You will ask a person a question, ask about someone or something, and use sormak in the present, past and future.
The idea
Sormak is regular: the stem sor- never changes. The person you ask takes -e/-a (öğretmene, bana, hocaya), and a definite thing you ask about takes -i: yolu, adını. A general object stays bare: soru sormak. The stem vowel is o, so the present is soruyorum; the past is sordum (r is voiced, so -d-), and the future is soracağım, where k softens to ğ.
| Person | Present (-iyor) | Past (-di) | Future (-ecek) | Present, negative (-miyor) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ben | soruyorum | sordum | soracağım | sormuyorum |
| sen | soruyorsun | sordun | soracaksın | sormuyorsun |
| o | soruyor | sordu | soracak | sormuyor |
| biz | soruyoruz | sorduk | soracağız | sormuyoruz |
| siz | soruyorsunuz | sordunuz | soracaksınız | sormuyorsunuz |
| onlar | soruyorlar | sordular | soracaklar | sormuyorlar |
Examples
- Öğretmene bir soru sordum.I asked the teacher a question.
- Bir turist bana müzenin yolunu sordu.A tourist asked me the way to the museum.
- Yarın hocaya soracağım.I will ask my teacher tomorrow.
- Neden hiç soru sormuyorsun?Why do you never ask any questions?Soru is a general object here, so it stays bare: soru sormak. With -yu, as in soruyu sordum, it would mean one particular question that both people know.
- Komşumuz seni sordu.Our neighbour asked about you.The -i on seni means asking about you, or asking how you are. Sana sordu would mean the neighbour put a question to you.
- Annem senin adını sordu.My mother asked your name.
- soruyorumI am askingsoruyor-iyor / -ıyor / -uyor / -üyor: happening nowum-im / -sin / -iz / -siniz: I am, you are, we are
- sormadıkwe did not asksormadı-medi / -madı: the negative pastkPast person endings: -m, -n, -k, -niz, -ler
- soracağımI will asksoracağ-ecek / -acak: will, going toım-im / -sin / -iz / -siniz: I am, you are, we are
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Watch out
Do not swap the two partners. Ali'ye sordum means that Ali is the one who received the question, while Ali'yi sordum means that the question was about Ali. And sormak is not 'ask for' something you want: for a request use istemek, as in su istedim.
Try it yourself
Conjugate sormak (to ask) for ben in the present: I am asking.
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soruyorum
soruyorum: the stem sor- ends in a consonant, so -uyor attaches directly; the back rounded o gives u, and -um marks ben.
Conjugate sormak (to ask) for sen in the past: you asked.
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sordun
sordun: after the voiced r the past ending starts with d, the back rounded o gives -du, and -n marks sen.
Conjugate sormak (to ask) for biz in the future: we will ask.
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soracağız
soracağız: the back vowel o is followed by -acak, and before the vowel of -ız the k softens to ğ.
Add the ending for the person asked: I asked Ayşe.
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Ayşe'ye
Ayşe'ye: the person asked takes the dative; after the vowel e a buffer y is needed, the front vowel gives -ye, and an apostrophe follows the name.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Conjugate sormak (to ask) for ben in the present: I am asking.
Conjugate sormak (to ask) for sen in the past: you asked.
Conjugate sormak (to ask) for biz in the future: we will ask.
Add the ending for the person asked: I asked Ayşe.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the parts in order to build this word: I am asking
Tap the parts in order to build this word: we did not ask
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Write three sentences: ask a teacher a question, ask a friend about a place, and say that a relative asked about you. Underline the ending on the person and on the thing.