You will ask about things, people, places, states and amounts with the five basic question words, and you will see why they never need mi.
The idea
A question word takes the place of the answer and stays there, usually right before the verb: Kim geliyor? – Ali geliyor. Use ne for things, kim for people, nerede for place, nasıl for manner or state, kaç for number. After kaç the noun stays singular: kaç öğrenci.
| Question word | Question | Answer in the same place |
|---|---|---|
| ne | Bu ne? | Bu bir kalem. |
| kim | Kim geliyor? | Ayşe geliyor. |
| nerede | Okul nerede? | Okul köşede. |
| nasıl | Hava nasıl? | Hava soğuk. |
| kaç | Kaç kardeşin var? | İki kardeşim var. |
| kimin | Bu çanta kimin? | Bu çanta Ali'nin. |
Examples
- Sen nerede çalışıyorsun?Where do you work?The question word stands where the answer will stand: Ankara'da çalışıyorum. The pronoun sen may be dropped.
- Akşam ne yapıyorsun?What are you doing this evening?
- Kapıda kim var?Who is at the door?
- Sınıfta kaç öğrenci var?How many students are in the class?After kaç the noun stays singular: öğrenci, not öğrenciler. The answer is: Yirmi öğrenci var.
- Hava bugün nasıl?How is the weather today?Here nasıl asks for a state and works as the predicate, so no verb is needed: Hava güzel.
- Bu çanta kimin?Whose bag is this?Kimin is kim plus the genitive -in, meaning whose. The answer repeats it: Bu çanta Ali'nin.
- neredesinwhere are younerede-de / -da / -te / -ta: in, at, onsin-im / -sin / -iz / -siniz: I am, you are, we areThe person ending -sin attaches directly to nerede. For he, she or it there is no ending: Okul nerede?
- neredenfrom wherenereden-den / -dan / -ten / -tan: from, out of
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Watch out
A normal question with a question word has no mi: say Neredesin?, not Nerede misin?. The person ending joins the question word directly. Carrying over the mi of yes/no questions sounds foreign.
Try it yourself
Fill in the question word: What are you doing this evening?
Show answer or example answer
ne
ne: the answer would be a thing or an action (Çay içiyorum), and ne is the word for those; it stays before the verb yapıyorsun, where the answer would stand.
Fill in the question word: How many apples are in the basket?
Show answer or example answer
kaç
kaç: the answer is a number, and kaç asks for numbers. The noun stays singular after it: elma, not elmalar, because the number already says how many.
Fill in the question word: Who is talking on the phone?
Show answer or example answer
kim
kim: the answer is a person (Komşu var), and kim is the word for people. Ne would ask for a thing and change the question.
Ask a friend where they are, in one word: nere + -de + -sin.
Show answer or example answer
neredesin
neredesin: nere is the place, -de says at, and -sin means you are, all in one word. The word already asks the question, so mi has no job.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Fill in the question word: What are you doing this evening?
Fill in the question word: How many apples are in the basket?
Fill in the question word: Who is talking on the phone?
Ask a friend where they are, in one word: nere + -de + -sin.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the parts in order to build this word: where are you
Tap the parts in order to build this word: from where
Keep your progress
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Write five questions to a friend, one with each of ne, kim, nerede, nasıl and kaç, and underline the spot in each where the answer would stand.