Booking a hotel room: oda var mı?

The idea

Say what you want with the infinitive before istiyorum: iki gece kalmak istiyorum. Ask whether something exists with var mı?: odanız var mı?. A number of nights or people keeps the noun singular, and -lik names the size of the room: iki gece, iki kişilik oda. Other yes-or-no questions put the particle after the word asked about: kahvaltı dahil mi?.

Examples

• Yarın için odanız var mı?Do you have a room for tomorrow?The particle mı is a separate word and copies the last vowel before it: var ends in a, so mı. Odanız means your room; no subject word is needed.
• Kahvaltı fiyata dahil mi?Is breakfast included in the price?Dahil ends in i, so the particle is mi, written apart. Fiyata is fiyat with the dative -a: you are asking whether breakfast goes into the price.
• Kahvaltı kaçta başlıyor?What time does breakfast start?
• İki gece kalmak istiyorum.I would like to stay for two nights.Kalmak (to stay) stays in its dictionary form and istiyorum follows it. After the number the noun stays singular: iki gece, not iki geceler.
• İki kişilik bir odanız var mı?Do you have a room for two people?Kişilik means for … people, so iki kişilik oda is a room for two. The number comes before it and kişi stays singular.
• Aslan adına bir rezervasyonum var.I have a reservation under the name Aslan.Adına means in the name of: the name comes first, then adına. Rezervasyonum var is I have a reservation, built from the possessive -um and var.
• Odada klima var mı?Is there air conditioning in the room?
• Oda büyük mü?Is the room big?Büyük ends in the rounded front vowel ü, so the particle is mü. There is no verb to be: oda büyük plus mü already asks the question.

Watch out

The particle mı / mi / mu / mü is a separate word, never glued on: var mı, not varmı. Its vowel copies the last vowel of the word before it, so it is var mı but dahil mi and boş mu.

Try it yourself

1. Add the question particle: Is breakfast included?

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   mi

   mi: the last vowel of dahil is i, front and unrounded, so the particle is mi.

2. Add the question particle: Is the room free?

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   mu

   mu: the last vowel of boş is o, back and rounded, so the particle is mu.

3. Add the question particle: Is there air conditioning in the room?

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   mı

   mı: the last vowel of var is a, so the particle is mı.

4. Write the noun after the number: I would like to stay three nights.

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   gece

   gece: after the number üç the noun stays singular, so there is no -ler.

Use it today

Write a short exchange at a hotel desk: ask for a room, give the number of nights and ask whether breakfast is included.