what is it?
The suffix -(y)AcAk is Turkish's dedicated future-tense marker. It attaches to a verb stem and, together with a personal ending, states that an action will happen. The capital letters signal vowel harmony: the suffix surfaces as -acak after back vowels (a, ı, o, u) and as -ecek after front vowels (e, i, ö, ü). The parenthesised -y- is a buffer consonant inserted only when the stem ends in a vowel.
when to use it
Planned future actions. Use -(y)AcAk for anything you intend or expect to happen: appointments, schedules, decisions already made.
Predictions. When you predict an outcome — based on evidence or general expectation — -(y)AcAk is the natural choice.
Not a substitute for present continuous. Turkish speakers do not routinely use the present-continuous -(I)yor to express future plans the way English does. When the event is clearly future, -(y)AcAk is more idiomatic.
formation
The structure is: verb stem + (y) + acak/ecek + personal ending. Two phonological rules apply before you add the personal ending.
Buffer -y-. If the stem ends in a vowel, insert -y- between the stem and the suffix: bekle- → bekleyecek; oku- → okuyacak.
k → ğ softening. The suffix ends in -k. When a vowel-initial personal ending follows (1sg -im, 1pl -iz), that -k softens to -ğ: gelecek + im → geleceğim.
Negative. Insert the negative morpheme -mA- between the stem and the future suffix. Vowel harmony applies: gel-me-yecek → gelmeyecek; yap-ma-yacak → yapmayacak. The -A- of -mA harmonises with the front/back quality of the stem's last vowel, not the suffix.
Full conjugation of gel- (to come) — consonant-final stem, front vowel:
| person | positive | negative |
|---|---|---|
| ben (I) | geleceğim | gelmeyeceğim |
| sen (you sg.) | geleceksin | gelmeyeceksin |
| o (he/she/it) | gelecek | gelmeyecek |
| biz (we) | geleceğiz | gelmeyeceğiz |
| siz (you pl.) | geleceksiniz | gelmeyeceksiniz |
| onlar (they) | gelecekler | gelmeyecekler |
For a back-vowel stem, compare yap- (to do/make):
| person | positive | negative |
|---|---|---|
| ben | yapacağım | yapmayacağım |
| sen | yapacaksın | yapmayacaksın |
| o | yapacak | yapmayacak |
| biz | yapacağız | yapmayacağız |
| siz | yapacaksınız | yapmayacaksınız |
| onlar | yapacaklar | yapmayacaklar |
examples in context
common pitfalls
Forgetting k → ğ before vowel-initial endings.
✗ gelecekiz ✓ geleceğiz
Whenever a vowel-initial personal ending (-im, -iz) follows the suffix, the final -k must become -ğ. This applies to both positive and negative forms.
Using -(I)yor for planned future events.
✗ Yarın geliyorum. ✓ Yarın geleceğim.
Unlike English, Turkish does not conventionally use the present continuous to express future plans. Use -(y)AcAk when the event has not yet happened.
Dropping the -y- buffer after a vowel-final stem.
✗ okuacak ✓ okuyacak
Turkish does not allow two vowels to meet across a morpheme boundary. Any vowel-final stem requires the buffer consonant -y- before -(y)AcAk.
Mis-harmonising the negative -mA-.
✗ gelmayacak ✓ gelmeyecek
The vowel in -mA- harmonises with the stem's last vowel, not with the future suffix. gel- has a front vowel, so the negative is -me-, giving gelmeyecek.
Three sentences, graded here. Nothing is saved and no account is needed.
Ben seni yarın ___ . (aramak)
Fill in the blank with the correct future tense form of the verb in parentheses.