Excuse me, professor. I have a question.

[Ali Smith]

Merhaba,

What is the most natural and polite way for a university student to say, "Excuse me, professor. I have a question."?

Affedersiniz, öğretmen.

I'm guessing:

Affedersiniz, öğretmen. Bir sualim var.

or

Affedersiniz, öğretmen. Bir sualim olacaktı.

or

Affedersiniz, öğretmen. Bir sualim vardı.

Thanks!

 

[LeBro]

Afedersiniz hocam, bir şey/soru sorabilir miyim?

This one sounds the most natural to me.

Beware, university students use the word "hoca" in stead of "öğretmen".

"Sual" is now a dated word, better to use "soru".

You could also say:

Afedersiniz hocam, bir sorum vardı/olacaktı, which sounds slightly formal to me than the one above.

By the way, avoid addressing people directly as "öğretmen", "hoca", "doktor", etc. because it will/may sound quite rude.

 

[Ali Smith]

Thanks! Would it still sound rude if I added "(i)m" to the end?

Affedersiniz hocam, bir sual sorabilir miyim?

And isn't the verb affetmek spelled with two fs?

 

[LeBro]

Thanks! Would it still sound rude if I added "(i)m" to the end?

Affedersiniz hocam, bir sual sorabilir miyim?

No, it wouldn't. It is actually the usual way to address your teacher in general as in "öğretmenim", "hocam".

And isn't the verb affetmek spelled with two fs?

In speech you say "afedersiniz!" with one "f" and I think that (some people might object to this) it is/should be written in this way, i.e. with one "f". I know that it is the infinitive form "affetmek" which makes you confused. But that is the way it is used, at least in this case.

 

[Ali Smith]

What if I added size?

Affedersiniz hocam, size bir sualim olacaktı.

Would this be considered polite, too?

 

[Rallino]

Yes, it's polite.

You would come across a bit awkward with sualim. It's very rarely used. I recommend you go with sorum, like LeBro said above.

 

[drowsykush]

Using sual with an Islamic scholar or an imam is totally okay, as it's often used in Islamic discussions. But as mentioned earlier, sual ain't as common as soru in many cases these days.