A1 · The simple sentence · about 7 minutes
Question words
who, what, where, when, how, why
A question word stands where the answer would stand, and needs no question particle.
Do you know this already?
“New to me”: the explanation first, then practice. “Test myself”: 3 short questions – get at least two right and you go straight to the harder exercises.
Words you will need3
They appear in this topic’s examples and exercises and are new at this point on the learning path.
- merkezcentre
- tatilholiday, vacation
- zamantime
Missing a word? Look it up in the dictionary
Understand
RememberA question word is already the question — leave out mi.
- Signal words
- ne
- kim
- nerede
- ne zaman
- nasıl
- kaç
- hangi
- neden
The form
The forms and what they mean
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in Turkish.
| what | ne |
| who | kim |
| where, where to, where from | nerede, nereye, nereden |
| when | ne zaman |
| how | nasıl |
| how much, how many | kaç |
| which | hangi |
| why | neden, niçin, niye |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
The question word stands where the answer would, usually before the verb.
Sen nerede çalışıyorsun?Where do you work?
A question with a question word has no mi.
Akşam ne yapıyorsun?What are you doing this evening?
nerede, nereye and nereden carry the endings for place, direction and origin.
Nereden geliyorsunuz?Where are you coming from?
After kaç the noun is singular.
Kaç çocuğun var?How many children do you have?
Question words take endings like a noun.
Film saat kaçta başlıyor?What time does the film start?
Example sentences
Adın ne?What is your name?
Bu kim?Who is this?
Nasılsın?How are you?
7 more example sentences
Bu elbise kaç lira?How much is this dress?
Hangi otobüs merkeze gidiyor?Which bus goes to the centre?
Tatile ne zaman gidiyorsunuz?When are you going on holiday?
Bugün neden gelmiyorsun?Why aren’t you coming today?
Bu çanta kimin?Whose bag is this?
Hafta sonu nereye gidiyoruz?Where are we going at the weekend?
Türkçeyi nasıl öğreniyorsun?How are you learning Turkish?
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
If you have learnt that a Turkish question needs mi, you tend to add it after a question word too. But asking twice is asking wrongly: the question word is already the question, and the person ending stays on the verb.
Quick check
A warm-up: 2 questions, answered straight away. They do not count towards your progress.
Practise
One lesson, one clear goal: you pass with 80% right on the first try. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
Now write it yourself10 sentences on this topic, typed and checked instantly.
Your progress
What your lesson on this topic shows:
The lesson decides this, not a button: passed at 80% on the first try, mastered when you pass it again on another day.
Next on the path: 32 · Questions and negatives with “-iyor”Back to the learning path
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
The most important question words are ne (what), kim (who), nerede (where), nereye (where to), nereden (where from), ne zaman (when), nasıl (how), kaç (how much, how many), hangi (which) and neden or niçin (why).
The question word does not move to the front as in English. It stands where the answer stands in the reply, usually right before the verb: Sen nerede oturuyorsun? “You where live?” — Ben Köln'de oturuyorum. “I in Cologne live.”
A question word already makes the sentence a question. mi is not added: Ne zaman geliyorsun? “When are you coming?”
Question words take endings like a noun. nerede, nereye and nereden carry the endings for place, direction and origin; kime means “to whom”, kaçta “at what time” — and nasılsın? is “how are you?”.
A closer look
Asking with a case
kim and ne take the endings the answer would have: Kimi arıyorsun? “Who(m) are you looking for?”, Kime veriyorsun? “Who are you giving it to?”, Neden korkuyorsun? “What are you afraid of?” — the same neden also means “why”; the context says which. You will learn the cases in their own section; for now it is enough to recognise them.
Worth knowing2
Worth knowing
Compared with English
In English the question word comes first, followed by the verb or “do”: “Where do you live?”. In Turkish the sentence stays built like a statement, and the question word takes the place of the answer. Question and answer therefore look almost the same.
Ayşe nereye gidiyor? — Ayşe markete gidiyor.Where is Ayşe going? — Ayşe is going to the supermarket.
Worth knowing
Many start with n
Where English question words start with wh, many Turkish ones start with n: ne, nerede, nasıl, neden. Only kim, kaç and hangi break the pattern.
Ne, nerede, nasıl?What, where, how?
The verbs on this page, in every form: gelmek · gitmek · çalışmak · başlamak