Once a year, every other time, time and again: how Turkish counts time
Unit 55 stands on three devices, and all three are endings, not words. For example: “Doktora yılda bir gidiyorum” — Once a year I go to the doctor. A rule from the Turkish course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Unit 55 stands on three devices, and all three are endings, not words.
A point in time: the locative -de/-da. 'Sabahta' is not said, but saat beşte (at five), pazarteside (on Monday), o anda (at that moment), yüzyılda (in the century) — everywhere it is. Days and hours take it without exception, where English shuffles 'on Monday' and 'at five'.
Frequency: -de bir. The time word in the locative plus 'one' — yılda bir — once a year. Likewise ayda bir — once a month, haftada iki — twice a week, günde üç kez — three times a day. English needs 'a' or 'per'; Turkish just puts the locative and the number side by side.
A span: -den beri and -e kadar. sabahtan beri — since morning (the from-case plus beri), akşama kadar — until evening (the to-case plus kadar). The case belongs to the postposition: beri always takes the from-case, kadar always the to-case, and mixing them up is the commonest mistake.
Adverbs from adjectives: … olarak and -ca. günlük olarak (daily), düzenli olarak (regularly), eş zamanlı olarak (in parallel) — all assembled the same way, the work English gives to '-ly' or 'in a … way'. There is also the short path through -ca: kısaca — in short, bolca — in plenty, yavaşça — gently.
Doubling. arada sırada (now and then), azar azar (little by little), birer birer (one by one), ayrı ayrı (separately). Repetition in Turkish does not intensify; it spreads the action over time or over objects, and that is a separate meaning, not a decoration.
Table
| the device | the assembly | example | translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| a point | noun + -de | o anda | at that moment |
| frequency | noun + -de bir | yılda bir | once a year |
| frequency with a reproach | a doubled “-de bir” | ikide bir | every other minute |
| the start of a span | noun + -den beri | sabahtan beri | since morning |
| the end of a span | noun + -e kadar | akşama kadar | until evening |
| an adverb | adjective + olarak | düzenli olarak | regularly |
| a spread-out action | doubling | azar azar | little by little |
By example
- Doktora yılda bir gidiyorumOnce a year I go to the doctor
- İkide bir telefonuna bakıyorEvery other minute he checks his phone
- Arada sırada eski dostlarla buluşuruzNow and then we meet up with old friends
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
Once a year, every other time, time and again: how does it work in Turkish?
Unit 55 stands on three devices, and all three are endings, not words.
What does it look like in an example sentence Turkish?
“Doktora yılda bir gidiyorum” — Once a year I go to the doctor. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.