I can describe an apartment and ask what's nearby: Dairede büyük bir salon var, Burada market var mı?
There is and there isn't: var and yok
There is and there isn't: var and yok
Why: to say what there is and isn't somewhere, and to describe an apartment.
var — “there is”, yok — “there isn't”. Both go at the end and never change: Evde balkon var. “There's a balcony in the house.” Merkezde hastane yok. “There's no hospital in the center.” English starts with “there is”; Turkish starts with the place, which takes -da.
Question: var mı? — Dairede balkon var mı? Short answers: Evet, var. — Hayır, yok. “How many?” — kaç: Kaç daire var? After kaç and after a number the noun stays singular: dört oda.
The word bir before a noun means “one”, and also “a”: Otelde bir kafe var. “There's a café at the hotel.”
A describing word comes before the noun, as in English, and never changes: yeni ev, yeni evler, yeni evde. The word bir goes between them: büyük bir oda “a big room”, çok güzel bir bahçe.
Watch out:
• apartman is an apartment building; an apartment is daire;
• eski is “old” for things and places, not for people.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “Burada var bir kafe” → Burada bir kafe var
• NOT “dört odalar var” → dört oda var
• NOT “Evde var balkon” → Evde balkon var
There is and there isn't
Var and yok go at the end and never change. The bottom row shows short answers.
| There is | There isn't | Question |
|---|---|---|
| Evde balkon var. | Evde balkon yok. | Evde balkon var mı? |
| Evet, var. | Hayır, yok. | — |
“What kind?” goes before the word
The “what kind?” word doesn't change: yeni ev — yeni evler. Bir goes between it and the noun.
| What kind? | bir | What |
|---|---|---|
| büyük | bir | oda |
| küçük | bir | banyo |
| eski | bir | daire |
| yeni | — | evler |
Lesson notes
There is and there isn't: var and yok
Why: to say what there is and isn't somewhere, and to describe an apartment.
var — “there is”, yok — “there isn't”. Both go at the end and never change: Evde balkon var. “There's a balcony in the house.” Merkezde hastane yok. “There's no hospital in the center.” English starts with “there is”; Turkish starts with the place, which takes -da.
Question: var mı? — Dairede balkon var mı? Short answers: Evet, var. — Hayır, yok. “How many?” — kaç: Kaç daire var? After kaç and after a number the noun stays singular: dört oda.
The word bir before a noun means “one”, and also “a”: Otelde bir kafe var. “There's a café at the hotel.”
A describing word comes before the noun, as in English, and never changes: yeni ev, yeni evler, yeni evde. The word bir goes between them: büyük bir oda “a big room”, çok güzel bir bahçe.
Watch out:
• apartman is an apartment building; an apartment is daire;
• eski is “old” for things and places, not for people.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “Burada var bir kafe” → Burada bir kafe var
• NOT “dört odalar var” → dört oda var
• NOT “Evde var balkon” → Evde balkon var