Simple Commands

The Turkish imperative for the second person singular (sen) is unique because it uses a zero morpheme, meaning it has no specific suffix attached to the stem.

1. Formation:
Take the dictionary form of the verb and drop the -mak or -mek ending.

• Bakmak (to look) → Bak! (Look!)
• Oturmak (to sit) → Otur! (Sit!)
• Olmak (to be) → Mutlu ol! (Be happy!)

Even verbs that are irregular in other tenses, like demek (to say) and yemek (to eat), follow this rule: De! (Say!) and Ye! (Eat!).

2. Usage and Context:
This form is used with close friends, family, and children (people you address as sen). While you can add lütfen (please) to a singular command (e.g., Lütfen otur!), it is much more natural to switch to polite commands (Lütfen oturun) when you want to be courteous.

3. Register and Recipes:
The bare stem is standard for user interfaces (e.g., Gönder - Send). However, formal written recipes in Turkish often avoid the bare imperative, using the passive aorist (e.g., eklenir - it is added) instead.

4. Urging with -sene/-sana:
To express urging, a suggestion, or slight impatience, speakers often use the -sene / -sana suffix instead of the bare stem:

• Gelsene! (Come on, come!)
• Baksana! (Hey, look here!)

5. Negatives and Stress:
To tell someone not to do something, add -ma or -me to the stem. This follows two-way vowel harmony: use -ma if the last vowel is A, I, O, or U, and -me if it is E, İ, Ö, or Ü. The word stress falls on the syllable immediately before the negative suffix:

• Gelme! (Don't come!) - Stress is on Gel.
• Bakma! (Don't look!) - Stress is on Bak.

6. Phonology:
Unlike many other Turkish suffixes, the singular imperative does not cause consonant softening. For example, gitmek becomes Git!. This is because there is no suffix starting with a vowel to trigger the change.