalese

Chittagonian

Zhuang

Khmer

Turkmen

Assamese

Madurese

Somali

Marwari

Bihari, Magahi

Haryanvi

Hungarian

Chhattisgarhi

Greek

Chewa

Dakhini

Akan, Twi

Akan, Fante

Kazakh

Chinese, Min Bei

Sylheti

Zulu

Czech

Kinyarwanda

Marwari, Dhundhari

Haitian Creole

Chinese, Min Dong

Ilocano

Quechua

Kirundi

Swedish

Hmong

Shona

Uyghur

Hiligaynon

Mossi

Xhosa

Belarusian

Balochi

### The Formal "Without Doing" Converb: -maksızın / -meksizin

To describe an action that happens continuously or without interruption, Turkish uses the formal negative converb **-maksızın** or **-meksizin**. It translates to "without doing" and is frequently used in written or formal contexts.

Attach the suffix **-sızın** or **-sizin** (meaning "without") to the verb's infinitive (**-mak** or **-mek**). Vowel harmony dictates the two forms:
- Verbs with back vowels (a, ı, o, u) take **-maksızın**
- Verbs with front vowels (e, i, ö, ü) take **-meksizin**

{{item:852010}}

{{item:852024}}

### Describing Relentless Action

Because this suffix emphasizes that a secondary action was bypassed while the main action took place, it is perfect for describing non-stop, focused effort—like studying for an exam without pausing to rest.

{{item:852005}}

{{item:852007}}

{{item:852019}}

{{item:852016}}

### Comparing with -madan / -meden

You might already be familiar with the everyday suffix **-madan** / **-meden**, which also means "without doing." The **-maksızın** / **-meksizin** structure carries the exact same meaning but elevates the tone, making it sound more literary. You will sometimes see both forms used in the same sentence to avoid repetition while maintaining a descriptive flow.

{{item:852021}}

Without doing (-maksızın / -meksizin)

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 catch one's breath	soluklanmak
summary	özet
The student was writing the summary of the book without catching his breath.	Öğrenci, soluklanmaksızın kitabın özetini yazıyordu.
paragraph	paragraf
to get fed up	usanmak
He read the long paragraphs in the exam without getting fed up.	Sınavdaki uzun paragrafları usanmaksızın okudu.
formula	formül
to hesitate / to pause (momentarily)	duraksamak
She wrote the formula on the board without hesitating.	Tahtadaki formülü duraksamaksızın yazdı.
to aim for	hedeflemek
to blink	kırpmak
He studied without blinking an eye for the success he aimed for.	Hedeflediği başarı için gözünü kırpmaksızın çalıştı.
to advance (something) / to improve	ilerletmek
perseverance	azim
The young man is working non-stop with great perseverance to improve his English.	Genç adam, İngilizcesini ilerletmek için büyük bir azimle durmaksızın çalışıyor.
He was not working with perseverance and was not reading the summaries at all.	O, azimle çalışmıyordu ve özetleri hiç okumuyordu.
Without blinking his eye at all, he finished the last paragraph without catching his breath.	Gözünü hiç kırpmadan, son paragrafı soluklanmaksızın bitirdi.
They aim for new projects without getting fed up in order to learn the new formulas.	Yeni formülleri öğrenmek için usanmaksızın yeni projeler hedefliyorlar.
He was doing research without hesitating to advance his project.	Projesini ilerletmek için duraksamaksızın araştırma yapıyordu.
She is solving problems without resting like a robot to get the score she aimed for.	Hedeflediği puanı almak için bir robot gibi dinlenmeksizin problem çözüyor.