The Beauty of the Verbs: "gir-"

After exploring bil- (to know), and çık- (to go out), it’s time to look at the natural counterpart of çık-: the verb gir-, meaning to enter. If çık- is about leaving, appearing, or emerging, then gir- is about stepping in, joining, and becoming part of something.

Most learners probably first meet this root in the word giriş (entrance). Just like çıkış, you see it every day on doors, metro stations, and airports. You may also see it on signs that prohibit entrance, like “Girilmez” (No Entry). And in the digital world, you’ll often see “giriş yap-”, which means to log in or sign in. It’s practical, it’s visible, and it’s one of those words you don’t need to memorize because life teaches it to you.

From that simple idea of entering, gir- has spread into dozens of expressions and words.

Here are some common ones you’ll hear and use.

• İçeri giriyorum. – I’m going inside.

• sınava girmek – to take an exam (literally “to enter the exam”).

• Eve gir! – Enter the house!

• konuya girmek – to start talking about a subject.

• havuza girmek – to get into a swimming pool

More Words from gir-

Here are a few easy and useful ones:

Word	Meaning
gir-	to enter, to go in, to get into
girdi	input, entry
giriş	entrance
girme	entering (gerund form)
girgin	outgoing, sociable
girizgâh	prologue
girinti	indentation (opposite of çıkıntı)
girintili	indented
giril-	to be entered (passive form)
Girilmez!	No trespassing!
giriş- (reciprocative form)	to attempt, to enter into, to tackle
girişken	sociable, enterprising
girişim	attempt, initiative
girişimci	entrepreneur
girişik / girift* (persian*)	intricate, tangled
girdir-	to make/have someone enter (causative form)

What’s beautiful about gir- is how learners can connect it to daily life. The verb is everywhere, both in literal spaces (houses, streets, offices) and in metaphorical ones (exams, conversations, projects).

Just like with çık-, once you notice gir-, you’ll start to recognize its family of words all around you. That’s the beauty of Turkish: small roots that grow into entire networks of meaning.

So next time you walk through a door and see giriş, remember that you’re not just entering a place. You’re entering one of the most fundamental verb families in Turkish.