Compare şimdi, now, with hemen, immediately, when talking about timing.

The idea

Şimdi locates an action at the present moment: Şimdi evde çalışıyorum means I am working at home now. Hemen emphasizes acting immediately: Kapıyı hemen kapat means close the door immediately. They can appear together, as in hemen şimdi, to stress action right now.

Examples

  • Şimdi evde çalışıyorum.I am working at home now.
  • Kapıyı hemen kapat.Close the door immediately.
  • Şimdi hemen çıkmamız gerekiyor.We need to leave right now.
  • Şimdi ne yapıyoruz?What are we doing now?
  • Birazdan gelirim.I will come shortly.
  • Lütfen hemen gel.Please come immediately.

Read-aloud uses a synthetic Turkish voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.

Watch out

Do not assume the words always mean the same thing: şimdi focuses on the time, while hemen emphasizes immediacy. The repeated expression hemen hemen has a different meaning, approximately, and is not the same use.

Try it yourself

  1. ___ ne yapıyorsun? (Şimdi / Dün)

    Show answer or example answer

    Şimdi

    Şimdi: the question asks what you are doing at the present moment.

  2. Acil! Kapıyı ___ kapat. (hemen / dün)

    Show answer or example answer

    hemen

    hemen: the urgent instruction calls for immediate action; dün means yesterday.

  3. Şu an, yani ___, evdeyim. (şimdi / dün)

    Show answer or example answer

    şimdi

    şimdi: şu an means at this moment, which matches now rather than yesterday.

Use it today

Say what you are doing now, then ask someone to do a different action immediately.