değil mi?

Isn't It?

Level 2

Use değil mi? at the end of a sentence to ask for agreement or confirmation. It is invariant, meaning it never changes its form regardless of the subject or tense.

How It Works

The phrase değil mi? is the standard way to form tag questions in Turkish.

1. Structure and Placement:
It is placed at the very end of a sentence, usually separated by a comma. It can follow nouns, adjectives, or fully conjugated verbs.

  • Hava sıcak, değil mi? (The weather is hot, isn't it?)
  • Gidiyorsun, değil mi? (You are going, right?)

2. Invariant Form:
Because the word değil ends in the front vowel 'i', the question particle always remains mi. It does not change for person or number. The personal endings stay on the main predicate, not on the tag.

3. Usage with Negatives:
You can use it after negative statements to confirm a negative assumption.

  • Gelmedin, değil mi? (You didn't come, right?)

4. Casual Speech:
In fast, informal Turkish, you will often hear this shortened to di mi? or de mi?. While common in texting, değil mi? remains the correct written form.

Examples (4)

  1. Bugün hava çok güzel, değil mi?

    The weather is very nice today, isn't it?

    Word by Word: Today weather very beautiful, not [question]?

    Here, the tag follows an adjective to seek agreement about the weather.

  2. Sen de bizimle geliyorsun, değil mi?

    You are coming with us too, right?

    Word by Word: You also with-us coming, not [question]?

    The tag follows a verb in the present continuous tense. Note that the personal ending (-sun) is on the verb, not the tag.

  3. Oraya gitmedin, değil mi?

    You didn't go there, right?

    Word by Word: To-there you-did-not-go, not [question]?

    This shows the tag used after a negative statement to confirm the speaker's suspicion.

  4. Bu senin kitabın, değil mi?

    This is your book, isn't it?

    Word by Word: This your book-your, not [question]?

    The tag is used here to confirm possession.

Common Mistakes

  • Adding personal endings to the tag question.

    Yorgunsun, değil misin?
    Yorgunsun, değil mi?

    In a tag question, the personal ending belongs on the main word. 'Değil misin?' is a direct negative question ('Aren't you tired?'), not a tag ('You're tired, right?').

  • Forgetting the personal ending on the main predicate.

    Öğretmen, değil mi?
    Öğretmensin, değil mi?

    If you mean 'You are a teacher, aren't you?', you must include the 'you are' suffix (-sin) on the noun 'öğretmen' before adding the tag.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

değil mi?Level 2Isn't It?

Learn This First

To understand 'değil mi?', you first need to know how to negate a non-verbal sentence using 'değil' and how to form basic questions using the particle 'mi'. Together, these form the tag question 'isn't it?' used for confirmation.

Words in This Pattern

değil mi