satmak: to sell

The idea

The stem sat- ends in the voiceless consonant t, so the past ending starts with t: sattım, sattın, sattı, never satdım. Its vowel is the back vowel a, so the endings take their back shapes: satıyorum, satacağım, satarım. A noun like kanat softens (kanadı), but a verb stem usually does not (only a few such as gitmek do), so sat- stays sat- in every form. What you sell takes the accusative when it is definite (evi satıyorum) and stays bare when it is general (ekmek satıyorum); the buyer takes the dative: komşuya sattım.

Examples

• Babam eski arabayı satıyor.My father is selling the old car.
• Ali dün bisikletini sattı.Ali sold his bicycle yesterday.The stem sat- ends in voiceless t, so the past ending starts with t: sat-tı, never satdı. The double tt is both spoken and written.
• Yarın evi satacağız.Tomorrow we will sell the house.Evi is a particular, known house, so it takes the accusative: ev-i. In satacağız the k of -acak becomes ğ before the vowel of -ız; the stem sat- does not change.
• Bu dükkân ekmek satmıyor.This shop does not sell bread.The negative -mı- sits between the stem and -yor, all in one word: sat-mı-yor. Ekmek means bread in general, so it has no accusative ending.
• Pazarcı her sabah taze domates satar.The market seller sells fresh tomatoes every morning.The aorist describes what someone does regularly. Sat- is a one-syllable stem, and most such stems take -ar: satar. For o there is no personal ending.
• Kitaplarını bana satar mısın?Would you sell me your books?The person who receives what you sell takes the dative: bana (to me). The aorist plus mı makes a polite request, and mı is written apart: satar mısın.
• Bu kitabı Ali'den satın aldık.We bought this book from Ali.Satın almak is "to buy" and is a different verb from satmak, "to sell". It is two words, with satın first. The seller is in the ablative with an apostrophe: Ali'den.
• satacağımI will sellsat·acağ-ecek / -acak: will, going to·ım-im / -sin / -iz / -siniz: I am, you are, we areBefore -ım the k of -acak softens to ğ: satacağım. The final t of the stem does not soften; sadacağım would be wrong.

Watch out

Do not use satmak for buying just because sat- and satın almak look alike. Satmak is only selling; buying is satın almak (everyday speech often says just almak): Kitabı Ali'den satın aldım, not Ali'den sattım. Mind the person too: the buyer takes -e / -a (Ali'ye sattım) and the seller takes -den / -dan (Ali'den aldım). On a sign or in an advert, "for sale" is satılık: Ev satılık.

Try it yourself

1. Put satmak into the past for biz (we): Yesterday we sold the car.

   Show answer or example answer

   sattık

   sattık: the stem ends in voiceless t, so the past ending starts with t (-tı), and -k means "we"; satdık would break the rule.

2. Put satmak into the future for ben (I): Tomorrow I will sell the old phone.

   Show answer or example answer

   satacağım

   satacağım: the back vowel gives -acak; before the vowel of -ım the k becomes ğ, and the t of the stem stays.

3. Make satmak negative in the present continuous: This grocery store does not sell milk.

   Show answer or example answer

   satmıyor

   satmıyor: the negative -mı- goes between the stem and -yor, and the back vowel a gives ı.

4. Put satın almak into the past for onlar (they): They bought the book from Ali.

   Show answer or example answer

   satın aldılar / aldılar

   satın aldılar: buying is satın almak, not satmak; the past of almak is aldı and -lar means "they"; aldılar alone is accepted too.

Use it today

Write three sentences about something you sold or will sell: one in the past, one in the future and one negative. Mark the buyer with -e / -a.