Learn Hardcore Turkish: Sen dışarı çıkmadan önce bana haber verir misin?

Sen means “you (singular, informal)” and is the subject of the sentence.
In Turkish, subject pronouns are often optional, because the verb ending already shows the person.

Full: Sen dışarı çıkmadan önce bana haber verir misin?
Also correct: Dışarı çıkmadan önce bana haber verir misin?

Using sen can make the sentence feel slightly more emphasized or personal, for example if there was doubt who should inform you. Without sen, it’s more neutral.

What exactly does dışarı çıkmak mean, and why do we need both words?

Dışarı means “outside / out”, and çıkmak means “to go out / to exit / to go up”.
Together, dışarı çıkmak is a common phrase meaning “to go out (of the house, building, etc.)”.

You can’t normally say just “dışarı” alone as the main verb; you need çıkmak to make it “go out”.
So:

dışarı çıkmak = to go out
dışarı alone = out / outside (an adverb or noun, not a verb)

What does -madan önce mean and how is it formed?

-madan / -meden + önce means “before doing (something)”.

Formation:

Take the verb root: çık- (to go out)
Add -ma/-me (negative marker) + -dan/-den (ablative): çıkmadan
Add önce (before): çıkmadan önce = before (someone) goes out

You can use this with many verbs:

Yemek yemeden önce – before eating
Gitmeden önce – before (you/I/etc.) go

The subject of the -madan önce part is usually understood from the main clause (here, sen).

Why is it dışarı, not dışarıya? Are both possible?

Both dışarı and dışarıya are used with çıkmak, and both are grammatically correct:

dışarı çıkmak
dışarıya çıkmak

In everyday speech, dışarı çıkmak is more common and a bit more colloquial.
Dışarıya is the dative form (literally “to outside”), which explicitly marks direction, but with çıkmak, the idea of “going to outside” is already clear, so dışarı alone is usually enough.

What does bana mean here, and why not beni or benim?

Bana is “to me” (the dative case of ben: I).
The verb phrase haber vermek (“to inform / to let know”) normally takes a dative person:

Birine haber vermek – to let someone know
Bana haber ver – let me know
Ona haber ver – let him/her know

So:

bana = to me (correct here)
beni = me (accusative; direct object, wrong here)
benim = my (possessive; also wrong here)

Does haber really mean “news”? Why is it used for “let me know”?

Yes, haber literally means “news, information, notice, word”.
The fixed expression haber vermek literally is “to give news”, but functionally it means:

“to inform”
“to let someone know”
“to tell someone in advance”

So bana haber verir misin? is best translated as “Will you let me know?”, not literally “Will you give me news?”.

What is the exact meaning and tone of verir misin? Is it “can you give” or “will you give”?

Verir misin is 2nd person singular aorist + question and in this context it’s a polite request, not a simple yes/no question about habit.

Natural English equivalents:

“Will you … ?”
“Would you … ?”
Similar in politeness to “Could you … ?”

So bana haber verir misin? ≈ “Will you let me know?” / “Would you let me know?”
It’s a soft, polite way to ask someone to do something.

What’s the difference between verir misin and verebilir misin?

Verir misin? – Literally “Do you give?”, used as “Will you / Would you?” → focuses on willingness / doing the favor.
Ver-e-bilir misin? – “Can you give?” → focuses more on ability / possibility.

In practice:

Bana haber verir misin? – Will you let me know? (standard polite request)
Bana haber verebilir misin? – Can you let me know? (are you able to / is it possible?)

Both are polite; verir misin sounds a bit more neutral or “standard” as a request.

How is misin formed, and why is mi written separately?

Morphologically, verir misin is:

ver- (root “give”)
-ir (aorist) → verir
mi (question particle)
-sin (2nd person singular ending)

Mi is a separate clitic in Turkish, so it is always written as a separate word, though it attaches logically to the word it questions. It follows vowel harmony:

mi / mı / mu / mü
Here: verir mi-sin → misin, because of the vowel i.

Writing “verirmisin” is incorrect in standard spelling.

Can I change the word order? For example: Bana dışarı çıkmadan önce haber verir misin?

Yes, you can change the word order while keeping the meaning, because Turkish word order is relatively flexible. Some common variants:

Dışarı çıkmadan önce bana haber verir misin?
Bana dışarı çıkmadan önce haber verir misin?
Sen bana, dışarı çıkmadan önce haber verir misin?

All are understandable and natural; the differences are mostly about emphasis:

Putting bana earlier slightly highlights “to me”.
Starting with Sen can emphasize you specifically.

The verb phrase haber verir misin normally stays at or near the end.

Why is the main verb in a present-like form (verir) if we’re talking about the future?

The aorist (-ir/-er) form in Turkish is used not only for habits and general truths, but also very often in polite requests about the (near) future.

So verir misin?:

grammatically: “do you give?” (aorist),
in real-life use: “will you / would you (please) give?”

Turkish doesn’t need a separate future tense here; the future meaning comes from the context (the event hasn’t happened yet).

If I want to be more formal or polite, how does this sentence change?

For polite “you”, Turkish uses siz (plural/formal) and corresponding verb endings:

Siz dışarı çıkmadan önce bana haber verir misiniz?

Here:

siz – formal “you”
verir misiniz – aorist + question + 2nd person plural/polite

This sounds polite and respectful, suitable for strangers, older people, or formal situations.

Can I say Sen dışarı çıkmadan önce bana haber ver without misin? What changes?

Yes:

Sen dışarı çıkmadan önce bana haber ver.

This is a direct imperative: “Let me know before you go out.”
It sounds more direct / stronger than “bana haber verir misin?”, which is a softer request.

So:

bana haber verir misin? → polite request, like “Would you let me know?”
bana haber ver. → direct instruction: “Let me know.”