Advanced “değil” forms (‑acak değil, ‑mış değil, ‑ıyor değil)

Prerequisites for this Turkish Grammar Lesson

Using “değil” forms to clarify or defend a statement

The “değil” forms are mainly used for explaining, clarifying or defending one’s own behavior. For example, if someone is explaining something and they realize that they made too extreme of a statement, they can use a “değil” form to soften what they had said before. This makes the “değil” forms more prevalent in spoken communication rather than formal written language. Since the primary use of “değil” forms is to explain oneself, the personal ending is almost always in the first person.

The “değil” forms can often be used in double-negative forms. The double-negative forms can communicate the same basic truth as a single positive statement, but using the double-negative “değil” form puts more force into the statement.

These forms are all uncommon in speech and writing, and are generally used to emphasize the emotional force of a statement. These forms are often used when people are angry or trying to communicate irony. See the table below for examples with the “yapmak” verb. Click on the links in the table below to jump to the associated section.

Examples with yapmak

It’s not that I (don’t) do it

Grammar form:

• Verb + (m) + ıyor/iyor/uyor/üyor    değil + (personal ending)
• Verb + (m) + ıyor/iyor/uyor/üyor + (personal ending)    değil

The ‑iyor değil grammar form combines the continuous ‑iyor ending with the negative “değil” word. This grammar form is mostly used for explaining, clarifying or defending one’s own habitual behavior or preferences. It can be used as a single- or double-negative. If the verb has the negative (‑m) ending, the meaning is something like “It’s not that I never do X.” Without the negative, it means something like “It’s not that I do X.”

The personal pronoun ending is usually placed on the end of “değil” but it can also be placed on the end of the verb for approximately the same effect.

Examples
Alpay: Türkçe müzik dinlemem, televizyon seyretmem.
Haberci: İnsanlar sizin albümünüzü neden dinlesin o halde?
Alpay: Tamamen dinlemiyor değilim tabii… Bazen kulağıma güzel şeyler geliyor, dinliyorum.

Alpay: I don’t listen to Turkish music or watch Turkish TV.
Reporter: In that case, why should people listen to your music?
Alpay: It’s not that I never listen [to Turkish music] of course… sometimes I hear something good and I listen [to that].
(Excerpt from interview)

O gürültülü şeyleri dinlemeye dayanamıyorum. Ha hiç dinlemiyorum değil, bir kaç sevdiğim şarkılar var elbette.
I can’t stand listening to that noise. Oh, of course it’s not that I never listen [to it]; there are a few songs I like.
(Excerpt from blog post)

Seni sevmiyor değilim ama hayatımda bir ilişki yaşayacak durumda değilim dedi.
He said, “It’s not that I don’t love you, I’m just not in a situation where I can be in a relationship.”
(Title of forum post)

Ben okulu sevmiyorum değil okul kendini bana sevdirmiyor.
It’s not that I don’t love school, school just doesn’t make it possible for me to love it.
(Title of blog post)

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It’s not that I will (not) do it

Grammar form:

• Verb + (ma/me) + (y) + acak/ecek    değil + (personal ending)
• Verb + (ma/me) + (y) + acak/ecek/acağı/eceği + (personal ending)    değil

This grammar form is used to explain one’s intentions about the future in an emphatic way. It can be used with a double negative with a meaning something like, “It’s not like I’m never going to do X.” If it’s used without the negative verb ending (ma/me), then it can be either “It’s not like I’m going to do X” or “I’m not about to do X.”

Examples
Rap ile yakından uzaktan alakam yok. Ama rapçiler [grafiti] yapıyor diye ben yapmayacak değilim. Ben sanat olan kısmını öğrenmek istiyorum.
I don’t really have anything to do with rap. But it’s not like I’m never going to do [graffiti] just because rappers do it. I want to learn the artistic part of it.
(Comment on forum post)

Tabii ki pes edecek değilim ama insan üzülüyor. Bu şekilde futbolumu ilerletemem.
Of course I’m not about to give up but people are getting saddened [by my performance]. I can’t move forward with my football [career] like this.
(Quote from soccer player Salih Uçan)

Hayatımız her zaman beklediğimiz gibi gitmiyor ancak öyle diye mutlu olmayacak değiliz değil mi?
Our lives don’t always turn out the way we hoped, but just because it’s that way it’s not like we aren’t going to be happy, right?
(Excerpt from comment on blog post)

