Grammar in brief: Who, what, where, how many?

1At a glance

What will the answer be? A person: kim. A thing: ne. A place: nerede. A time: ne zaman. A number: kaç. One of several: hangi. Then put the word where that answer will go.

Who? What? kim/ne

The words: kim, who; ne, what
The answer: a person or a thing; ne yapıyor? asks what someone’s doing
Example: — Kim geliyor? — Can.
Its quirk: take the cases like any word: kime, kimden

Where? Where to? From? nerede

The words: nerede, where; nereye, where to; nereden, where from
The answer: a place, with the same ending: evde, eve, evden
Example: — Nereye gidiyorsun? — Pazara.
Its quirk: with no verb it takes the person: Neredesin?, “where are you?”

When? Why? How? ne zaman

The words: ne zaman, when; neden and niye, why; nasıl, how
The answer: a time, a reason, or how
Example: — Ne zaman geliyorsun? — Yarın.
Its quirk: neden is ne + den, “from what”; niye is ne in its “to” form

How many? Which? kaç/hangi

The words: kaç, how many; hangi, which
The answer: a number, or one of the ones there are
Example: Kaç kişi? Hangi gün?
Its quirk: go before the word; no -⁠lar after kaç, and hangi never changes

2The key points

The question word sits where the answer will sit. Nothing moves: Can akşam geliyor → Can ne zaman geliyor?
It needs no mı: the word does the asking. Ne yapıyorsun?, with the ending staying on the verb.
With no verb, the “I”, “you” or “we” ending goes on the question word itself, as on any other: Neredesin?, Nasılsınız?, Sen kimsin?
You can answer in one word, and it takes the same form as the question: Nereden? — Pazardan. Kime? — Can’a.

3How it works

	where? who has?	where to? to whom?	where from? from whom?
kimquestion	kimde	kime	kimden
Cananswer	Can’da	Can’a	Can’dan
nerequestion	nerede	nereye	nereden
evanswer	evde	eve	evden

The table puts question and answer side by side: whatever ending the question word takes, the answer takes too. The verb picks the case, one for both:

— Kimden simit alıyorsun? — Şu amcadan.— Who do you get your simit from? — That man there.

— Kime gülüyorsun? — Sana değil, martıya!— Who are you laughing at? — Not you, the gull!

Kaç sometimes comes out as “what”, but only where the answer will be a number:

— Saat kaç? — Dokuz.— What time is it? — Nine.

— Kaç yaşındasın? — Otuz.— How old are you? — Thirty.

The lessons haven’t got to this yet, but you’ll hear it straight away. Kim and ne take -⁠lar when you expect not one answer but a list: “who all?”, “what all?”. You can leave it off; that’s not a mistake:

Bu akşam kimler geliyor?— Who’s coming tonight? (everyone who is)

Pazardan neler alıyoruz?— What are we getting at the market? (the whole list)

And since each word sits in its own answer’s place, you can put two in one question. Then there are two answers:

— Kim ne alıyor? — Ben simit alıyorum, Can çay.— Who’s getting what? — I’m getting simit, Can’s getting tea.

Kim nereye gidiyor?— Who’s going where?

4In real life

— Kim o? — Benim, Can!— Who is it? — It’s me, Can!

— Alo, neredesin? — Vapurdayım, geliyorum!— Hello, where are you? — On the ferry, I’m coming!

— Domates kaç lira? — Bir kilo otuz lira.— How much are the tomatoes? — Thirty lira a kilo.

— Hangi vapur Kadıköy’e gidiyor? — Şu vapur.— Which ferry goes to Kadıköy? — That one.

— Neden yemiyorsun? — Tokum, sağ ol.— Why aren’t you eating? — I’m full, thanks.

— Çiçekler kimden? — Ayşe’den!— Who are the flowers from? — Ayşe!

— Ne zaman geliyorsunuz? — Cumartesi sabah.— When are you coming? — Saturday morning.

— Çocuklar nasıl? — Çok iyiler.— How are the kids? — Very well.

5Where it’s easy to slip

Not like this	Like this	Why
Ne yapıyor musun?	Ne yapıyorsun?	The question word already asks: mı is one too many.
Kaç kitaplar?	Kaç kitap?	After kaç, as after a number, no -⁠lar.
Nerede gidiyorsun?	Nereye gidiyorsun?	Going takes “where to”: nereye.
Neredesın?	Neredesin?	The ending takes its vowel from nerede, a front one.
— Nereden? — Pazar.	— Nereden? — Pazardan.	The answer takes the question’s form.

6Check yourself

Four questions, and each brings two or three rules together. Each wrong answer slips on just one thing, so read every one to the end.

1Your friends are late. You ring them and ask where they are.

— Alo, ? ? — Pastanedeyiz, geliyoruz!

2You’re laying the table. Ask how many guests are coming this evening.

3Someone tells you: Can akşam Kadıköy’den geliyor. You didn’t catch akşam. Ask about that and nothing else.

4Answer in one word: you’re looking at Ayşe.

— Kime bakıyorsun? — ?