girmek: to enter a room, a shop or a job

The idea

Girmek (to enter) has the regular stem gir-, which never changes: giriyorum, girdim, gireceğim, girer. The place you enter takes the dative -e/-a: odaya girmek, mağazaya girmek; the way in takes the ablative: kapıdan girmek.

Examples

• Ben odaya giriyorum.I am entering the room.The room you enter takes the dative: oda ends in a vowel, so a buffer y joins it, odaya. The pronoun ben may be dropped: Odaya giriyorum.
• Kedi dün gece mutfağa girdi.The cat went into the kitchen last night.The k of mutfak softens to ğ before the dative vowel: mutfağa. The past ending is -di, with d because r is voiced: girdi.
• Yarın sınava gireceğim.I will take the exam tomorrow.Sınava girmek, literally to enter the exam, is the usual way to say that you sit one. The k of -ecek softens to ğ before the vowel of -im: gireceğim; the stem gir- does not change.
• Lütfen içeri girin.Please come in.İçeri means to the inside and takes no case ending. Girin is the polite or plural command: gir + in.
• Annem geçen ay yeni bir işe girdi.My mother started a new job last month.İşe girmek means to start a job: the job is the place you enter, so iş takes the dative, işe.
• Müşteriler yan kapıdan giriyor.The customers come in through the side door.The way in takes the ablative: kapı becomes kapıdan. Compare the destination, which takes -e/-a.
• giriyorumI am enteringgir·iyor-iyor / -ıyor / -uyor / -üyor: happening now·um-im / -sin / -iz / -siniz: I am, you are, we are
• gireceğimI will entergir·eceğ-ecek / -acak: will, going to·im-im / -sin / -iz / -siniz: I am, you are, we are
• girdimI enteredgir·di-di, -dı, -du, -dü, -ti: the past (geldi, yaptı)·mPast person endings: -m, -n, -k, -niz, -ler

Watch out

Modelled on English enter the room, many learners give the verb a direct object and write odayı girdim. Turkish needs the dative: odaya girdim. Only the adverb içeri takes no ending: içeri girdim.

Try it yourself

1. Fill in: We are entering the museum. Use the present continuous of girmek.

   Show answer or example answer

   giriyoruz

   giriyoruz: the present continuous is the stem plus -iyor, and biz adds -uz by harmony with the o; gir- stays whole because it ends in r, not t.

2. Fill in: You entered the room. Use the past tense of girmek.

   Show answer or example answer

   girdin

   girdin: the past marker is -di, with d after the voiced r, and sen adds -n.

3. Fill in: You will enter the office tomorrow. Use the future of girmek.

   Show answer or example answer

   gireceksiniz

   gireceksiniz: -ecek has e because the stem vowel is i, and siz gives -siniz; the k stays because a consonant follows.

4. Add the case ending: We entered the shop.

   Show answer or example answer

   mağazaya

   mağazaya: mağaza ends in a vowel, so the dative needs the buffer y; it is the dative because the verb names the place entered, not a direct object.

Use it today

Write three sentences about places you enter today, yesterday and tomorrow, and mark the dative ending on each place.