Questions & Answers about Lütfen bir adım geri gelir misin?
What does the verb form in gelir misin literally mean, and how does it function as a request?
- Literal breakdown: gel-ir mi-sin? = come-Aorist Q-2sg → “Do you come?”
- In Turkish, the Aorist + question (-r mi-sin?) is a standard, soft way to make a polite request: Kapatır mısın? (Would you close it?), Bakar mısın? (Would you take a look?).
- So gelir misin means “Would you come,” which here is “Would you step back (come back)?”
How polite is this sentence, and how could I make it more formal or more casual?
- As written, it’s politely casual, especially with Lütfen.
- More formal (to a stranger/older person or to several people): Lütfen bir adım geri gelir misiniz?
- More casual/direct (to a friend): Bir adım geri gelir misin? or even imperative: Bir adım geri gel.
- Imperative + lütfen is still polite but more directive: Lütfen bir adım geri gel.
Why use gelmek (come) here? Would gitmek (go) be better if I want them to move away from me?
- gelmek is motion “toward” the speaker, while gitmek is “away.”
- In everyday speech, people do say bir adım geri gelir misin? to mean “step back,” but if you clearly want the person to move away from you/forward direction, many find gitmek more aligned with that:
- Lütfen bir adım geri gider misin? (Would you go one step back?)