Learn Hardcore Turkish: Lütfen kibar olun; güvenlik görevlisi de yardım etmek istiyor. - Please be polite; the security guard also wants to help.

Olun is the polite/formal or plural imperative of olmak “to be.” You use it when addressing more than one person or a single person politely (like English “please be”). Informal singular would be kibar ol. Very formal/public‑notice style is kibar olunuz. The negative is kibar olmayın.

Why do we need "ol-" at all—can’t we just say "kibar"?

In Turkish, adjectives can stand as predicates (e.g., “You are polite” = Kibarsınız), but to give the command “Be X,” Turkish uses the verb olmak. So “Be polite” is Kibar ol/olun, not just kibar.

What does "de" do here and why is it after "görevlisi"?

de means “also/too.” It attaches after the word it emphasizes, so güvenlik görevlisi de = “the security guard also (does).” If you wrote yardım etmek de istiyor, the meaning shifts to “(He) also wants to help (in addition to wanting/doing something else).”

How is this "de" different from the locative "-de/-da"?

de/da meaning “also” is a separate word, written with spaces, and always starts with d- (never t-): görevlisi de.
The locative suffix -de/-da/-te/-ta attaches to the noun and follows consonant assimilation: okulda “at school,” kitapta “in the book.” If you can separate it with a space and move it, it’s the “also” de; if it’s glued to the word, it’s the locative.

Why is it "güvenlik görevlisi" with "-si" at the end?

It’s an indefinite compound noun: güvenlik (security) + görevlisi (attendant+3rd‑person possessive) → “security guard.” Turkish often marks the second noun of such compounds with -sı/-si/-su/-sü. Saying güvenlik görevli would be incorrect.

Is "güvenlik görevlisi" singular? How do I say it in the plural?

Singular is güvenlik görevlisi. Plural is güvenlik görevlileri. With a plural human subject, the verb can be either plural or singular: güvenlik görevlileri de yardım etmek istiyor(lar); using -lar is more common in speech.

How would I say “a security guard also wants to help”?

Add bir: Bir güvenlik görevlisi de yardım etmek istiyor. Bare subjects in Turkish can be definite or generic from context, so use bir when you explicitly mean “a/one.”

What exactly is "yardım etmek"? Why not a single verb?

Yardım etmek is a common light‑verb construction: yardım “help (n.)” + etmek “to do,” together meaning “to help.” You don’t say yardım yapmak. A near‑synonym is yardımcı olmak (“to be of help, to assist”).

Why "istiyor" and not "ister"?

Both come from istemek “to want,” but:

istiyor (progressive) = “wants (now/at this time).”
ister (aorist) = general/habitual or hypothetical (“would want/likes to want”). So yardım etmek istiyor = “(he) wants to help (now).”

Can the word order change?

The natural order is Subject + (focus like de) + verb complement + main verb: Güvenlik görevlisi de yardım etmek istiyor. You can front the pronoun for clarity: O da yardım etmek istiyor. Keep yardım etmek right before istiyor; istiyor yardım etmek is odd.

Is the semicolon necessary here?

It’s stylistic. A semicolon neatly links two related independent clauses. You could also use a comma or a conjunction: Lütfen kibar olun, çünkü güvenlik görevlisi de yardım etmek istiyor. or Ama lütfen kibar olun; güvenlik görevlisi de yardım etmek istiyor. All are acceptable depending on nuance.

Any quick pronunciation tips for this sentence?

ü in güvenlik and ö in görevli are front rounded vowels (like French u/œ, German ü/ö).
ı (dotless i) in yardım is a back, unrounded vowel (no exact English equivalent; a relaxed “uh”).
Syllables: gü-ven-lik | gö-rev-li-si | yar-dım | is-ti-yor.
The clitic de is pronounced with d-, not t-.