Turkish Language - Wide Tense Negative Tense

Habitual Situations

The negative of the Simple Present tense translates as:
I don't go to work on Saturdays.
He doesn't like ice cream.
We don't keep a pet.
They never take a holiday.
We'll not see each other for some time.
The simple present tense is used in situations in both the present and the future that are untimed.

Negative Form - Timless Tense

The Negative Wide Tense tense sign is -mez but it has become abraded to -me in the first person singular and plural (no doubt for reasons of daily usage) - So we must accept this as an irregularity (or intrinsic historical variability of Turkish.)
Let us take the word - gelmek - to come
First of all we must understand that the that the Verbal Negative Infinitive is - gelmemek - to not come - on which most of the negative tenses are based. However the Negative Wide Tense Infinitive is - gelmez - not to come, does not come. This is based on this infinitive ending with the sign -mez.
The negative tense sign is -z which is added to the negative verb stem -as an example:
gitmemek - not to go, does not go - then adding -z to the verb stem after dropping -mek we arrive at: gitmez - not to go, does not go - to which the personal endings are added:

Some Examples of The Simple Present Negative

The Wide Tense Negative Infinitive - gitmez - not to go - Note the changes in First Persons Plural and Singular
gitmem - I don't go - [NOT gitmezim]
gitmezsin - you don't go
gitmez - he doesn't go
gitmeyiz - we don't go - [NOT gitmeziz]
gitmezsiniz - you don't go
gitmezler - they don't go
Note that the first persons gitmem - I... and gitmeyiz - We... drop the -z when adding the personal endings to the negative verb stem, all other persons preserve the -z

tanımamak - not to know somebody

Beni tanımazsınız - You don't know me

Beni tanımaz mısınız? - Don't you know me?

içmemek - not to drink

O bira içmez - He doesn't drink beer [generally?]

Mehmet, bira içmez mi? - Doesn't Mehmet drink beer? - [usually?]
If you were to use Accusative Case - birayı - in the example above , the object becomes a definite object, but here we are talking about generally the drinking of beer.

O birayı içmez. - He doesn't drink the beer.

Mehmet birayı içmez mi? - Doesn't Mehmet drink the (or that) beer?

konuşmamak - not to talk

Onun hakkında konuşmayız - We don't talk about it

giymemek - not to wear

Genellikle bir şapka giymez misiniz? - Don't you generally wear a hat?

seyretmemek - not to watch

Televizyonu seyretmezler - They don't watch the television [in particular]

Televizyon seyretmezler - They don't watch television [generally]
- See note above for Definite and Indefinite Objects.

The Interrogative Form

Some examples

Her gün saat beşte seni görmez miyim? - Don't I see you every day at five o'clock?
Londra'da oturmaz mısınız? - Don't you live in London?
Ali bey bir bankada çalışmaz mi? - Doesn't Ali Bey work in a bank?
Hepimiz bir parti sevmez miyiz? - Don't we all love a party?

Saying - "didn't used to.."

If the past tense endings are added to the Wide Tense negative -mez verb stem then the meaning is habitual in the past. This translated by - didn't used to ... - in English. However in Turkish the Simple Present Tense is used with the past tense personal endings habitual in the past :
Sık sık buraya gelmezdim. - I didn't used to come here very often
Genç iken o kadar gülmezdin - You didn't used to laugh very much when you were young.
Kuşadada kalırken denizde yüzmezdi - He never used to swim in the sea when staying at Kuşadası.
1950 yıldan önce Türkiyede kola içilmezdi. - Coca-cola did not used to be drunk in Turkey before 1950.
Derslerimiz bittikten sonra yerterli zaman için beni beklemezdiniz - You didn't used to wait long enough for me after school finished.
Tatilde kamp yaparken o kadar iyi uyumazdılar - They didn't used to sleep very well while on holiday while camping.

Question- "didn't you used to..?"

Gitmez miydim? - Didn't I used to go?
Hatice'yi sevmez miydin? - Didn't you used to love Hatice?
Ummaz mıydı? - Didn't he used to hope?
Açmaz mıydık? - Didn't we used to open
Kazmaz mıydınız? - Didn't you used to dig?
Soğan satmaz mıydılar? - Didn't they used to sell onions? [note that Soğan is not in the direct object case nor is it plural in Turkish, but it is a non-specific object of the family of "onion". In Turkish "things is.." and "people are.."]
Çıkmaz mıydılar? - Didn't they used to go out?
Her gün seni görmez miydim? - Didn't I used to see you every day?
Londra'da oturmaz mıydın? - Didn't you used to live in London?
- Note: - oturmak means - to sit (down) - or - to live (at a place)
Ali İstanbul'da oturur - Ali lives in Istanbul.
Ben, mavi sandalyede oturuyorum - I am sitting in the blue chair.
Bıkmaz mıydık? - Didn't we used to get fed up?
Atlara binmez miydiniz? - Didn't you used to ride horses?
- Note that - binmek - to get on, to ride, to board - takes the Dative Object -e or -a as "movement towards" is implied in the verb - binmek

A final note on "used to.." and "didn't used to.."
In conversational Turkish the Past Imperfect Tense will often be used:
Yıllar önce Manisa'da çalışıyordum - Many years ago I was working in Manisa

Proverbs - "Atasözler"

Turkish Proverbs are usually written in the Wide Tense habitual tense. Here are some examples in the negative form of the timeless tense. These translations are not literal showing the difficulty of such interpretation from Turkish to English.

Boş çuval ayakta durmaz.

An empty sack does stand up.

Emek ver, kulak ver, bilgi ver, ama hiçbir zaman boş verme. - [only the final - verme - is negative]

Give labour, ear and knowledge, but never give take notice.

Mum dibine ışık vermez.

The bottom of a candle sheds no light.

Havlayan köpek ısırmaz.

A barking dog does not bite.

Küçük suda büyük balık olmaz.

There are no big fish in small pools.

Yuvarlanan taş yosun tutmaz.

A rolling stone gathers no moss.

See Turkish proverbs A to Z - at Wikipedia Website.