Lesson 2. Mənim bacım var: var / yox, and relatives on your mother's and father's side

I can say who is and isn't in my family — qardaşım var, uşağım yoxdur — ask “do you have…?”, and name my uncles and aunts on my mother's and my father's side.

There is and there isn't: var and yoxdur

Why: say who is in your family and who isn't. “There is” is var, “there isn't” is yoxdur. Azerbaijani has no verb “have”: “I have a brother” is “my brother exists”: qardaşım var. The “my” ending is from lesson 1. • Bacısı var. — Bacısı yoxdur. • Question: Bacın var? or Bacın varmı? • Answer: Bəli, var. / Xeyr, yoxdur. After a number and neçə, no -lar: iki dayım var; neçə bibin var? Age works the same way: yaş + “my” + var, “my years exist”; onun da qırx yaşı var “he's 40 too”. Two different “nots”: deyil is “is not” (tələbə deyiləm), yoxdur is “there isn't, doesn't have” (itim yoxdur). “No” to “Do you have…?” is yoxdur, not deyil. Uncles and aunts on your mother's and father's side are different words (see the table): dayı, xala are your mother's brother and sister; əmi, bibi your father's. Xala and əmi are also a polite way to address an older person, after the first name. For animals you ask nə, as for things, not kim. Watch out: Turkish hala is the father's sister; Azerbaijani xala is the mother's sister. Common mistakes: • ×Mən pişiyim var → Pişiyim var (mən is “I”, “my” is mənim); • ×Beş nəvələrim var → Beş nəvəm var; • ×Qardaşın var? — Xeyr, deyil → Xeyr, yoxdur.

There is, there isn't, is there?

“I have” is “my … exists”: the “my” ending on the word, then var.

There is	There isn't	Question
itim var	itim yoxdur	itin var? / itin varmı?
bacısı var	bacısı yoxdur	bacısı var?

Uncles and aunts: on your mother's and your father's side

Xala and əmi are also a polite way to address older people, after the first name: Aysel xala, Samir əmi.

Who	mother's side	father's side
brother	dayı	əmi
sister	xala	bibi

Lesson notes

There is and there isn't: var and yoxdur

Why: say who is in your family and who isn't. “There is” is var, “there isn't” is yoxdur. Azerbaijani has no verb “have”: “I have a brother” is “my brother exists”: qardaşım var. The “my” ending is from lesson 1. • Bacısı var. — Bacısı yoxdur. • Question: Bacın var? or Bacın varmı? • Answer: Bəli, var. / Xeyr, yoxdur. After a number and neçə, no -lar: iki dayım var; neçə bibin var? Age works the same way: yaş + “my” + var, “my years exist”; onun da qırx yaşı var “he's 40 too”. Two different “nots”: deyil is “is not” (tələbə deyiləm), yoxdur is “there isn't, doesn't have” (itim yoxdur). “No” to “Do you have…?” is yoxdur, not deyil. Uncles and aunts on your mother's and father's side are different words (see the table): dayı, xala are your mother's brother and sister; əmi, bibi your father's. Xala and əmi are also a polite way to address an older person, after the first name. For animals you ask nə, as for things, not kim. Watch out: Turkish hala is the father's sister; Azerbaijani xala is the mother's sister. Common mistakes: • ×Mən pişiyim var → Pişiyim var (mən is “I”, “my” is mənim); • ×Beş nəvələrim var → Beş nəvəm var; • ×Qardaşın var? — Xeyr, deyil → Xeyr, yoxdur.