Time Expressions in Turkish

In Brief

Turkish time words such as bugün (today), dün (yesterday), yarın (tomorrow), and şimdi (now) usually need no equivalent of English on, in, or at. They often come at the beginning of a sentence: Bugün çalışıyorum means “I’m working today.” Use önce for “before/ago,” sonra for “after/later,” and her gün for “every day.”

Overview

Time expressions tell us when or how often something happens. The first ones you need in Turkish are bugün (today), dün (yesterday), yarın (tomorrow), şimdi (now), önce (before or ago), sonra (after or later), and her gün (every day). They appear constantly in plans, messages, everyday questions, and short conversations.

This is an A1 topic because the words themselves can be used immediately, even before you know every Turkish tense. At the same time, a time word and a verb tense must make sense together: dün normally points to the past, while yarın points to the future. Turkish sometimes uses a present-form verb for a planned future event, much as English can say “I’m leaving tomorrow.”

For an English-speaking learner, one helpful difference is that Turkish commonly uses these words without a preposition. English says “on Monday” and “in the morning,” but Turkish can simply place a time phrase in the sentence. Another difference is that Turkish word order is more flexible: moving a time expression can change what receives emphasis, even when the basic event remains the same.

How It Works

The core words

An adverb is a word or phrase that adds information such as when, where, or how an action happens. Most of the expressions in this lesson work as time adverbs.

Turkish	Basic meaning	Typical use
bugün	today	something happening on the current day
dün	yesterday	something on the previous day
yarın	tomorrow	something on the next day
şimdi	now	at this moment; now in the conversation
sonra	later; after	a later point or an event following another
önce	before; ago	an earlier point or an event preceding another
her gün	every day	a repeated daily action

Notice the spelling contrast: bugün is one word, but her gün is two. In her gün, her means “every” and gün means “day.”

Basic sentence position

A safe beginner pattern is:

time expression + subject + other information + verb

• Bugün ben evde çalışıyorum. — I am working at home today.
• Yarın Ankara'ya gidiyoruz. — We are going to Ankara tomorrow.

Turkish normally places the verb at or near the end. The subject (the person or thing doing the action) is often omitted when the verb ending already makes it clear:

• Bugün çalışıyorum. — I am working today.
• Yarın geliyoruz. — We are coming tomorrow.

The time expression can also appear later:

• Ben bugün evde çalışıyorum. — I am working at home today.
• Evde bugün çalışıyorum. — It is today that I am working at home.

For neutral statements, putting the time expression first or shortly after the subject is usually natural. In Turkish, the position immediately before the verb often carries focus—the information the speaker particularly wants to highlight. Beginners do not need to manipulate focus deliberately yet; starting with the time phrase is clear and dependable.

Matching the expression to the time of the verb

The time word provides a strong clue, but the verb still shows how the event is presented.

Time frame	Common expression	Example	Meaning
past	dün	Dün çalıştım.	I worked yesterday.
present moment	şimdi	Şimdi çalışıyorum.	I am working now.
planned future	yarın	Yarın çalışıyorum.	I am working tomorrow.
general habit	her gün	Her gün çalışıyorum.	I work every day.

Yarın çalışıyorum uses the Turkish present continuous, but the future meaning is clear from yarın. This is common for an arranged or intended action. Once you learn the future tense, Yarın çalışacağım (“I will work tomorrow”) is also possible and may sound more explicitly future-oriented.

With her gün, Turkish often uses either the present continuous in everyday descriptions or the aorist, a later tense used for habits and general statements. At A1, sentences such as Her gün Türkçe çalışıyorum are natural and useful.

Using önce

Önce has two important beginner uses.

1. “First/beforehand” on its own

   • Önce kahve içiyorum, sonra çalışıyorum. — First I drink coffee, then I work.
   • Bunu önce yap. — Do this first.

2. “Ago” after a length of time

   • İki gün önce geldim. — I came two days ago.
   • Bir saat önce aradı. — He or she called an hour ago.

English puts ago after the duration, and Turkish does too: iki gün önce. Do not add a word corresponding to English in or for.

