Kırmak describes causing a break: cracking a nut, snapping a branch or breaking a plate. It can also describe hurting someone emotionally. You will practise its forms and choose who or what is the subject.
The idea
The stem is kır-: kırıyorum, kırdım, kıracağım, kırarım. Keep dotless ı; in kıracağım the future ending’s k becomes ğ. The aorist is kırar, not kırır. A specific object takes the accusative: tabağı kırmak. A general activity can use a bare object: ceviz kırmak. With a person, seni kırmak means to hurt your feelings. The pronoun can be omitted when the verb ending identifies the subject.
| Person | Present continuous | Past | Future | Aorist |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ben | kırıyorum | kırdım | kıracağım | kırarım |
| sen | kırıyorsun | kırdın | kıracaksın | kırarsın |
| o | kırıyor | kırdı | kıracak | kırar |
| biz | kırıyoruz | kırdık | kıracağız | kırarız |
| siz | kırıyorsunuz | kırdınız | kıracaksınız | kırarsınız |
| onlar | kırıyorlar | kırdılar | kıracaklar | kırarlar |
Examples
- Ben şimdi ceviz kırıyorum.I am cracking walnuts now.
- Çocuk dün mavi tabağı kırdı.The child broke the blue plate yesterday.
- Biz yarın bu eski kilidi kıracağız.We will break this old lock tomorrow.
- Lütfen ince dalı kırma.Please do not break the thin branch.
- Bu sözler insanı kırar.These words hurt people’s feelings.
- Seni kırmak istemiyorum.I do not want to hurt your feelings.
- Bardak yere düşünce kırıldı.The glass broke when it fell to the ground.
- Biz bu bardağı kırmadık.We did not break this glass.
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Watch out
For “the glass broke”, use Bardak kırıldı. Bardak kırdı makes the glass the thing doing the breaking. Compare bardağı kırdı (someone broke the glass) with bardak kırıldı (the glass broke); the subject and the verb both change.
Try it yourself
Complete with “I am cracking” in the present continuous.
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kırıyorum
kırıyorum: şu an places the action in progress now, and ben calls for the first-person ending. The vowel after kır- is dotless ı.
Complete with “I will break” in the future.
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kıracağım
kıracağım: yarın locates the planned action in the future. Before the vowel of the first-person ending, the k in kıracak softens to ğ.
The glass fell and broke. Choose the past form: kırdı or kırıldı.
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kırıldı
kırıldı: the glass undergoes the break after falling; it does not break another object. The past ending describes that completed event.
Tell one person not to break the branch. Use the negative imperative.
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kırma
kırma: this is a request to one person to stop or avoid the action. The negative imperative ends in -ma; kırmadı would report a past event instead.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Complete with “I am cracking” in the present continuous.
Complete with “I will break” in the future.
The glass fell and broke. Choose the past form: kırdı or kırıldı.
Tell one person not to break the branch. Use the negative imperative.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
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Write one sentence about cracking nuts, one about an object that broke and one about avoiding hurt feelings. Identify the subject in each, then put the first sentence in the future.