Turkish -eli / -alı Converb: Ever Since Doing
How the Turkish converb -eli works — the "(ever) since (doing)" meaning that fixes the starting point of a stretch of time running up to now, the two-way vowel harmony that picks -eli or -alı, the -y- buffer after a vowel, the t → d softening, and how it pairs with beri and a following oldu to say how long it has been.
Ekle ·
This converb fixes the point in the past when a period began that still runs up to now — English 'ever since' — and it attaches straight to the verb stem with two-way vowel harmony.
Ever since something began
Turkish folds "ever since I saw you" into a phrase built on a single ending. The suffix -eli goes onto a verb stem and marks the moment a still-current period began: seni göreli is "ever since I saw you", and buraya geleli üç yıl oldu is "it has been three years since I came here". The starting point is named by the verb, and everything else is measured from it.
The ending carries no marker for person. göreli is plainly "since seeing" and geleli "since coming"; who did the seeing or the coming is recovered from the surrounding sentence, and it may differ from the subject of the main clause. Person, number and tense all sit elsewhere, never on this one ending.
Vowel harmony picks the ending
The ending comes in two shapes, and the last vowel of the stem chooses between them. A front last vowel — e, i, ö, ü — takes -eli; a back last vowel — a, ı, o, u — takes -alı. The front-and-back split is the whole story here; rounding plays no part, which is why okuyalı is built on the back shape even though its stem vowels are rounded.
| Last vowel | After a consonant | After a vowel |
|---|---|---|
| e · i · ö · ü | -eli | -yeli |
| a · ı · o · u | -alı | -yalı |
Because only the front-and-back distinction matters, the ending has two vowel shapes and not four: -eli after a front vowel and -alı after a back one. The third column of the grid gives those same two endings after a stem that already ends in a vowel, where a buffer glide steps in.
A buffer glide and a softened stop
The ending opens with a vowel, so a stem that already ends in a vowel takes the buffer -y- to keep the two vowels apart: başlamak gives başlayalı and okumak gives okuyalı. That buffered ending is the third column of the grid above — -yeli and -yalı are simply -eli and -alı with the glide in front.
A stem that ends in a voiceless stop softens it before the ending's vowel. The t of gitmek voices to d, so "since going" comes out as gideli. This is the ordinary voicing that any vowel-initial ending sets off on a final p, ç, t or k.
Five worked forms
Read each of these as "ever since ...ing" — the point from which the current stretch of time is counted.
| Turkish | Parts | English |
|---|---|---|
| göreli | gör + eli | since seeing / since I saw |
| geleli | gel + eli | since coming / since ... came |
| gideli | gid + eli | since going / since ... left |
| başlayalı | başla + y + alı | since starting / since ... began |
| okuyalı | oku + y + alı | since reading / since ... read |
Two ways to say it has been a while
The negative görmeyeli is everyday Turkish, not a slip. Where göreli counts from the moment you last saw someone, görmeyeli counts the time you have not seen them — and the two land on almost the same meaning. seni görmeyeli çok oldu is "it has been ages since I last saw you", said side by side with seni göreli for "ever since I saw you".
| Turkish | Parts | English |
|---|---|---|
| göreli | gör + eli | since I saw you |
| görmeyeli | gör + me + y + eli | since I last saw you (literally, since not seeing) |
Marking the start of a stretch of time
The core use is to fix where a period starts. göreli sets the clock running from a first sight, geleli from an arrival: "ever since I saw you", "ever since I got here". The main clause then says what has held true across that whole span.
Saying how long it has been
To state the length of the period, close the sentence with a form of oldu, "it has become". buraya geleli üç yıl oldu is "it has been three years since I came here", and tanışalı çok oldu is "it has been a long time since we met". The converb sets the start; oldu measures the distance from it up to now.
| Turkish | Parts | English |
|---|---|---|
| geleli | gel + eli | since coming / since I came |
| tanışalı | tanış + alı | since meeting / since we met |
Pairing with the word for since
The converb can be reinforced by the postposition beri, "since", placed right after it. göreli beri means "ever since (I saw)", stacking the standalone "since" onto the ending that already carries it. The ending on its own is enough; beri just makes the "since" explicit. That same beri governs the ablative in the fuller pattern taught in the postpositions topic.
Frequently asked questions
- What does -eli mean?
- It marks the starting point of a period that runs up to now — English "ever since doing". göreli is "ever since I saw", and seni göreli is "ever since I saw you". The verb names when the period began, and the rest of the sentence says what has been true across it.
- When is it -eli and when -alı?
- It depends on the last vowel of the stem. A front vowel takes -eli, as in göreli; a back vowel takes -alı, as in okuyalı. Only the front-and-back split counts, and rounding is ignored, so these two shapes cover every verb.
- Can you add beri after it?
- Yes. beri is the postposition "since", and it can follow the converb for emphasis: göreli beri is "ever since". The ending already carries the "since", so beri is optional and simply spells it out.
- Is görmeyeli a mistake for göreli?
- No. görmeyeli is the negative and it is everyday Turkish. seni görmeyeli çok oldu is "it has been ages since I last saw you", which comes out very close in meaning to seni göreli. Both fix the same starting point — one from the last time you saw, the other from how long you have not.