Breakdown of Genç öğrenci zengin mi?
öğrenci
student
genç
young
zengin
rich
mi
question particle (mı/mi/mu/mü)
Questions & Answers about Genç öğrenci zengin mi?
Why is the question word mi instead of mı or mu?
The question particle uses 4-way vowel harmony based on the last vowel of the word right before it. The word before it is zengin, and its last vowel is i. According to the rules of 4-way harmony, words whose last vowel is e or i take mi.
Why is mi written as a separate word if it follows vowel harmony rules like a suffix?
That is a special rule for the yes/no question particle. Even though it acts like a suffix by changing its vowel to match the word before it, it is always written with a space before it. Think of it as a separate word that just likes to match the sound of its neighbor.
How do we know this means 'Is the young student rich?' when there is no word for 'is'?
In Turkish, the verb 'to be' (am/is/are) is often just understood from the context in the present tense, especially for the 'he/she/it' form. By putting the subject Genç öğrenci (The young student) before the adjective zengin (rich) and adding the question particle, the 'is' is naturally built into the sentence.
What if I moved the question particle and said Genç öğrenci mi zengin?
The question particle places the focus on the word right before it. In the original sentence, it asks if the student is zengin (rich). If you moved it to say Genç öğrenci mi zengin?, you would change the focus to ask 'Is it the young student who is rich?' instead.