To say “before something,” Turkish normally places önce after a noun or a verb-based phrase marked with the ablative ending -den/-dan (an ending that often expresses movement or reference “from” something):

• dersten önce — before the lesson
• yemekten önce — before the meal / before eating
• gitmeden önce — before leaving

These marked forms go beyond the smallest A1 rule, but recognizing the pattern will prevent you from treating önce exactly like English before.

Using sonra

Sonra can stand alone as “later” or “afterwards”:

• Sonra konuşuruz. — We’ll talk later.
• Şimdi değil, sonra. — Not now, later.

It can also connect two events in a sequence:

• Önce yemek yiyoruz, sonra film izliyoruz. — First we eat, then we watch a film.

For “after something,” Turkish again commonly uses an ablative-marked phrase before sonra:

• dersten sonra — after the lesson
• yemekten sonra — after the meal / after eating
• geldikten sonra — after arriving

You do not need to produce the longer verb forms yet. The key pattern is that önce and sonra usually follow the word or phrase they relate to, unlike English before the lesson and after the lesson.

şimdi and şu an

Şimdi is the main beginner word for “now.” It can refer to this exact moment, the present stage of a situation, or the next step in a conversation:

• Şimdi meşgulüm. — I’m busy now.
• Şimdi ne yapıyoruz? — What are we doing now?

You will also hear şu an, literally close to “this moment.” It often stresses “right now” more precisely:

• Şu an toplantıdayım. — I’m in a meeting right now.

In many everyday sentences, şimdi and şu an overlap. Şimdi is broader and can also organize a story or instruction: “now, next…”.

Examples in Context

Turkish	English	Note
Bugün hava güzel.	The weather is nice today.	bugün sets the day
Bugün evdeyim.	I am at home today.	no preposition before bugün
Dün ne yaptın?	What did you do yesterday?	past-time question
Dün seni aradım.	I called you yesterday.	dün with a past verb
Yarın görüşürüz.	See you tomorrow.	common parting phrase
Yarın İstanbul'a gidiyoruz.	We are going to Istanbul tomorrow.	present form used for a plan
Şimdi kahve içiyorum.	I am drinking coffee now.	action in progress
Şimdi vaktim yok.	I don’t have time now.	current situation
Sonra sana mesaj atarım.	I’ll message you later.	sonra stands alone
Dersten sonra eve gidiyorum.	I go home after class.	dersten sonra = after class
Önce ellerini yıka.	Wash your hands first.	önce means “first”
Üç gün önce Ankara'daydım.	I was in Ankara three days ago.	duration + önce
Kahvaltıdan önce çay içiyorum.	I drink tea before breakfast.	kahvaltıdan önce = before breakfast
Her gün Türkçe çalışıyorum.	I study Turkish every day.	daily habit
Önce alışveriş yapıyoruz, sonra yemek yiyoruz.	First we shop, then we eat.	ordered sequence

Common Mistakes

Adding an English-style preposition

• Wrong: İçinde bugün çalışıyorum.
• Right: Bugün çalışıyorum.
• Why: Bugün, dün, and yarın normally stand on their own. Turkish does not insert a direct equivalent of English on or in before them.

Writing her gün as one word

• Wrong: Hergün yürüyorum.
• Right: Her gün yürüyorum.
• Why: The frequency phrase her gün (“every day”) is written as two words. By contrast, bugün is one word.

Putting önce before a duration

• Wrong: Önce iki gün geldim.
• Right: İki gün önce geldim.
• Why: For “ago,” the duration comes first: iki gün önce, literally “two days before.”

Copying English order with sonra

• Wrong: Sonra dersten eve gidiyorum. (intended: “I go home after class.”)
• Right: Dersten sonra eve gidiyorum.
• Why: In the phrase “after class,” sonra follows dersten. On its own, sentence-initial sonra means “then/afterwards.”

Using a past-time word with an incompatible verb

• Wrong: Dün Ankara'ya gideceğim. (intended: “I went to Ankara yesterday.”)
• Right: Dün Ankara'ya gittim.
• Why: Dün points to the past, so a future verb contradicts the intended meaning. Choose a past form when describing a completed event yesterday.

