oturmak: to sit, to live

The idea

Oturmak means both to sit and to live (reside). One form covers both: oturuyorum is "I am sitting" or "I live", and the place decides. Where you live or are seated takes the locative (Bursa'da oturuyorum); the seat you sit down onto takes the dative (koltuğa oturdum). The stem otur ends in r and its last vowel is u, so the endings round: oturuyorum, oturdum, oturacağım. The k of -acak softens to ğ before a vowel.

Examples

• Ben İstanbul'da oturuyorum.I live in Istanbul.
• Çocuklar yerde oturuyor.The children are sitting on the floor.
• Biz dün akşam balkonda oturduk.We sat on the balcony last night.
• Lütfen koltuğa oturun.Please sit down in the armchair.Taking a seat uses the dative: koltuğa. The k of koltuk softens to ğ before a vowel. Oturun is the polite or plural imperative.
• Nerede oturuyorsunuz?Where do you live?Nerede oturuyorsunuz? is the usual way to ask where someone lives. The ending -sunuz belongs to siz: several people, or one person politely.
• Gelecek yıl Bursa'da oturacağız.Next year we will live in Bursa.The k of -acak softens to ğ before the vowel of -ız: oturacak, but oturacağız. With a city, oturmak here means to live, not to sit.
• oturuyorumI am sitting; I liveotur·uyor-iyor / -ıyor / -uyor / -üyor: happening now·um-im / -sin / -iz / -siniz: I am, you are, we are
• oturdularthey sat; they livedotur·du-di, -dı, -du, -dü, -ti: the past (geldi, yaptı)·larPast person endings: -m, -n, -k, -niz, -ler

Watch out

Match the case to the meaning: koltuğa oturdum says you took a seat, koltukta oturdum says you spent time seated in the armchair. And for living in a city never use the dative: Bursa'ya oturuyorum is wrong, say Bursa'da oturuyorum.

Try it yourself

1. Add the dative to koltuk (armchair): sit down on the armchair.

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   koltuğa

   koltuğa: sitting down onto a seat takes the dative; the k of koltuk softens to ğ before a vowel, and the back vowel u gives -a.

2. We sat in the park yesterday. Add the past ending for biz to the stem otur-.

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   oturduk

   oturduk: the stem ends in the voiced r, so the past ending starts with d; the last vowel u rounds it to -du, and -k is the ending for biz.

3. Where do you live now? Add the present continuous ending for sen to the stem otur-.

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   oturuyorsun

   oturuyorsun: otur ends in a consonant, so -uyor joins directly, with u after the round vowel u; -sun is the ending for sen.

4. They will live here next year. Add the future ending for onlar to the stem otur-.

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   oturacaklar

   oturacaklar: -acak only has two shapes and does not round, so a stays; its k stays too, because -lar starts with a consonant.

Use it today

Write three sentences: where you live, where you sat today, and where you will live next year. Check the case ending and the vowel of each verb.