The condition in full: -sa, -ecekse, -saydı and the stubborn ise
You already know the main thing about eğer: the condition lives in the verb, and the conjunction can be thrown away. Now let us take the suffix apart, because it has three different jobs, and mixing them up is expensive — at a job interview most of all. For example: “İşe alınırsam hemen başlarım” — If they hire me, I will start right away. A rule from the Turkish course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a…
How it works
You already know the main thing about eğer: the condition lives in the verb, and the conjunction can be thrown away. Now let us take the suffix apart, because it has three different jobs, and mixing them up is expensive — at a job interview most of all.
A real condition — -sa/-se straight on the tense stem: İşe alınırsam taşınırım — 'if they hire me, I will move'. The action is possible, and the consequence goes into the future or the broad present.
A condition about intention — -ecekse/-acaksa: first the future, then the condition. Gelecekse haber versin — 'if he is planning to come, let him give notice'. The difference from plain gelirse is thin but real: gelirse — if he comes, gelecekse — if he already intends to.
An unreal condition — -saydı/-seydi: what did not happen. Sözleşmeyi okusaydım imzalamazdım — 'if I had read the contract, I would not have signed it'. The second half then carries -ırdı/-erdi. This is the only construction in which Turkish speaks of the counterfactual — the whole load English spreads over 'if I had… I would have…' sits here in two tails.
Separately lives ise — the same condition, but on a noun rather than a verb: Cevap olumlu ise başlıyoruz. In speech it fuses with the previous word and shrinks to -se: hazırsan — 'if you are ready'. And in the pair -se de the same suffix turns into a concession: zor olsa da yapacağım — 'hard or not, I will do it'.
Table
| the form | what kind of condition | example | translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| -sa / -se | real, possible | kabul ederse | if he agrees |
| -ecekse / -acaksa | the intention is already there | istifa edecekse | if he is going to resign |
| -saydı / -seydi | unreal, never happened | sorsaydın | if you had asked |
| ise / -se with a noun | a condition on a noun | hazırsan başlayalım | if you are ready, let us start |
| -se de | a concession, “even if” | geç olsa da | even if it is late |
By example
- İşe alınırsam hemen başlarımIf they hire me, I will start right away
- Gelecekse önceden haber versinIf he is going to come, let him give notice in advance
- Sözleşmeyi okusaydım imzalamazdımIf I had read the contract, I would not have signed it
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
The condition in full: how does it work in Turkish?
You already know the main thing about eğer: the condition lives in the verb, and the conjunction can be thrown away. Now let us take the suffix apart, because it has three different jobs, and mixing them up is expensive — at a job interview most of all.
What does it look like in an example sentence Turkish?
“İşe alınırsam hemen başlarım” — If they hire me, I will start right away. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.