-yır/-yir/-yur/-yür

Present Tense After Vowel Stems

Level 1

Verb Stem (ends in vowel) + -y + -ır/-ir/-ur/-ür + Personal Ending

How It Works

The Azerbaijani present tense is formed by adding a suffix to the verb stem. For stems ending in a vowel, we follow these steps:

1. Identify the Stem: Remove the infinitive ending (-maq/-mək). For example, oxumaq (to read) becomes oxu-.
2. Add the Buffer: Add the consonant -y-.
3. Apply Vowel Harmony: Choose the correct variant of the suffix based on the last vowel of the stem:

-yır: After a, ı (e.g., yaşa-yır)
-yir: After e, ə, i (e.g., işlə-yir, gözlə-yir)
-yur: After o, u (e.g., oxu-yur)
-yür: After ö, ü (e.g., böyü-yür)

4. Add Personal Endings: Attach the appropriate person marker (e.g., -am/-əm for 'I').

Note on Orthography: In standard written Azerbaijani, the stem vowel remains unchanged (e.g., yaşayır). While you might hear speakers narrow the vowel in casual speech (sounding like 'yaşıyır'), you must write the full stem vowel in formal contexts.

Examples (4)

Mən Bakıda yaşayıram.
I live in Baku / I am living in Baku.
Word by Word: I Baku-in live-y-pres-I
The stem 'yaşa-' ends in 'a', so we add '-yır' followed by the first-person ending '-am'.
O, hər gün kitab oxuyur.
He/she reads a book every day.
Word by Word: He/she every day book read-y-pres
The stem 'oxu-' ends in 'u', so we add '-yur'. The third person singular has no extra personal ending.
Biz bu zavodda işləyirik.
We work at this factory.
Word by Word: We this factory-in work-y-pres-we
The stem 'işlə-' ends in 'ə', so we add '-yir' followed by the first-person plural ending '-ik'.
Siz nə gözləyirsiniz?
What are you waiting for?
Word by Word: You what wait-y-pres-you(pl)
The stem 'gözlə-' ends in 'ə', requiring '-yir' and the polite/plural ending '-siniz'.

Common Mistakes

Omitting the buffer 'y' between vowels.
O kitab oxuur.
O kitab oxuyur.
Azerbaijani phonology generally avoids having two vowels next to each other in a suffix chain. You must use the 'y' buffer.
Changing the stem vowel in writing (vowel narrowing).
Mən burada yaşıyıram.
Mən burada yaşayıram.
Although 'yaşayıram' often sounds like 'yaşıyıram' in speech, the written standard requires you to keep the original stem vowel 'a'.
Using the Turkish '-yor' suffix.
O oxuyor.
O oxuyur.
Learners familiar with Turkish often use '-yor', but Azerbaijani uses the 4-way harmonic '-ır/-ir/-ur/-ür' suffix.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

-yır/-yir/-yur/-yürLevel 1Present Tense After Vowel Stems

Learn This First

To understand the present tense after vowel stems, learners should be familiar with the basic personal endings used in present tense conjugation, as these suffixes are combined to form complete sentences.