When -lAr is attached to the possessive compounds, it precedes the possessive/compound marker. Because the plural marker ends in a consonant, the possessive marker always appears as ı, i, u, ¨u, without s after the plural -lAr.
c¸ocuk araba-sı c¸ocuk araba-lar-ı el sabun-u el sabun-lar-ı T ¨urk kahve-si T ¨urk kahve-ler-i
The first noun in the compound can be plural, as seen in the examples below. When the first part of the compound is plural (carries the -lAr morpheme), the compound cannot be pluralized with -lAr.
O˘gretmenler odası¨ *¨o˘gretmenler odaları Kadınlar hamamı *kadınlar hamamları Erkekler tuvaleti *erkekler tuvaletleri
When the first part of the compound is lexically plural (and does not bear the plural marker -lAr but has a plural meaning), it can be pluralized with -lAr. Such lexically plural examples are very few in number (e.g., hayvanat in hayvanat bah¸cesi, hayvanat bah¸celeri) and are all words of Arabic origin. They are not even perceived as plural by most native speakers.
6.3 Cardinal numbers
Here is a list of the cardinal numbers in Turkish. It is pretty regular, so I have listed all the cardinal numbers up to 30 and then just listed the ‘ten’ numbers. On bir is 11, yirmi bir is 21, otuz bir is 31, kırk bir is 41, etc.
Numerals and plurality
0 sıfır
1 bir 11 onbir 21 yirmi bir 40 kırk 108 y ¨uz sekiz
2 iki 12 oniki 22 yirmi iki 50 elli 111 y ¨uz onbir
3 ¨uc¸ 13 on ¨uc¸ 23 yirmi ¨uc¸ 60 altmıs¸
4 d¨ort 14 ond¨ort 24 yirmi d¨ort 70 yetmis¸
5 bes¸ 15 onbes¸ 25 yirmi bes¸ 80 seksen
6 altı 16 onaltı 26 yirmi altı 90 doksan
7 yedi 17 onyedi 27 yirmi yedi 100 y ¨uz
8 sekiz 18 onsekiz 28 yirmi sekiz 1000 bin 9 dokuz 19 ondokuz 29 yirmi dokuz million milyon
10 on 20 yirmi 30 otuz billion milyar
We do not need bir with 100 and 1000. That is, 100 is y¨uz, not bir y¨uz, 1000 is bin, not bir bin. However, milyon and milyar require bir: bir milyon, bir milyar. You do not use ‘and’ when you are reading the numbers. ‘Two hundred and fifty-one’ is iki y¨uz elli bir (without ‘and’).
Remember that when cardinal numbers modify nouns, nouns cannot have the plural marker -lAr (two cats is iki kedi, not iki kediler).
The word stress on numerals falls on the last syllable, except in the case of numbers with on: yirmi doKUZ, seksen alTI vs. ONdokuz, ONaltı.
Exercise 3 Write or read aloud these numbers:
43 1001 19 88 2010 30
108 2049 248 7 333 8
222 2 90 11 215 5
6.4 bir ‘one’ or ‘a(n)’
The cardinal number bir ‘one’ is a special number in the sense that it can be used also to express the meaning marked with the indefinite article ‘a(n)’ in English. Apart from bir there is no other marker that corresponds to the indefinite article in English but objects can be used in the bare form without articles to express an ‘indefinite’ sense. When used without bir, the interpretation is ‘book-reading’ rather than ‘reading a book.’ The difference in meaning between the sentences with and without bir is very minor.
Ays¸e kitap okuyor. ‘Ays¸e is book-reading.’
Ays¸e bir kitap okuyor. ‘Ays¸e is reading a book.’
When there is an adjective, objects sound much better with bir. When the object is modified by a relative clause, bir is obligatory, otherwise the meaning of the sentence changes. In such cases, the object bears a case marker as well. The sentence is not grammatical without a case marker.
Kısa bir film seyrettik.
‘We watched a short film.’
Kısa film seyrettik.
‘We watched (a) short film.’
Ays¸e arkadas¸larının tavsiye etti˘gi bir kitabı okuyor.
‘Ays¸e is reading a book that her friends recommended.’
*Ays¸e arkadas¸larının tavsiye etti˘gi bir kitap okuyor. (This is not possible.) Ays¸e arkadas¸larının tavsiye etti˘gi kitabı okuyor.
‘Ays¸e is reading the book that her friends recommended.’
Bir can be used with a cardinal number interpretation as well. When it has the ‘one’
interpretation, rather than ‘a(n),’ as seen in the second and the third examples below, it is stressed.
