Ne oldu
/ne oldu/from spelling rules
The English phrase "what happened" is translated into Turkish as Ne oldu.
Ne oldu? is used to ask about an event or a situation that has just occurred. You can use it to ask for a factual account of a past event or as an expression of concern when you see someone in distress.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of ne (what) and oldu (happened/became).
Which one should you use?
While Ne oldu? refers to a past event, you can use Neler oldu? if you imply that you expect a series of events or multiple things to have occurred. Additionally, Ne oluyor uses the continuous tense to ask what is happening right now instead of what happened in the past.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase uses the past tense, whereas Ne oluyor uses the continuous tense to inquire about an ongoing situation.
How do you pronounce it?
The IPA is /ne oldu/. The sound of n is like the [n] in "not", and the sound of u is like the [oo] in "cool".
Did you know?
- If you answer Ne oldu? with Oldu, you are not saying 'it happened' but rather 'it is settled' or 'it is done'.
- In some contexts, Ne oldu? can be used sarcastically to mean 'So what?' if the tone is shifted to a descending pitch.
- Turkish is a language where the word for 'what' is shared across many Turkic languages, from Azerbaijani nə to Kazakh не.
Examples in context
- O gün ne oldu?What happened that day?The first sentence shows how to ask what happened on a specific day using Ne oldu.Tatoeba #4864101 by deyta, translation #4499205 by CK
- O gece ne oldu?What happened that night?The second sentence demonstrates how to ask what happened during a specific night using Ne oldu.Tatoeba #4568260 by duran, translation #2700317 by Hybrid
- Bu gece ne oldu?What happened tonight?The third sentence illustrates asking what happened tonight using Ne oldu.Tatoeba #4524315 by duran, translation #2254557 by CK
- Neler oldu?What happened?
- 1077 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Elif sees Can looking upset in the living room.
- ElifNe oldu?What happened?
- CanBilmiyorum, sadece biraz üzgünüm.I don't know, I'm just a little sad.
- ElifCan, ne oldu? Anlatmak ister misin?Can, what happened? Do you want to talk about it?
- CanBelki sonra konuşuruz.Maybe we can talk later.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Turkish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
