GRAMMAR NOTES
The Potential Mood (tense) or abilitative indicates:
ability - to be able, can or disposition - may, mightWhatever in Turkish expresses "yetenek" - ability, accomplishment, acumen, adequacy, aptitude, aptness, artistry, bent, calibre, capability, capacity, competence, competency, disposition, merit, predisposition, prerogative, qualification, quality, resource, skill, talent, vocation.
This pattern uses two special suffixes -(y)ebil -(y)abil appended to the infinitive stems ending in
-MEK and -MAK respectively and preceeding the personal suffixes.The buffer letter "Y" is attached in case the infinitive stems ends in vowel.
Examples:
Okumak (to read) Okuyabilmek (to be able to read)
Girmek (to enter) Girebilmek (to be able to enter)
Let's see now the conjugations in the most common tenses: (we use the verb "gelmek" as example)
Present Continuous Tense:
gelebiliyorum - I can come, I am able to come, I may come, I might come
Present Simple Tense:gelebilirim - I can come, I am able to come, I may come, I might come
Future Tense:gidebileceksiniz - you will be able to go, etc.
Past Tense:başlayabildik - we could have started, etc..
The Interrogative is formed in the similar manner as the Basic Verb by using the correct question tag according to the number of the personal pronoun:
gelebiliyor muyum? - Can I come?
gelebiliyor musun/musunuz? - Can you come?
gelebilirmiyim? - Can I come (simple present)
Future
kalmak- to stay, to remain- becomes in the Future Potential mood - kalabilmek- to be able to stay, remainkalabileceğim - I will be able to staykalabileceksin - you will be able to stay
kalabilecek - he will be able to stay
kalabileceğiz - we will be able to stay
kalabileceksiniz - you will be able to stay
kalabilecekler - they will be able to stay
Future Interrogative
gelebilecek misiniz? - will you be able to come?
Simple Past Tense
beklemek - to wait, to expect - becomes in the Past Definite Potential Form - bekleyebilmek- to be able to wait, expectbekleyebildim - I could have waited
bekleyebildin - you could have waited
bekleyebildi - he could have waited
bekleyebildik - we could have waited
bekleyebildiniz - you could have waited
bekleyebildiler - they could have waited
Past Interrogative
bekleyebildi mi? - could he have waitedbekleyebildiler mi? - could they have waited
Past Continuous
yapmak - to do, to make - becomes in the Imperfect Past Potential Form - yapabilmek - to be able to doyapabiliyordum - I was able to do
yapabiliyordun - you were able to do
yapabiliyordu - he was able to do
yapabiliyorduk - we were able to do
yapabiliyordunuz - you were able to do
yapabiliyorlardı - they were able to do
Imperfect Interrogative
Okuyabiliyorlardı mı? - were they able to read?Past Indefinite Tense
düşünmek - to think - becomes in the Past Indefinite Potential Form - düşünebilmek- to be able to thinkdüşünebilmişim - it seems I was able to think
düşünebilmişsin - it seems you were able to think
düşünebilmiş - it seems he was able to think
düşünebilmişiz - it seems we were able to think
düşünebilmişsiniz - it seems you were able to think
düşünebilmişler - it seems they were able to think
This mood is easily formed in all tenses just by inserting an -(y)e or -(y)a before the negative suffix of any negative verb whether it be active, passive, reflexive, reciprocal,or causative - (it is a case of a completely new verb - with its own infinitive).The buffer letter "Y" is used in case the infinitive stem ends in vowel.
A few examples will help better understand this rule:
Present Continuous Tense:
gelemiyorum - I can't come, I am notable to come, I may not come, I might not come
Okuyamıyorum - I can't read, I am not able to come, I may not come, I might not come
I mentioned only the resent Continuou for brevity reasons.The rule applies to all the tenses.