Treating şimdi and her gün as the same kind of time

• Wrong: Her gün şimdi kahve içiyorum. (intended simply: “I drink coffee every day.”)
• Right: Her gün kahve içiyorum.
• Why: Şimdi locates something at the present moment; her gün describes repetition. They can occur together only with a special contrast, such as “every day at this time,” which needs a fuller phrase.

Usage Notes

In short answers, the time word can form a complete reply. To Ne zaman? (“When?”), you can answer Bugün, Yarın, or Sonra. Turkish frequently leaves out information that is already obvious from the conversation.

Yarın görüşürüz is a very common way to say “See you tomorrow.” Its verb is literally a reciprocal form meaning roughly “we see each other,” but learners can initially remember the whole expression as a useful phrase. Sonra görüşürüz means “See you later.”

For sequences, önce … sonra … is the standard pair “first … then …”: Önce iş, sonra eğlence (“Work first, fun later”). In casual speech, sonra may introduce the next event repeatedly, much like conversational English then.

Turkish time expressions do not all behave identically. Bare calendar words can often stand without an ending, but more precise meanings may require one: sabah can mean “morning,” while sabahleyin means “in the morning,” and saat üçte means “at three.” Those patterns belong with telling time, dates, and case endings rather than the seven core expressions here.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the following patterns at A1, but you will meet them often.

önce and sonra with verb-based phrases

Turkish can turn an entire action into the reference point for another action:

• Eve gitmeden önce markete uğradım. — I stopped at the shop before going home.
• Yemek yedikten sonra yürüyüş yaptık. — We took a walk after eating.

The forms -meden önce (“before doing”) and -dikten sonra (“after doing”) attach endings to the verb. They are not interchangeable: the grammar before önce differs from the grammar before sonra.

The position of time expressions and focus

Compare:

• Bugün Ayşe geliyor. — Ayşe is coming today. A neutral answer to “What is happening today?”
• Ayşe bugün geliyor. — Ayşe is coming today. This can contrast today with another day.

Context and voice stress also matter, so word order does not create a rigid one-to-one difference. Still, Turkish often places focused information directly before the verb. This helps explain why several orders can be grammatical without sounding identical.

Time words can anchor relative meanings

Önce and sonra are relative: their reference point comes from context. Sonra ararım means “I’ll call later,” but later than what—the present moment, the meeting, or dinner—depends on the conversation. More explicit phrases remove uncertainty:

• toplantıdan sonra — after the meeting
• bundan sonra — after this; from now on
• ondan önce — before that

Similarly, bugün, dün, and yarın depend on the day of speaking. In reported stories, Turkish may use more explicit phrases when the original “today” or “tomorrow” would otherwise be unclear.

Compounds built around gün

Several common time words contain gün:

• bugün — today
• dün — yesterday (a separate historical word, not a transparent compound for learners)
• öbür gün — the day after tomorrow, or “the other day” depending on context
• her gün — every day
• günlük — daily; a diary, depending on use

Spelling must be learned expression by expression. Do not infer that every phrase containing gün is written together merely because bugün is.

Practice Tips

1. Build a seven-line diary. Each day write one sentence beginning with bugün, one about dün, and one plan with yarın. This naturally links the time word to present, past, and future verb forms.
2. Rehearse sequences aloud. Describe a routine with önce … sonra …: Önce kahvaltı yapıyorum, sonra işe gidiyorum. Change the activities while keeping the frame.
3. Use a position check. When you write a sentence, first place the time expression at the beginning and the verb at the end. Once that feels automatic, listen for other positions in Turkish speech and notice what the speaker emphasizes.

Related Concepts

This concept has no required prerequisite; the seven core expressions can be learned as complete everyday words.

• Next step: Present Continuous Tense — use şimdi for actions in progress and yarın for arranged plans.
• Next step: Telling Time and Dates — add clock times, days, months, and dates.
• Next step: Past Tense (-di) — describe completed events with dün and önce.
• Next step: Aorist (General Present) — talk about regular habits with expressions such as her gün.
• Next step: Basic Postpositions — understand patterns such as dersten önce and dersten sonra.