bırakmak: leave something, let go, stop

The idea

The stem bırak- keeps its k: bırakıyorum, bırakırım. The past is bıraktım. In bırakacağım, it is the future ending’s k that becomes ğ, not the stem’s. A specific object takes the accusative: ipi bırak. An activity becomes a noun in -ma/-me plus the accusative: ağlamayı bırakmak means to stop crying. Kapıyı açık bırakmak means to leave the door open. For a request, use bırakır mısın? with the question word written separately. The table gives plural forms with onlar; singular verb forms are also possible.

Examples

• Şemsiyemi kapıda bıraktım.I left my umbrella by the door.
• Bu kutuyu burada bırakıyoruz.We are leaving this box here.
• Yarın sana not bırakacağım.I will leave you a note tomorrow.
• Her akşam telefonu salonda bırakırım.I leave the phone in the living room every evening.
• Lütfen ipi bırak, ben tutuyorum.Please let go of the rope; I am holding it.
• Çocuk ağlamayı bıraktı.The child stopped crying.
• Kapıyı açık bırakma.Do not leave the door open.
• Anahtarı bana bırakır mısın?Could you leave the key with me?

Watch out

Do not use bırakmak for every departure. Evden çıktım says that you went out of the house; evi bıraktım suggests giving up or abandoning the house. Also, leaving something somewhere does not by itself mean forgetting it: unutmak expresses forgetting.

Try it yourself

1. Complete with the past of bırakmak for ben: I left my umbrella by the door yesterday.

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   bıraktım

   bıraktım: dün places this in the past and ben requires the first-person ending. After the voiceless k, the past marker starts with t; the back vowel gives -tı, followed by -m.

2. Use the future of bırakmak for ben: I will leave you a note tomorrow.

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   bırakacağım

   bırakacağım: the note is for tomorrow and the subject is “I”. The ending therefore needs -acağım; bırakacak alone would describe what someone else will do. The stem’s first k remains.

3. The child is no longer crying. Turn ağlamak into the object of bıraktı.

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   ağlamayı

   ağlamayı: crying is the activity that stopped. Start with the action noun ağlama, add the accusative -ı and insert y between the vowels. The infinitive ağlamak cannot fill this object slot unchanged.

4. Choose çıktım or bıraktım: I only went outside; I did not move out of the house.

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   çıktım

   çıktım: the speaker only went outside, so the house is the starting point, marked by -den. Bıraktım would need something left behind as its object; it does not express this simple departure.

Use it today

Write where you left an object, ask someone to let go of something, and say which activity a child stopped. Use three different forms, then continue with atmak to distinguish leaving from throwing.