Tatilde okumak ic¸in g ¨uzel bir kitap arıyorum.
Tatilde yalnızca bir kitap okuyabildim.
Ays¸e’nin bir o˘glu var. Ablasının iki o˘glu var.
In addition to the stress pattern, the order of bir and adjectives is different in indefinite and numeral structures. The indefinite bir appears between an adjective and a noun. When bir precedes the adjective, it has a numeral interpretation. With an extra stress on bir, it can have a numeral interpretation when it appears between a noun and an adjective as well.
Annem g ¨uzel bir elbise almıs¸.
‘My mother bought a nice dress.’
Annem bir g ¨uzel elbise almıs¸.
‘My mother bought one nice dress.’
In colloquial spoken language the r at the end of bir is dropped and the word is pronounced as /bi/ when it has the indefinite article interpretation. Because it is stressed, we do not observe r-drop in the numeral interpretation.
It is less common to use bir with nouns in the predicate position. While we did not have bir in this position in the past, it started being popular with the influence of the English language on Turkish, especially due to soap opera translations in recent years.
Some speakers (who most probably do not watch TV very often) say that the version with bir sounds very bad in examples such as the following:
Ben doktorum.
Ben bir doktorum.
Bir cannot be used with plural objects with indefinite article interpretation; however, it is possible to see plural nouns with bir. In such idiomatic uses, it rather has an emphasis func-tion. In the examples below, the speaker means ‘The films that we saw were exceptionally good!’ or ‘The stories in the book were exceptionally interesting.’
Bir filmler seyrettik!
Bu kitapta bir hikayeler var (okusan bayılırsın).
Bir can also have an adverbial interpretation. In such uses, it modifies the verb or the whole event and has an emphasis function. The meaning of the first two examples are
‘Could you have a quick look?’ Or ‘Could you come for a minute or so?’ It adds a quickness or easiness to the action. In the last example, the meaning it adds increases the effect of
‘shouting’: ‘He shouted in such a way that . . . ’
Numerals and plurality
Bir bakar mısınız?
Bir gelir misiniz?
Adam c¸ocuklara bir ba˘gırmıs¸ . . .
Bir can have an ‘only’ interpretation as well. In such uses, it can be replaced by the adverbs sadece or yalnızca ‘only.’
Bir annem beni anlıyor.
‘Only my mother can understand me.’
Bunu bir sen yapabilirsin, bir de Suzan.
‘Only you could do this. And also Suzan.’
Bir can have a ‘once’ interpretation in examples like the following:
Haldun haftada bir bize geliyor.
‘Haldun comes to us once a week.’
Amcam yılda bir kere doktor kontrol ¨une gidiyor.
‘My uncle goes for a check-up once a year.’
Bir can appear in some idiomatic expressions as well. Here is a list of some of them:
bir kere ‘once’
bir daha ‘again, once more’
bir an ¨once ‘as soon as possible’
bir ara ‘some time, at some point’
bir arada ‘together’
bir s¨ur¨u / yı˘gın ‘a lot of’
bir t¨url¨u ‘no matter what, by no means’
birden ‘all of a sudden’
bir de ‘and also’
bir bir ‘one by one’
birer birer ‘one by one’
6.5 Ordinal numbers
Ordinal numbers are formed with the attachment of the suffix -(I)ncI to the cardinal numbers. Here are some examples:
birinci, ikinci, ¨uc¸¨unc ¨u, d¨ord ¨unc ¨u, bes¸inci, altıncı, yedinci, sekizinci, dokuzuncu, onuncu
The ordinal number suffix undergoes I-type vowel harmony and the initial vowel may be omitted if the cardinal number has one of the variants of the I-vowel. Note the I-ending numbers yedi and iki above.
When ordinal numbers appear in a text, the suffix -(I)ncI is separated with an apostrophe.
Bu yıl festivalin 12’incisi d ¨uzenlenecek.
Bu binanın 14’ ¨unc ¨u katında oturuyorlarmıs¸.
The ordinal suffix may be replaced with a period as seen in the first example below.
Such a replacement with a period is especially common in person names or other naming
contexts as exemplified below. You may think about this period as the -th that appears after ordinal numbers in English. When these sentences are read, 16. and IV. are read as onaltıncı or d¨ord¨unc¨u.
16. Film Festivali bu yıl Temmuz ayında yapılacak.
IV. Murat ‘Murat the fourth’
II. D ¨unya Savas¸ı ‘The Second World War’
18. Y¨uz Yıl ‘18th century’
-(I)ncI is attached to the question word ka¸c to make questions.
-˙Ismet ˙In¨on ¨u T ¨urkiye’nin kac¸ıncı cumhurbas¸kanıydı?
