Turkish Grammar › Converbs
Zaman Ulacı (-(y)IncA)
Temporal Converb “When / Upon”
Level B1Converbs
States that one action happens as soon as another ends: eve gelince beni ara.
The suffix «-ınca, -ince, -unca, -ünce» says that the second action happens AS SOON AS the first one does: «Eve gelince beni ara.», «Ders bitince dışarı çıktık.»
The suffix obeys vowel harmony: bakınca, gelince, okuyunca, gülünce.
If the verb ends in a vowel, the buffer letter «y» comes in: bekle - bekleyince, oku - okuyunca, başla - başlayınca.
The verb carrying the converb is not conjugated; the tense and person are read from the second verb: «Gelince ara.», «Gelince aradı.», «Gelince arayacağım.»
Do not confuse it with the converb «-(y)ken» you learned at A2. «-(y)ken» says the two actions were going on AT THE SAME TIME: «Ben yemek yaparken telefon çaldı.» — the cooking was in progress. «-(y)IncA» says one ENDED and the other began: «Yemeği yapınca telefon ettim.» — first it was done, then I called.
That is why «-(y)IncA» appears mostly in texts telling events in sequence: «Uyanınca perdeyi açtım, kahvaltıyı hazırlayınca çocukları uyandırdım.»
Unlike other converbs, here THE TWO ACTIONS MAY HAVE DIFFERENT SUBJECTS: «Ben eve gelince telefon çaldı.» — I am the one arriving, the phone is the one ringing.
The negative form is «-mayınca, -meyince» and it mostly carries a sense of CAUSE: «Cevap vermeyince merak ettim.» — I was worried because he did not answer.
The positive form sometimes states cause as well: «Yağmur yağınca maç iptal edildi.» Here the rain marks both the time and the reason.
It has set uses in everyday language: «bakınca» (at a glance), «düşününce» (when I think about it), «olunca» (since it is so).
The «-(y)IncA» part usually stands at the beginning of the sentence, with the main action after it: «Ders bitince hemen eve gittik.»
At B2 you will meet other converbs doing the same job («-DIğIndA», «-(y)Ip -mAz»); for now this form is enough.
Examples
- Eve gelince bana haber ver.Let me know as soon as you get home.
- Ders bitince hemen dışarı çıktık.As soon as the lesson ended we went straight outside.
- Ben eve gelince telefon çaldı.Just as I got home, the phone rang.
- Cevap vermeyince çok merak ettim.When he did not answer, I got quite worried.
- Yağmur yağınca maç iptal edildi.When it rained, the match was cancelled.