Learn Turkish: Ben zayıf mıyım?

In Turkish yes/no questions, the 'to be' endings (like -ım for 'I') always attach to the question particle (mı), not to the adjective or noun. So we say zayıf mıyım, not zayıfım mı.

Where does the y in mıyım come from?

It is a buffer letter. The question particle here is mı and the suffix for 'I am' is -ım. Because Turkish avoids putting two vowels right next to each other, we insert a y to connect them, making it mıyım.

How do we know to use mı instead of mi or mu?

It follows the rules of 4-way vowel harmony. We look at the last vowel of the word right before the question particle. The last vowel in zayıf is ı, which dictates that the question particle must also use ı, giving us mı.

Can I drop the word Ben and just say Zayıf mıyım?

Yes! Because the -ım ending on the question word already means 'I', the pronoun Ben is optional. Using it just adds a little extra emphasis, like asking 'Am I thin?'.