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Türkmen Language

3.5 - Conditional

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EN>>TM TM>>EN

Expresses hypothetical situations, used like the English "if". Usually followed by a statement in the Future Indefinite tense.

To form the negative, add -ma or -me after the verb stem.
Men ýazmasam = If I do not write...
Men gitmesem = If I do not go.

 

3.6 - Past Definite

Translates to the English Past Simple.

To form the negative, add -ma or -me after the stem.
Men ýazmadym = I didn't write.
Men gitmedim = I didn't go.

 

3.7 - Obligatory Form

Translates to English "must," "should," or "ought to" with a verb.

To form the negative, add -däl after the verb.
Men ýazmaly däl = I must (should) not write.
Men gitmeli däl = I must (should) not go.

3.8 - Imperative Forms

In the singular and plural "you" forms, the verbs are simply rendered as commands, with the varying levels of politeness as noted below. Note that the personal pronouns are parenthetical, indicating that they are not spoken as part of the command form, but indicate to whom the command is being delivered.

The first person singular and plural forms translate not as commands, but more as expressions of "I'm going to," "may I," "let me," or "let us." The personal pronouns are necessary here.

 

*In colloquial speech, the endings are sometimes shortened to -aly and -ely.

To form the plural negative, add -ma or -mä after the stem:
Hat ýazmalyň = Let's not write a letter.
Bazara gitmäliň = Let's not go to the bazaar.

 

The third person forms are also not commands as much as they are urges or wishes, translated roughly as "let..." or "would that..."

To form the negatives for all the above forms, add -ma or -me after the stems, according to vowel harmony:
Ol ýazmasyn = May he not write.
Olar gitmesinler = May they not go.

 

3.9 - Intentional Form

Translates to the English "intend to."

To form the negative, add däl after the verb.
Men ýazmakçy däl = I do not intend to write.
Men gitmekçi däl = I do not intend to go.

 

<6>4.0 Relative Clauses

Relative clauses are formed in Turkmen simply by using verb suffixes based on the tense and vowel harmony of the verb. Who and which, used in English to form relative clauses, are not used as such in Turkmen.

 

Relative clauses in the present tense are formed by adding the suffixes -ýan and -ýän to the stems of MAK and MEK verbs, respectively:

 

gelýän adamlar = people who are coming
ýazýan dostum = my friend who is writing

 

Sentence structure is as follows:

 

Aşgabatdan gelýän adamlar ýolda durdular.
from-Ashgabat-coming-people-road-at-stopped
The people who are coming from Ashgabat stopped on the road.

 

Kitap ýazýan dostum Çärjewde ýaşaýar.
book-writing-my friend-Charjew-in-lives
My friend who is writing a book is from Charjew.

 

Relative clauses in the past are formed by adding -an and -en to the stems of MAK and MEK verbs, respectively:

 

gelen adamlar = those who came
ýazan dostum = my friend who has written

 

Sentence structure is as follows:

 

Tejenden gelen adamlar köp iýdiler.
Tejen-from-came-people-much-they ate
The people who came from Tejen ate a lot.

 

Bu kitaby okanlar ony gowy diýip tapdylar.
This-book-read (plural)-it-good-that-they found
Those who read this book found it (to be) good.

 

In the future tense, the definite future forms of the verb (-jak and -jek) form the relative clauses. There are no unique suffixes:

 

Biziň klasymyzy okatjak mugallym Eýrandan geldi.
to-our-class-will teach-teacher-from Iran-came
The teacher who will teach our class came from Iran.

 

Gökdepä gitjek okuwçylar duralgasynda garaşyp durlar.
to Geok Depe-will go-students-stop-at-are waiting
The students who will go to Geok Depe are waiting at the stop.

 

 

"Note: This Turkmen Grammar is Copyrighted © 1996 Jon Garrett, Meena Pallipamu, and Greg Lastowka. All rights are reserved. The full dictionary is available at www.chaihana.com."

 

 

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