Turkish Grammar › Postpositions
Süre Edatları (-DAn beri / -DIr)
Duration Postpositions
Level A1Postpositions
«-DAn beri» shows when a situation started; «-DIr» shows how long it has been going on.
In Turkish the structures «-dan beri» and «-dır» are used to talk about situations that began in the past and are still going on at the moment of speaking.
«-dan beri» shows when an event or situation started. In this structure the word or phrase expressing time takes the ablative ending «-dan/-den» and is followed by «beri». For example: Dünden beri hastayım. Sabahtan beri çalışıyorum. Geçen haftadan beri Ankara’dayım. This structure gives the meaning of a starting point.
«-dır», on the other hand, shows how long an event or situation has been going on. It is used after numbers and time expressions. For example: İki saattir bekliyorum. Üç yıldır Türkçe öğreniyorum. Bir haftadır yağmur yağıyor. In these sentences the event began in the past and is still continuing.
These structures are used most often with the present tense, because the situation described usually began in the past and is still going on as we speak. For example: Sabahtan beri kitap okuyorum. Beş yıldır burada yaşıyoruz.
«-dan beri» and «-dır» are very common in everyday speech, especially when saying when something started or how long it has been going on.
Examples
- Sabahtan beri çalışıyorum.I have been working since the morning.
- Geçen yıldan beri burada yaşıyorum.I have been living here since last year.
- İki saattir seni bekliyorum.I have been waiting for you for two hours.
- Üç yıldır Türkçe öğreniyorum.I have been learning Turkish for three years.
- Bir haftadır yağmur yağıyor.It has been raining for a week.