Turkish Grammar › Converbs
Zaman Ulaçları (-DIk / -(y)AcAk + iyelik + sırada, -(A/I)r … -mAz)
Temporal Clauses “As / As Soon As”
Level B2Converbs
Happening at that exact moment, and happening right after another action: çıktığım sırada, gelir gelmez.
In this topic you will learn two structures. The first expresses that an event happens AT THAT EXACT MOMENT, the second that it happens RIGHT AFTER another.
The structure «-DIk / -(y)AcAk + possessive + sırada» says that two events coincide at exactly the same moment: «Ben tam çıktığım sırada telefon çaldı.»
The structure is identical to the previous topic; only the locative suffix is replaced by the word «sırada»: çıktığım sırada, geldiğiniz sırada, konuştuğumuz sırada.
For the future, «-(y)AcAk» is used and it often comes together with the word «tam»: «Tam çıkacağım sırada yağmur başladı.»
«esnada» can also be used instead of «sırada»; it means the same but is more formal: «konuştuğumuz esnada».
The second structure is «-(A/I)r … -mAz». Here the SAME VERB is written twice: first the aorist form, then its negative. Gel-ir gel-mez, gör-ür gör-mez, duy-ar duy-maz.
The two parts are written SEPARATELY with nothing between them: «gelir gelmez» is correct, «gelirgelmez» is wrong.
It means "right after": «Eve gelir gelmez yattım.» — I got home and went to bed without any delay.
Although this structure looks negative, the sentence is positive in meaning. The «-mAz» in the second part is only part of the fixed pattern; it does not make the sentence negative.
The difference from «-(y)IncA», which you learned in B1, is how close in time things are: «Eve gelince yattım.» could also mean after some time; «Eve gelir gelmez yattım.» means with no delay at all.
The verb carrying the converb is not conjugated; the tense and person of the sentence are read from the main verb: «Gelir gelmez ara.», «Gelir gelmez aradı.»
There is also a fixed everyday expression: the phrase «olur olmaz» means "uncalled-for, out of place" — «Olur olmaz şeyler söyleme.»
Examples
- Ben tam çıktığım sırada telefon çaldı.The phone rang just as I was leaving.
- Tam yemek yiyeceğimiz sırada misafir geldi.A guest arrived just as we were about to eat.
- Eve gelir gelmez yattım.I went to bed as soon as I got home.
- Beni görür görmez koşarak yanıma geldi.As soon as he saw me, he ran up to me.
- Haberi duyar duymaz hemen seni aradım.I called you the moment I heard the news.