what is it?
Turkish has two main converb suffixes that correspond to English «when»: -(y)IncA and -DIğIndA (also written as -DIğI zaman). They are not interchangeable. -(y)IncA marks a sequential trigger: the event in the «when» clause happens first and directly causes or prompts the main clause event. -DIğIndA marks a point in time at which the main clause situation is already ongoing or becomes true — the focus is on the moment, not on a chain of cause and effect. Choosing the right suffix depends on whether you are describing a trigger-and-response sequence or a time-frame in which something else is happening.
when to use it
Use -(y)IncA when the «when» event is a trigger that sets off the main event immediately or as a direct consequence. The two events are sequential: A happens, then B follows. English equivalents include «as soon as» and «once». The suffix carries no person marking — the subject of the «when» clause is identified from context or from the main clause.
Use -DIğIndA / -DIğI zaman when you want to locate the main clause event at a particular moment in time. The main clause situation is often already in progress at that moment (background context), or the two events simply overlap in time rather than one triggering the other. This suffix agrees with the subject of its own clause through a possessive suffix.
Quick test: if you can naturally replace «when» with «as soon as», prefer -(y)IncA. If «when» means «at the time that» and the main clause describes an ongoing state, prefer -DIğIndA.
formation
-(y)IncA attaches directly to the verb stem. The buffer consonant y is inserted only when the stem ends in a vowel. The vowel in the suffix follows four-way vowel harmony (IncA → ınca / ince / unca / ünce). No tense, no person, no number — the suffix is completely invariant for agreement.
| stem | -(y)IncA form | meaning |
|---|---|---|
| gel- | gelince | when (someone) comes |
| git- | gidince | when (someone) goes |
| başla- | başlayınca | when (something) starts |
| gör- | görünce | when (someone) sees |
| uyu- | uyuyunca | when (someone) sleeps |
Note that git- undergoes the regular consonant mutation t → d before a vowel-initial suffix, giving gidince, not *gitince.
-DIğIndA is built in two steps. First, attach the verbal noun suffix -DIk to the stem (with four-way harmony: dık / dik / duk / dük, or tık / tik / tuk / tük after voiceless consonants). Second, add the possessive suffix that agrees with the subject of the «when» clause, then the locative -dA. The full pattern is: stem + -DIk + possessive + -dA.
| subject | possessive | example (gel-) | meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| ben | -im | geldiğimde | when I come/came |
| sen | -in | geldiğinde | when you come/came |
| o | -(y)i (→ ∅ + buffer) | geldiğinde | when he/she comes/came |
| biz | -imiz | geldiğimizde | when we come/came |
| siz | -iniz | geldiğinizde | when you (pl.) come/came |
| onlar | -leri | geldiklerinde | when they come/came |
-DIğI zaman is an alternative to -DIğIndA. Attach -DIk + possessive, then write the separate word zaman after it: geldiğim zaman (when I come). The meaning is identical to geldiğimde. Do not combine both: *geldiğimde zaman is wrong.
examples in context
common pitfalls
Adding person suffixes to -(y)IncA. -(y)IncA is invariant — it never takes a person or number suffix. Writing *gelinceyim is incorrect. The person of the «when» clause subject is either clear from context or expressed in the main verb. If you need to mark the subject explicitly on the «when» clause itself, switch to -DIğIndA: geldiğimde (when I come).
Stacking -DIğIndA with zaman. -DIğIndA and zaman are two ways of expressing the same thing — use one or the other, never both. *geldiğinde zaman is wrong. Write either geldiğinde or geldiği zaman.
Dropping the possessive in -DIğIndA clauses. The possessive suffix is not optional — it is the only marker of who the subject of the «when» clause is. «When we landed» is indiğimizde (with -imiz for «we»), not *indiğinde, which means «when he/she landed». Omitting or mismatching the possessive changes the meaning of the sentence.