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Prerequisites for this Turkish Grammar Lesson
Future tense-acak/ecek
Handling irregular verbs
Asking yes or no questions
Pronouncing -acak/ecek
idi
-(y)dı
vardı, yoktu
değildi
Using ‑acaktı/‑ecekti to say that someone was going to do something
If you already know how to use the future tense with -acak/‑ecek and the past tense copula ending -(y)dı, you can combine these two endings to say that someone was going to do something.
You can use the ‑acaktı ending to talk about intentions or plans that were supposed to happen but didn’t. You can also use it to talk about something that almost happened or that would have happened if not for something that intervened.
Grammar forms
- (Verb stem) + (y) + acak/ecek + tı/ti + (personal ending)
To say that someone was going to do something, simply add the future tense ending (‑acak or ‑ecek) to the verb, and then add the past tense ending (‑tı/‑ti) along with the appropriate personal ending.
The ‑acaktı/‑ecekti ending on “yapmak” (to do)
| Turkish | English |
| Yapacaktım | I was going to do [it] |
| Yapacaktın | You were going to do [it] |
| Yapacaktı | He/she was going to do [it] |
| Yapacaktık | We were going to do [it] |
| Yapacaktınız | You (plural or formal) were going to do [it] |
| Yapacaktı / Yapacaklardı | They were going to do [it] |
Example sentences*
Size bunu zaten bildirecektik.
We were going to inform you about this anyway.
Harika bir araba olacaktı.
It was going to be a great car.
Yakında Hırvatistan’a girecektik.
We were about to enter Croatia.
İyi de para kazanacaktı.
He was going to make good money.
Nasıl yaşayacaktı eski evinde?
How was he going to live in his old house?
Ben de oraya gelecektim.
I was going to come there too.
Using ‑acaktı to mean something almost happened
You can also use ‑acaktı to describe something that almost happened. This is most common when describing a “close call” or negative experience that nearly happened. When you are using the ‑acaktı ending in this way, you usually start the sentence with either “Az kalsın” or “neredeyse,” both of which mean “almost.”
Example sentences with “almost” meaning
Neredeyse unutacaktım.
I almost forgot.
Neredeyse yumruklar konuşacaktı.
The fists were about to talk (i.e. a fight almost broke out).
Neredeyse ağlayacaktım.
I was about to cry.
Neredeyse kırmızı ışıkta geçecekti.
He/she almost ran a red light.
Neredeyse sabah olacaktı.
It was almost morning.
Az kalsın uyanacaktı.
He/she almost woke up.
Az kalsın hepimiz ölecektik.
We almost died.
Az kalsın felç geçirecektim.
I almost had a stroke.
Az kalsın maç karakolda bitecekti.
The match almost ended at the police station.
Using ‑acaktı/‑ecekti in negative sentences
To form a negative sentence with the ‑acaktı/‑ecekti ending, simply add the negative ‑ma/me ending before the future tense ending. Using ‑acaktı with the negative ending gives a meaning that someone was not going to do something or that someone would not have done something.
Negative examples
Bir süre kitap okumayacaktı.
He wasn’t planning to read books for a while.
Zorluk çekmeyecekti.
He wasn’t going to struggle.
Bu şansa sahip olmayacaktık.
We wouldn’t have had this chance.
Hayat da olmayacaktı.
And life [itself] wasn’t going to exist.
Kimse konuşmayacaktı.
No one was supposed to speak.
Bütün bunlar olmayacaktı.
None of this was going to happen.
Sonucu değiştirmeyecekti.
It wasn’t going to change the result.
Using ‑acaktı/‑ecekti in yes or no questions
To ask a yes or no question using the ‑acaktı/‑ecekti ending, you need to add the yes or no question word “mı” after the ‑acak ending and before the ‑dı past tense ending.
Question examples
Gelecek miydi?
Would he/she come?
Yapacaklar mıydı?
Were they going do it?
Seyretmeye gidecek miydi?
Was he/she going to go watch it?
Tanıyacak mıydı acaba?
Would he/she have recognized [me], I wonder?
Gidecek miydik?
Were we going to go?
Savunmayacak mıydın sevgimizi?
Weren’t you going to defend our love?
Kabul etmeyecek miydi?
Wasn’t he/she going to accept it?
Using “-acaktı” with “hani”
The word “hani” is often used to express a discrepancy between what was expected to happen and what actually happened. It can be used to convey frustration, surprise, or disappointment, usually implying a promise was not fulfilled.
Example sentences with “hani”
Hani repo hesapları azalacaktı.
I thought the number of repossessions was supposed to decrease.
Hani müzakereler şartsız olacaktı?
I thought the negotiations were supposed to be unconditional?
Hani propaganda yapmayacaktınız?
I thought you were going to avoid propaganda?
Hani gelinlik giymeyecekti?
Wasn’t she planning to not wear a wedding dress?
Hani geri dönecektin?
Weren’t you going to come back?
Hani burada yaşayacaktık?
I thought we were going to live here?
For further study: more advanced forms
The following are example sentences showing the ‑acaktı ending combined with more advanced grammar forms. If you are new to the ‑acaktı form, these example sentences may be too advanced for you at first, but you can take note of them to come back to in the future to get a deeper understanding of how ‑acaktı is used.
Kabul etmesek bunlar olmayacaktı.
If we didn’t accept, these things weren’t going to happen.
Yaşasaydı, 101 yaşında olacaktı.
If he had lived, he would have been 101 years old.
Cevap verecek oldum ama hemen vazgeçtim.
I was about to give a response, but then I changed my mind.
* Unless otherwise specified, all Turkish example sentences included in this lesson were retrieved from TS Corpus v2, a large corpus of Turkish texts compiled from various sources.
This lesson is a prerequisite for:
About to-acak oldu
-acak oluyor
-acak olsa
-acak olsaydı