Turkish grammar: gelecek zaman

What this grammar point covers

The Turkish 'gelecek zaman' is the future tense. It is used to talk about actions or events that will happen in the future.

When to use it

Use 'gelecek zaman' in Turkish to talk about plans, predictions, promises, or things that will happen later.

Key forms

• Verb stem + -(y)acak/-ecek + personal ending
• Examples: gidecek, okuyacak, alacak, gelecek

Examples

Tips

• If the verb stem ends with a vowel, add 'y' before the future tense ending. Example: aramak → arayacak.
• Personal endings show who will do the action: -im, -sin, nothing, -iz, -siniz, -ler.
• Don't forget vowel harmony: use -acak or -ecek according to the last vowel of the verb stem.

Exceptions and edge cases

• Some verbs with vowel endings need 'y' before the tense ending.
• In spoken Turkish, the ending '-k' can sometimes be dropped (especially in 'ben' and 'biz' forms), but this is informal.