Now I'm going to talk about how to form the imperative in Turkish so how to give orders and commands in Turkish
We'll start by looking at how to give
commands, how to form the imperative in the second person singular, so addressing just one person perhaps informally
We'll start with the verb stem for our first example let's use "bakmak" the Turkish verb meaning to look so "bak"
And
actually for the second person singular
That's all we have to do "Bak!"look. That's your imperative form but sometimes
We'll be addressing more than one person, or we'll want to be particularly polite or formal so there are two other forms we can use
Again if we're addressing
one person more formally, or if we are addressing more than one person we can add a
form of this ending according to the rules of four-way vowel harmony so again we'll start with a verb stem "bak" and
choose the appropriate version according to the rules of four-way vowel harmony so "-in, -ın, -un, and -ün"
for "bakmak" will choose "-ın"
"bakın!": look!
Now notice that there's an optional "y"
Which we can add as a buffer if our verb stem
ends in a vowel. "Bak" does not end in a vowel so in this particular case
We don't need the buffer yet, "bakın"
Now if we want to be very
formal, very polite to one person or if we want to be polite/formal to more than one person
we can add the appropriate form of this ending to our verb stem so for "bakmak"
"bak-" now our choices are in "-iniz, -ınız, -unuz, or -ünüz" for "bakmak" four-vowel harmony
"bakınız!"
Look!
But this time more formally, this is a version you might see on a sign
or in written Turkish more commonly
But it can also be spoken "bakınız"
Let's look at another example verb this time with a stem that does end in a vowel
So let's look at a "okumak": to read
For our second person singular we'll just use the verb stem "oku!" read
If we want to be a little more formal to one person or if we are addressing more than one person
"oku-" verb stem plus the appropriate form of this suffix, but this time with our buffer. Yes, so "okuyun!": read!
Finally if we want to be
more, even more informal or more polite to a single individual, or if we are addressing a group
"oku-" again we need our buffer "y", and then "-unuz"
"Okuyunuz!": Read!
Let's look at a couple more examples quickly
Let's see the verb "yüzmek": to swim
"Yüz!": swim!
Being a little more formal to one person or addressing more than one
"Yüzün!": Swim!
We can put in an exclamation mark to remind us that these are imperatives these are commands
If we want to be even more formal, more and more polite to a single individual or if we're addressing a group
"Yüzünüz!": Swim!
Finally one more example "söylemek" the Turkish verb for "to tell"
"Söyle!": Tell!
"söyle-" ends in a vowel buffer "y" and
The appropriate form of the ending according to the rules of four-way vowel harmony
"Söyleyin!": Tell!
And finally "Söyleyiniz!": Tell!
and that's how you form commands or orders in the imperative in Turkish