Ben siyah mont giyiyorum.

Breakdown of Ben siyah mont giyiyorum.

ben
I
siyah
black
giymek
to wear
mont
the coat
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Turkish grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning Turkish now

Questions & Answers about Ben siyah mont giyiyorum.

Why is ben used here? Is it necessary?
Ben means “I.” In Turkish the subject pronoun is usually dropped because the verb ending already shows the person. Here ben is optional and only adds emphasis or clarity. You can simply say Siyah mont giyiyorum and it still means “I am wearing a black coat.”
Why isn’t there an accusative suffix on mont?

In Turkish, a direct object takes the accusative case (-ı/-u/-i/-ü) only if it’s definite or specific. Here siyah mont is indefinite (“a black coat”), so no -u is added.
If you meant “the black coat,” you would say:
Siyah montu giyiyorum.

How is giyiyorum formed?

It’s the present continuous tense of giymek (“to wear”). The structure is:

  1. Root: giy- (from giymek)
  2. Continuous tense suffix: -iyor
  3. First-person ending: -um
    Combine and apply vowel harmony: giy + iyor + um → giyiyorum.
Why doesn’t siyah change its form?
Color adjectives in Turkish are indeclinable when they modify nouns. They don’t take plural or case endings. So you always say siyah mont, kırmızı araba, mavi gömlek, etc.
Why does the adjective come before the noun?
Turkish adjective-noun order is always [Adjective] + [Noun]. So you say büyük ev, yeni kitap, siyah mont, never the other way around.
How do I make this sentence negative?

Insert -m before the -iyor suffix to negate:
giy-m-iyor-um → giymiyorum
So “I am not wearing a black coat” is:
(Ben) siyah mont giymiyorum.

How do I ask “What are you wearing?” in Turkish?

Use Ne giyiyorsun?

  • Ne = what
  • giyiyorsun = you are wearing
    A natural answer would be: (Ben) siyah mont giyiyorum.
How would you say “He/she is wearing a black coat”?

Change the verb ending to third person (drop -um):
giyiyor
Optionally add O (“he/she”):
O siyah mont giyiyor.
Or just: Siyah mont giyiyor.

What does mont mean and where does it come from?
Mont means “coat” or “jacket.” It’s a loanword from French, fully integrated into Turkish vocabulary.
If I’m wearing more than one coat, do I need a plural on mont?

Yes. Add -lar/-ler for plural:
montlar = coats
“I am wearing black coats” → (Ben) siyah montlar giyiyorum.
(In practice, wearing multiple coats is rare, but that’s the form.)