Demonstratives
These words indicate location or things and usually correspond to English words like this, that, these, those.
| Turkish | Meaning | Usage/Example |
| bu | this | Refers to something close to the speaker.Example: Bu kitap güzel. → “This book is nice.” |
| şu | that | Refers to something farther from the speaker, but still visible.Example: Şu araba hızlı. → “That car (over there) is fast.” |
| o | that | Refers to something far from both speaker and listener, often abstract or far away.Example: O ev çok büyük. → “That house is very big.” |
Plural Demonstratives
These are the plural forms of bu, şu, o.
| Turkish | Meaning | Usage/Example |
| bunlar | these | Plural of bu → things close to the speaker.Example: Bunlar benim kalemlerim. → “These are my pens.” |
| şunlar | those | Plural of şu → things a bit farther.Example: Şunlar senin kitapların mı? → “Are those your books?” |
| onlar | those | Plural of o → far from both speaker and listener.Example: Onlar öğrenciler. → “Those are students.” |
Location Demonstratives
These words are used when talking about locations, often with -sı endings indicating “the place of…”.
| Turkish | Meaning | Usage/Example |
| burası | this place/here | Burası çok güzel. → “This place is very nice.” |
| şurası | that place / there (near-ish) | Şurası güzel değil mi? → “That place over there isn’t nice?” |
| orası | that place / there (far) | Orası çok uzak. → “That place is very far.” |
Tekil ve Çoğul (Singular and Plural) in Turkish
In Turkish:
- Tekil = singular (one)
- Çoğul = plural (more than one)
Turkish makes plurals by adding:
-lar / -ler
This suffix follows vowel harmony.
Basic Rule: -lar / -ler
Turkish has 2-way vowel harmony for plural suffixes.
If the last vowel is:
- a, ı, o, u → use -lar
- e, i, ö, ü → use -ler
Examples
Tekil → Çoğul
- ev → evler (house → houses)
- kitap → kitaplar (book → books)
- öğrenci → öğrenciler (student → students)
- kapı → kapılar (door → doors)
- bardak → bardaklar (glass → glasses)
- şehir → şehirler (city → cities)
No Gender in Turkish
Unlike English or Arabic, Turkish has:
- no masculine
- no feminine
- no grammatical gender
So:
- o = he / she / it
- çocuk = child (boy or girl)
Plural is always just: çocuklar = children
Usage of -lar/-ler after numbers
If there is a number, the noun stays singular in Turkish.
For example, üç kitap, iki ev, beş öğrenci
üç kitaplar is wrong here. This is because the number already shows plurality.
So:
| English | Turkish |
| 3 books | üç kitap |
| 5 houses | beş ev |
| 10 students | on öğrenci |
Plural with Demonstratives
You already studied:
- bu = this
- şu = that (near)
- o = that (far)
Plural forms:
- bunlar = these
- şunlar = those
- onlar = those
Example:
- Bu ev → This house
- Bu evler → These houses
- Bunlar evler → These are houses
When Plural is NOT Used
Sometimes Turkish does not use plural where English does.
General statements:
English:
Cats are cute.
Turkish:
Kedi sevimlidir.
(not kediler)
Because you’re speaking generally.
Another example:
İnsan hata yapar.
(Humans make mistakes.)
Not:
İnsanlar hata yapar.
Both are possible, but singular is common for general truths.
Collective Meaning
Sometimes plural adds emphasis, variety, and an emotional tone:
For Example:
- Evler çok güzel. (The houses are beautiful.)
- İnsanlar çok garip. (People are very strange.)
Proper Nouns + -lar/-ler
You can add -lar/-ler to names to mean:
- Family
- Group
- Exaggeration
- respect
Examples:
- Ahmetler geliyor.
(Ahmet and his family / Ahmet’s group are coming.) - Gençler!
(Hey young people!)
Summary Table
| Tekil | Çoğul |
| ev | evler |
| kitap | kitaplar |
| öğrenci | öğrenciler |
| kapı | kapılar |
| şehir | şehirler |
Suffix (Eki):
- -lar (after a, ı, o, u)
- -ler (after e, i, ö, ü)
Exceptions
There are a few exceptions in the Turkish language, which you will have to learn. Some borrowed words from other languages, having ‘a,o,u’ in the last syllable, still take -ler.
For Example:
Saatler, misaller, haller, roller, petroller, semboller. (Notice how these are borrowed words like role or petrol in English)
Copular Suffix
You will have noticed the usage of dır / -dir / -dur / -dür / -tır / -tir / -tur / -tür at the end of some words. These are copular suffixes in Turkish and are sometimes skipped while speaking. This means that their usage is totally optional. They mean something like: is, are, it is indeed, it is a fact that, etc.
For Example:
Bunlar ne(dir)?
Bunlar = these
ne = what
-dir = is/are (formal, emphatic)
Literal:
These what-are?
Natural English:
What are these?
The -dir is optional. Most people say:
Bunlar ne? (very common)
Adding -dir makes it more formal, looks well-written and slightly more emphatic.
Sentence 2:
Bunlar bardak(tır).
Bunlar = these
bardak = glass
-tır = are / indeed are
Natural meaning:
These are glasses.
But normally Turks say:
Bunlar bardak. (everyday speech)
Adding -tır makes it sound more official, like a scientific statement or with stronger assertion.
Why sometimes -dır, sometimes -tır?
This is because of consonant harmony (ünsüz uyumu).
If the word ends in:
Voiced consonant (b, c, d, g, ğ, j, l, m, n, r, v, y, z)
→ use -dır / -dir / -dur / -dür
Example:
- Evdir
- Kalemdir
Voiceless consonant (p, ç, t, k, f, h, s, ş)
→ d becomes t
So:
- kitap → kitaptır
- bardak → bardaktır
Because k is voiceless → so dır → tır. This is called consonant assimilation.
So what does -dır REALLY mean?
It has 3 main functions:
Stating facts
Dünya yuvarlaktır.
The world is round.
Making general truths
Türkiye büyük bir ülkedir.
Turkey is a big country.
Strong assertion / emphasis
O doktordur.
He IS a doctor (I assure you).
Why is it usually removed?
In modern spoken Turkish, the present tense of “to be” is usually zero.
Instead of:
Ben öğrenciyimdir (too heavy)
People say:
Ben öğrenciyim.
Or even:
Ben öğrenci. (very casual)
