Saying am, is, and are

What you will practice

• Add the personal ending that matches the last vowel of the word.
• Insert the buffer y when “I” follows a vowel.
• Ask a question with the separate particle, and negate with değil.

Explanation

The personal endings

There is no separate verb for “am,” “is,” or “are.” The personal ending attaches to the word, and its vowel copies the last vowel only. öğretmen ends in e, so “I am a teacher” is öğretmenim, not a rounded ending copied from ö. “You are a student” is öğrencisin, because öğrenci ends in i. “He” or “she” adds nothing: O öğretmen. Last vowels a ı take ı, o u take u, and ö ü take ü.

The buffer y

If the word ends in a vowel, the ending for “I” needs the buffer consonant y. öğrenci ends in i, so “I am a student” is öğrenciyim. Without that y, öğrencim is a different word: “my student.” The same buffer appears in hastayım, “I am ill,” because hasta ends in a and the ending vowel is ı. “You” begins with s, so there is no y: öğrencisin and hastasın.

Questions and negation

The question particle is written on its own: mı, mi, mu, or mü. Its vowel follows the last vowel before it, and the personal ending sits on the particle. Öğretmen misin? means “Are you a teacher?” Yorgun musun? uses mu because yorgun has u. There is still no buffer: Hasta mısın? Negation uses değil, which keeps its own vowel. Öğretmen değilim means “I am not a teacher.” For “he” or “she,” stop at değil: O öğretmen değil.

Examples

1. Öğretmenim.I am a teacher.
2. Öğrenciyim.I am a student.
3. Öğrencisin.You are a student.
4. Öğretmen misin?Are you a teacher?
5. Öğretmen değilim.I am not a teacher.

Common mistakes

• Keep the particle separate. Öğretmen misin? is two words, and the vowel is mi because the last vowel is e.
• değilim does not copy the noun. “I am not a teacher” is Öğretmen değilim.