The future: -acak and -ecek, and where the k goes
You can talk about tomorrow in the present, but only when the thing is settled. Everything else takes a real future. For example: “Yarın havalimanına gideceğim” — Tomorrow I will go to the airport. A rule from the Turkish course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
You can talk about tomorrow in the present, but only when the thing is settled. Everything else takes a real future.
One tail, two vowels: -acak after a, ı, o, u and -ecek after e, i, ö, ü. So alacak will take, gelecek will come. If the stem ends in a vowel, a y slips in: okuyacak.
Then the person attaches, and here is the main event. That ending opens with a vowel, and k between two vowels does not survive: it softens into ğ. Not gelecekim but geleceğim; not alacakım but alacağım. With sen, o and siz the ending opens with a consonant, so the k stays: geleceksin, gelecek.
The negation goes in front of the tail, again with a helping y: pişirmeyeceğim, I will not cook.
Table
| person | gelmek — to come | almak — to take |
|---|---|---|
| ben | geleceğim | alacağım |
| sen | geleceksin | alacaksın |
| o | gelecek | alacak |
| biz | geleceğiz | alacağız |
| siz | geleceksiniz | alacaksınız |
By example
- Yarın havalimanına gideceğimTomorrow I will go to the airport
- Uçak saat üçte kalkacakThe plane will take off at three
- Bu akşam yemek pişirmeyeceğimTonight I will not cook
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
-acak or -ecek: the Turkish future?
You can talk about tomorrow in the present, but only when the thing is settled. Everything else takes a real future.
Why geleceğim and not gelecekim?
One tail, two vowels: -acak after a, ı, o, u and -ecek after e, i, ö, ü. So alacak will take, gelecek will come. If the stem ends in a vowel, a y slips in: okuyacak.
Where the k goes in gelecek?
Then the person attaches, and here is the main event. That ending opens with a vowel, and k between two vowels does not survive: it softens into ğ. Not gelecekim but geleceğim; not alacakım but alacağım. With sen, o and siz the ending opens with a consonant, so the k stays: geleceksin, gelecek.
How to say I will not come in Turkish?
The negation goes in front of the tail, again with a helping y: pişirmeyeceğim, I will not cook.
How to ask a question in the Turkish future?
The negation goes in front of the tail, again with a helping y: pişirmeyeceğim, I will not cook.
What does it look like in an example sentence Turkish?
“Yarın havalimanına gideceğim” — Tomorrow I will go to the airport. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.