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It’s not like I haven’t done it

Grammar form:

• Verb + (ma/me) + mış/miş/muş/müş    değil + (personal ending)

This form combines the negative ‑ma/me ending with the the completive past ‑mış ending and the negative “değil” word. Similar to the ‑miyor değil form above, this grammar form is a double negative that is mostly used for explaining, clarifying or defending one’s own behavior. Literally, the phrase “yapmamış değilim” translates to “I am not one who has not done it.” The closest parallels in English are expressions like, “It’s not like I’ve never done it,” or, “I can’t say I haven’t done it.” Or to say it positively, ‑mamış değil means, “I have done X at least once.” Since it is much simpler to say the positive version, this grammar form is rare.

Examples
Öncelikle ben sağdan gelen araca yol vermemiş değilim.
First of all, it’s not like I didn’t yield at all to the car coming from the right.
(Excerpt from forum post discussing a traffic accident)

Avusturalyalı olmasına rağmen neden Trabzon Spor olduğunuda merak etmemiş değilim.
I can’t say I haven’t wondered why he’s a Trabzonspor fan despite being Australian.
(Comment on a soccer forum post)

Bu çorbayı yapmamış değilim, ama bir püf noktası olmalı zira benim yaptığım çorbada bamyanın tüyleri ağzıma geliyor ki bu hiç de hoş değil.
It’s not like I’ve never made this soup before, but there must be a trick to it because in the soup I made the little hairs on the okra get into my mouth so it’s no good at all.
(Excerpt from article)

Arkadaşımın telefonuna da jailbreak yaptım onda da aynı sorun var. Daha önceden jailbreak yapmamış değilim yani yanlış bir şey yapmadım.
I jailbroke my friend’s phone too and it had the same problem. It’s not like I’ve never jailbroken a phone before ‑ meaning I [am certain that I] didn’t do anything wrong.
(Exerpt from forum comment)

Bir web site tasarımcısı olarak hazır tema kullanmayı düşünmemiş değilim.
As a web site designer, it’s not like I never thought of using a pre-made theme.
(Excerpt from blog post)

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I haven’t done it

Grammar form:

• Verb + mış/miş/muş/müş    değil + (personal ending)

This form is similar to the ‑mamış değil form above, except that it forms only a single negative instead of the double negative. This form gives the meaning of negative past perfect tense (“I have not done it”). Since Turks usually prefer using the normal past tense over perfect forms, and since there are a few other ways to communicate the perfect tense (-mış olmak and ‑mıştı), this form is fairly rare.

The ‑mış değil form is mainly used in formal or dramatic situations. It often carries connotations of being unable to do something, as if to say “I have been unable to do it” or “I just can’t bring myself to do it”. This form is used mainly in emotionally charged contexts, such as in hot topics in politics or heated discussions about sports.

Examples
Beni niye gönderdiler hala anlamış değilim.
I still haven’t figured out why they got rid of me.
(Headline of sports news article)

O topa nasıl dokunamadığımı ben de anlamış değilim.
I have not figured out how I was unable to [even] touch that ball.
(Quote from soccer player Mario Gomez)

Ben buraya gol atmam için alındım ama henüz bunu başarmış değilim.
I was hired for my goal-shooting, but I haven’t succeeded at this yet.
(Quote from soccer player Mario Gomez)

Henüz kitabı bitirmiş değilim fakat kesinlikle ilginç ve düşündürücü bir içeriğe sahip olduğunu söylemeliyim.
I haven’t finished the book yet but I must say that it has some really interesting and thought-provoking content.
(Excerpt from review on a book store website)

TL’nin son günlerde sergilediği güçlü performansdan hiç de ikna olmuş değilim, sene sonu dolar/TL kur tahminim 3.30.
I really have not been convinced by the strong performance that the TL has displayed these past few days; my prediction for the year end dollar/TL exchange rate is 3.30.
(Quote from economic news article)

Askerlik süresinin kısalması, sayıların azalması gibi konularda henüz bir karar vermiş değiliz.
We have not yet made a decision on subjects like the shortening of the mandatory military service term or the reducing of numbers.
(Excerpt from news article)

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