Turkish Yes/No Questions: How the Question Particle mi Works

In Turkish, yes/no questions are formed using the interrogative particle mi.

This particle is placed after the verb. It is written separately and, like suffixes, follows vowel harmony:

mi, mı, mü, mu.

Examples:

• Oğlum, ev ödevlerini bitirdin mi?

→ Son, have you finished your homwork?

• Akşam işten sonra buluşuyor muyuz?

→ Are we going to meet after work in the evening?

• Müsait misin? Biraz konuşabilir miyiz?

→ Are you free? Can we talk for a while?

• Mert dün okulda Tunç’la kavga etti mi?

→ Did Mert fight Tunç at school yesterday?

Meaning and Stress in Turkish Yes/No Questions

The question particle mi does not always have to come after the verb.

It can be placed after any word or phrase to emphasize that part of the sentence.

In such cases, the stress falls on the word or phrase immediately before mi.

Look at the following questions. They are all based on the same question above, but the focus changes depending on the position of mi.

• Question:

Mert dün okulda Tunç’la mı kavga etti?

It implies:

Mert is known to have fought with another student at school yesterday, but the question is whether it was Tunç or someone else.

• Question:

Mert dün okulda mı Tunç’la kavga etti?

It implies:

Mert is known to have fought with Tunç yesterday, but the question is whether it happened at school or somewhere else.

• Question:

Mert dün mü okulda Tunç’la kavga etti?

It implies:

Mert is known to have fought with Tunç at school, but the question is whether it happened yesterday or on another day.

• Question:

Mert mi dün okulda Tunç’la kavga etti?

It implies:

Someone is known to have fought with Tunç at school yesterday, but the question is whether it was Mert or someone else.

As you can see in the examples, by moving mi, we can shift the focus of a yes/no question to the person, time, place, or action.

In English, this kind of focus shift can also be expressed through intonation in statements, not only in questions.

Look also at these examples:

• A: Ankara’ya otobüsle mi gideceksin?

→ Will you go to Ankara by bus?

B: Hayır. Trenle gideceğim.

→ No. I will go by train.

• A: Sen İstanbul’da mı doğdun?

→ Were you born in Istanbul?

B: Evet.

→ Yes, I was.

• A: Alışverişe öğleden sonra mı gidiyorsunuz?

→ Are you going shopping in the afternoon?

B: Evet. Gelmek ister misin?

→ Yes. Would you like to come?

In these examples, mi highlights the part of the sentence being questioned, and the answers respond directly to that focus.

Related topic: Turkish Sentence Structure

This post is an excerpt from Word Order chapter of easy Turkish Grammar with answers 1 (A1–A2).

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