Word
Misafirler gitti mi ben mutfağı toparlıyorum.
Meaning
When the guests leave, I tidy up the kitchen.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Misafirler gitti mi ben mutfağı toparlıyorum.
ben
I
mutfak
the kitchen
misafir
the guest
toparlamak
to tidy up
Questions & Answers about Misafirler gitti mi ben mutfağı toparlıyorum.
What does -mi mean here? Is this a yes/no question?
No. In this sentence, mi is not really making the whole sentence into a normal yes/no question.
In Turkish, verb + mi can also mean something like:
- when
- once
- as soon as
- whenever
So:
- Misafirler gitti mi... = When/once the guests leave / have left...
This is a very common structure in Turkish.
Why is it gitti mi and not gidince?
Both can express a similar idea, but they are not exactly the same in feel.
- Misafirler gidince ben mutfağı toparlıyorum.
- Misafirler gitti mi ben mutfağı toparlıyorum.
Both can mean When the guests leave, I tidy up the kitchen.
But gitti mi often has a stronger sense of:
- as soon as that happens
- once that is out of the way
- sometimes every time that happens
It can sound a bit more vivid or conversational than gidince.
Why is gitti in the past tense if the meaning is not simply the guests went?