The -erek / -arak converb
When you want to describe how something is done — by what means, in what manner, or as a side action happening simultaneously — Turkish uses the suffix -erek / -arak. It maps to English 'by V-ing' or '-ing' (manner). Koşarak geldim. = I came running. Gülerek konuştu. = She spoke laughing / She laughingly said. The first verb describes manner; the second carries the actual tense and person. Same subject, every time.
How to form it
Drop -mek/-mak from the infinitive and add -erek (after e/i/ö/ü) or -arak (after a/ı/o/u). Two-way harmony only — simpler than -ip's four-way. koşmak → koş- + -arak → koşarak. gülmek → gül- + -erek → gülerek. bakmak → bak- + -arak → bakarak. görmek → gör- + -erek → görerek. If the stem ends in a vowel, insert -y-: yürümek → yürü- + -y- + -erek → yürüyerek.
What it means: manner, means, simultaneity
-erek answers 'how?'. There are three flavors: (1) manner — gülerek söyledi (he said laughingly); (2) means / by way of — otobüse binerek geldim (I came by getting on the bus = I came by bus); (3) simultaneous action — müzik dinleyerek çalışıyorum (I'm working while listening to music). All three are 'one subject, two simultaneous activities, one of them describing how the other happens'.
-erek vs -ip — they're not the same
-ip is sequence: A then B. Eve gidip yemek yedim. = I went home and (then) ate. -erek is manner / simultaneity: A while B, or B by means of A. Koşarak eve geldim. = I came home running (running was the manner). Switch them and meaning flips: Koşup eve geldim would mean 'I ran, then came home' (two separate sequenced actions). When in doubt: if you could replace it with 'by V-ing', use -erek. If with 'and then', use -ip.
The negative form: -meyerek / -mayarak
Negate by inserting -me/-ma before the converb: -meyerek / -mayarak. Hiçbir şey demeyerek çıktı. = He left without saying anything. Bakmayarak geçti. = She passed by without looking. The buffer -y- appears because -me/-ma ends in a vowel. This 'without V-ing' meaning is one of the most common uses of negative -erek.
Common patterns to memorize
A few high-frequency expressions: koşarak = running; yürüyerek = on foot / walking; gülerek = laughingly; ağlayarak = crying / in tears; bağırarak = shouting; düşünerek = thoughtfully / by thinking. Yürüyerek geldim. = I came on foot. Ağlayarak odadan çıktı. = She left the room crying. These show up everywhere in spoken and written Turkish.
Tense lives on the main verb
Like -ip, the -erek form is tenseless. Whatever tense you want — past, present, future — sits on the second verb. Koşarak geliyorum. = I'm coming running. Koşarak geleceğim. = I'll come running. Koşarak geldim. = I came running. Koşarak never changes.
