Breakdown of Kim yardım etmek istiyor?
kim
who
istemek
to want / to require / to call for
yardım etmek
to help
Questions & Answers about Kim yardım etmek istiyor?
Why does the sentence use istiyor instead of another form like istiyorum?
The word kim (who) acts as the subject here. Just like in English where we say 'Who wants' using the 'he/she/it' form, Turkish uses the third-person singular form istiyor when kim is the subject.
Why is 'to help' translated as two words, yardım etmek?
Many Turkish verbs are made by pairing a noun with a helper verb. Yardım is the noun for 'help' or 'assistance', and etmek means 'to do'. Put together, they create the action 'to help'.
How does the grammar work when combining yardım etmek and istiyor?
To express wanting to do an action, you leave the first verb in its dictionary form ending in -mak or -mek (the infinitive) and only change the verb istemek (to want). Here, yardım etmek stays exactly as it is, followed by istiyor (wants).
Why does this use the -iyor (present continuous) ending if the English says 'wants' and not 'is wanting'?
In Turkish, the present continuous tense (using the -iyor suffix) is the standard way to express what someone wants right now. Even though English uses the simple present ('wants'), Turkish naturally uses istiyor.
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