Turkish Question Particle: mı, mi, mu, mü Explained
How the Turkish yes-no question particle works — the four-way vowel harmony that picks mı, mi, mu or mü, why it is a separate written word, how a person ending joins it, and how its position sets the focus of the question.
Ekle ·
Turkish turns a statement into a yes-no question by adding the particle mı, mi, mu or mü — a separate written word whose vowel harmonises with the word in front of it.
What the question particle does
Add the particle to the end of a statement and it becomes a yes-no question, with no change to the word order: güzel mi asks "is it beautiful?" and soğuk mu asks "is it cold?". The particle carries the whole question; the words in front of it stay exactly as they were.
The vowel harmonises four ways
The particle has four spellings, and the last vowel of the word in front picks which. That vowel is matched on two things at once — front or back, and rounded or unrounded. A front unrounded vowel gives mi, a back unrounded one mı, a back rounded one mu, and a front rounded one mü.
| Last vowel | Particle | Example |
|---|---|---|
| e · i | mi | güzel mi |
| a · ı | mı | kısa mı |
| o · u | mu | soğuk mu |
| ö · ü | mü | büyük mü |
Only the vowel moves. The consonant in front of it stays m and never hardens, so the particle is one of exactly these four spellings and nothing else.
When the person ending joins the particle
To ask "are you...?" about a noun or an adjective, there is no verb to carry the person, so the particle carries it. öğretmen misin is "are you a teacher?", where misin is the particle plus the "you" ending; hazır mısınız is "are you ready?", with mısınız holding the plural or polite "you". The noun or adjective in front stays in its plain form, and the ending rides on the particle.
| Turkish | Parts | English |
|---|---|---|
| öğretmen misin | öğretmen + mi + sin | are you a teacher? |
| hazır mısınız | hazır + mı + sınız | are you ready? |
Four questions side by side
Each of these is a whole yes-no question — a plain statement with the particle added at the end, and the particle harmonising with the word it follows.
| Turkish | Parts | English |
|---|---|---|
| geliyor mu | geliyor + mu | is he coming? |
| okudun mu | okudun + mu | did you read it? |
| soğuk mu | soğuk + mu | is it cold? |
| güzel mi | güzel + mi | is it beautiful? |
Where you put it sets the focus
The particle questions the word right in front of it, so moving it changes what the question is about. Sen mi geldin puts the particle just after "you" and asks "was it you who came?" — the question is about the person. Sen geldin mi is the neutral "did you come?", with the particle at the end asking about the event itself. The same three words make two different questions.
| Turkish | Parts | English |
|---|---|---|
| Sen mi geldin | Sen + mi + geldin | was it you who came? |
| Sen geldin mi | Sen + geldin + mi | did you come? |
Always a separate word
The particle is written with a space in front of it and is never joined to the word it follows. It harmonises with that word, and it still stays a separate word on the page: the correct spelling is geliyor mu, while the run-together geliyormu is not Turkish. The same holds when a person ending is attached — the two-word öğretmen misin is right, and the joined öğretmenmisin is wrong.
The vowel has to match as well as the spacing. Because the word ends in a rounded back vowel, its question is geliyor mu; the mismatched geliyor mı, with an unrounded vowel, breaks the harmony even though the space is in the right place.
The tag question and short answers
Add değil mi to the end of a statement and you get a tag question — an invitation to agree, like the English "isn't it?" or "right?". It does not change with the sentence in front of it; the one fixed phrase does the work, where değil is "not" and the particle turns it into a question.
A yes-no question is answered with evet for "yes" or hayır for "no". The particle belongs to the question only; the answer drops it.
Frequently asked questions
- When is the question particle mı, and when is it mi, mu or mü?
- The last vowel of the word in front decides. A front unrounded vowel takes mi, a back unrounded one mı, a back rounded one mu, and a front rounded one mü — the vowel matches on both frontness and rounding. So it is güzel mi, soğuk mu and their kind.
- Is the Turkish question particle attached to the word or written separately?
- It is always a separate word, written with a space in front of it, even though its vowel harmonises with the word it follows. The correct form is geliyor mu; the joined spelling geliyormu is not Turkish. When a person ending is present it rides on the particle, so "are you a teacher?" is öğretmen misin, again two words, and never öğretmenmisin.
- Does it matter where the question particle goes in the sentence?
- Yes. The particle questions the word right in front of it, so its position sets the focus. Sen geldin mi is the neutral "did you come?", with the particle at the end. Sen mi geldin moves it after "you" and asks "was it you who came?" — the same words, a different question.
- How do I ask 'are you...?' in Turkish when there is no verb?
- The question particle takes the person ending itself. öğretmen misin is "are you a teacher?" and hazır mısınız is "are you ready?", where misin and mısınız are the particle plus the "you" ending. Such a question is answered simply with evet or hayır.