Turkish Imperative & Optative Moods: Commands, Invitations (Gidelim, Yapalım)

Turkish has two moods for telling people what to do and proposing what to do together:

• The imperative (emir kipi): Gel! (Come!), Gelin. (Come, please.), Gelsin. (Let him come.)
• The optative (istek kipi): Gideyim. (Let me go.), Gidelim! (Let’s go!)

Both attach directly to the verb stem, the infinitive minus -mek/-mak (see verb stems and infinitives).

The imperative

The vowels follow four-way vowel harmony, but the plural -lar/-ler is two-way: okusunlar, görsünler. There is no first-person imperative; the optative fills that gap.

Softening before -in

Stems ending in t that soften before a vowel do so in the siz forms (see consonant mutation):

• git- → gidin (go), gidiniz
• et- → edin: Yardım edin! — Help!
• seyret- → seyredin (watch)

Negative imperative

Add -me/-ma to the stem, then the person suffix. After -me/-ma, the siz ending takes a buffer y.

More on negative suffixes in negation.

Examples

• Buraya gel! — Come here!
• Kapıyı kapat. — Close the door.
• Lütfen biraz bekleyin. — Please wait a moment.
• Ayakkabılarınızı çıkarın. — Take off your shoes, please.
• Endişelenme, her şey yolunda. — Don’t worry, everything’s fine.
• Geç kalmayın! — Don’t be late!
• Ali hemen gelsin. — Ali should come right away. / Tell Ali to come.
• Çocuklar bahçede oynasınlar. — Let the children play in the garden.
• Bu ilacı yemekten sonra alınız. — Take this medicine after meals.

Signs and written instructions

The formal -(y)iniz form is typical of signs, forms and official texts:

Imperative wishes with -sin

The third-person form turns up in many everyday phrases where it expresses a wish rather than an order:

• Kolay gelsin. — May it go easily (said to someone working).
• Geçmiş olsun. — Get well soon. (literally “may it be past”)
• Afiyet olsun. — Enjoy your meal.
• İyi yolculuklar olsun. — Have a good trip.

How polite is it?

The imperative is not rude in itself, but Turkish has softer options. From most direct to most polite:

For the request forms, see the aorist and ability pages. Lütfen (please) can be added to any of them.

The optative: “let me”, “let’s”, “shall I”

The optative suffix is -(y)e / -(y)a plus its own person endings. In modern Turkish only the ben and biz forms are in everyday use; the other persons survive in set phrases and older texts, and the imperative -sin is used instead.

Negative: gitmeyeyim (let me not go), gitmeyelim (let’s not go).

Let’s…

• Hadi gidelim! — Come on, let’s go!
• Bu akşam dışarıda yiyelim. — Let’s eat out tonight.
• Biraz konuşalım. — Let’s talk a bit.
• Geç kalmayalım. — Let’s not be late.
• Kahve içelim mi? — Shall we have a coffee?

Note ye- (eat) → yiyelim, as in the future tense (yiyecek).

Let me… / Shall I…?

• Bir bakayım. — Let me have a look.
• Sana bir şey sorayım. — Let me ask you something.
• Kapıyı açayım mı? — Shall I open the door?
• Ne yapayım? — What should I do?
• Size yardım edeyim. — Let me help you.

In speech, yapayım often sounds like “yapıyım” and bakayım like “bakıyım”; keep the standard spelling in writing.

Giving directions

Directions are one of the most common uses of the -in imperative:

• Turist: Affedersiniz, eczane nerede? — Excuse me, where’s the pharmacy?
• Yerel: Düz gidin, ikinci sokaktan sağa dönün. Eczane bankanın yanında. — Go straight on and turn right at the second street. The pharmacy is next to the bank.
• Turist: Uzak mı? — Is it far?
• Yerel: Hayır, beş dakika. Karşıya geçerken dikkat edin, trafik çok yoğun. — No, five minutes. Be careful when you cross; the traffic is very heavy.
• Turist: Çok teşekkürler! — Thanks a lot!

Recipes and instructions

Recipes and manuals usually use the -in form, or -iniz in more formal texts:

• Soğanları doğrayın. — Chop the onions.
• Yağı tavada ısıtın. — Heat the oil in the pan.
• Domatesleri ekleyin ve on dakika pişirin. — Add the tomatoes and cook for ten minutes.
• Cihazı kullanmadan önce kılavuzu okuyunuz. — Read the manual before using the device.

Common mistakes

1. No softening in the siz form: gitin, yardım etin → gidin, yardım edin.
2. Wrong plural harmony: okusunler, gelsinlar → okusunlar, gelsinler.
3. Missing buffer y: okuun, bekleelim → okuyun, bekleyelim.
4. Using -iniz with friends: it sounds like a sign; use the bare stem or -in.
5. Inventing a first-person imperative: for “let’s go” say gidelim, not gidiyoruz! or git biz.
6. Spelling the spoken form: yapıyım → yapayım.

Mini-exercise

Make the form in brackets.

1. otur- (sen, command) → ?
2. bekle- (siz, polite) → ?
3. git- (biz, let’s) → ?
4. ye- (biz, let’s not) → ?
5. yardım et- (ben, let me) → ?
6. gel- (onlar, let them) → ?

Answers: 1. Otur! 2. Bekleyin 3. Gidelim 4. Yemeyelim 5. Yardım edeyim 6. Gelsinler

Practice this

See all imperative forms of any verb in the verb conjugator, then learn the aorist to turn commands into polite requests.