Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar

(a) Saat ikide çalış-ıyor-du-m.
work-IMPF-P.COP-1SG
‘At two o’clock I was working.’
(b) Saat ikide ofis-te-ydi-m.
office-LOC-P.COP-1SG
‘At two o’clock I was at the office.’
(c) Genellikle iki saat çalış-ır-dı-m
work-AOR-P.COP-1SG
‘I would usually work for two hours.’
The forms -mIştI and -DIydI (21.2.1) combine elements of perfectivity and
imperfectivity. They express the state ensuing upon the completion of an action or event.
21.3.2 SUBDIVISIONS OF IMPERFECTIVE: PROGRESSIVE AND
HABITUAL
Within imperfective aspect there is a further distinction between progressive and
habitual, which applies in both past and non-past contexts. Progressive aspect views a
specific situation as incomplete. This situation may be dynamic (an event) or static (a
state). In either case it is presented as being ongoing, or continuing, at the temporal
reference point. Habitual aspect, on the other hand, indicates that a situation is incomplete
in a different way: not at the level of any specific occurrence but in the sense that it is
part of a recurrent pattern, which is shown as ongoing at the temporal reference point.
Of the three imperfective markers noted above, -(I)yor occurs with both progressive
and habitual meaning, while -mAktA generally expresses progressive aspect but can occur
with habitual meaning in relatively formal contexts. The difference between -(I)yor and -
mAktA is largely stylistic, with -(I)yor being less formal and therefore much the more
common in conversation. However, -mAktA may occur in relatively informal speech
where a speaker wishes to emphasize the intensity of the ongoing event.
The range of aspectual meanings of -(I)yor and -mAktA in present-tense sentences is
illustrated below:
Progressive: (event)
(26)
A. -Şu an-da ne yap-ıyor-sunuz?
this moment-LOC what do-IMPF-2PL
‘What are you doing at the moment?’
B. -Yemek yi-yor-uz.
meal eat-IMPF-1PL
‘We’re having dinner.’
(27) Bugün aile yapı-sı hız-la değiş-mekte-dir.
today family structure-NC speed-INS change-IMPF-GM
‘Today the structure of the family is changing rapidly.’
Progressive: (state)
Tense, aspect and modality 289