Bankada bekle.

Breakdown of Bankada bekle.

banka
bank
beklemek
to wait

Questions & Answers about Bankada bekle.

Why is the word for "wait" just bekle here?
In Turkish, giving a direct command to one person is very simple: you just use the bare root of the verb. The dictionary form of "to wait" is beklemek. If you drop the -mek ending, you are left with bekle, which translates to the command "Wait!"
Why does banka change to bankada?
The ending -da is the locative case suffix, which translates to "in," "on," or "at." Because the last vowel in banka is a back vowel (a), we use -da instead of -de to match vowel harmony rules. This makes bankada mean "at the bank."
Do I need to say sen (you) before the sentence?
No, it is not necessary. The command form bekle is specifically for the singular "you," so the pronoun is already built into the meaning. You would only add sen at the beginning if you wanted to emphasize who is waiting, like saying "You wait at the bank (while I do something else)."
Why does the location come before the verb in this command?
Turkish uses a Subject-Object-Verb word order, meaning the verb almost always goes at the very end of the sentence. This rule still applies when giving commands, which is why the location (bankada) comes right before the action (bekle).

Learn Bankada bekle and more in Turkish

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • Practice with interactive exercises
  • Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • Learn at your own pace — completely free