-˙Ikinci
Another word for birinci is ilk ‘first.’ The word we use for ‘last’ is son.
T ¨urkiye’nin birinci / ilk cumhurbas¸kanı kimdi?
Exercise 4 Complete the sentences with the correct form of -(I)ncI. In some examples, you will need to attach a case marker or a possessive marker, as well.
1. Mustafa Kemal Atat ¨urk T¨urkiye Cumhuriyeti’nin (1st) cumhurbas¸kanı.
2. Babası Hasan’a (18th) do˘gumg ¨un¨unde araba alacakmıs¸.
3. Buse, teyzemin (3rd) c¸ocu˘gu, anneannemin de (4th) torunu.
4. Tuz G¨ol ¨u T ¨urkiye’nin (2nd) b ¨uy¨uk g¨ol ¨u.
5. Sen ailenin (kac¸) torunusun?
6. G ¨uzellik yarıs¸masının (1st) yine Venezuellalıymıs¸.
7. Murat bu yıl (6th) sınıfa gec¸ti.
8. Hasan Bey bu s¸irketin (2nd) m ¨ud¨ur¨u.
9. Melis (5th) yas¸ını Silivri’de kutlamak istiyormus¸.
10. Bu g ¨un annemlerin (27th) evlenme yıld¨on ¨um¨u.
11. Kardes¸im 2010 yılında, (10th) ayın 10’unda evlenecek.
12. Bu ablamın (1st), enis¸temin (2nd) evlili˘gi.
6.6 Distributive numbers
Distributive numbers are formed by the attachment of the distributive suffix -(s¸)Ar to the cardinal numbers. The suffix undergoes A-type vowel harmony. The s¸ part of the suffix is dropped when it is attached to a number that ends in a consonant.
The meaning of cardinal number+ -(s¸)Ar is ‘ . . . each.’ For example, iki-s¸er means ‘two each,’ bir-er means ‘one each.’ When distributive numbers are repeated, as in ikis¸er ikis¸er, birer birer, it means ‘two by two’ or ‘one by one.’
Mehmet’in acelesi var herhalde. Basamaklarıikis¸er ikis¸er c¸ıkıyor.
‘Mehmet must be in a hurry. He is climbing up the steps two by two.’
Bas¸bakanbirer birer b ¨ut¨un c¸ocuklarla konus¸tu.
‘The Prime Minister talked to all the children one by one.’
Two different cardinal numbers+ -(s¸)Ar can be also used to mean ‘in groups.’
Saat dokuzdan sonra Turistlerikis¸er ¨uc¸er m¨uzeye girmeye bas¸ladı.
‘After nine, tourists started entering into the museum in groups of two or three.’
Numerals and plurality
Exercise 5 Attach the correct form of -(s¸)Ar to the cardinal numbers below.
bes¸ oniki sekiz on d¨ort
altı yedi dokuz onbir ¨uc¸
Exercise 6 Complete the sentences with -(s¸)Ar.
1. Sisten sonra uc¸aklar bir bir piste inmeye bas¸ladı.
2. Asans¨or d¨ort kis¸ilik oldu˘gu ic¸in yukarıya d¨ort d¨ort c¸ıkabiliyoruz.
3. Babaannem bayramlarda bize bir mendil ve bayram harc¸lı˘gı verirdi.
4. Hasan iddiayı kazanırsa hepimize ¨uc¸ top dondurma ısmarlayacak.
5. Dansc¸ılar yedi kis¸ilik gruplar halinde sahneye c¸ıktılar.
6. Zehra herkese altı kart da˘gıtacak.
7. Garsonlara bes¸ lira bahs¸is¸ bıraktık.
8. Patron b ¨ut¨un is¸c¸ilerle iki defa g¨or¨us¸m ¨us¸, yine de sorunu halledememis¸.
6.7 The time
It is very simple to tell the time in Turkish:
Saat iki (time two) ‘it is two o’clock.’
In a formal context, 13 instead of 1 (pm), 14 instead of 2 (pm), 15 instead of 3 pm, etc.
are used. Bu¸cuk ‘half ’ is the word used for 30 as in 10:30, which is on bu¸cuk in Turkish. The word for ‘quarter’ is ¸ceyrek and it is used with case markers when you would like to express
‘quarter past’ and ‘quarter to’ senses. Note the accusative case in the following examples.
The word ge¸ciyor is the same as the word for ‘past’ in English.
Saat altıyı c¸eyrek gec¸iyor. ‘It is quarter past six.’
Saat altıyı yirmi gec¸iyor. ‘It is 20 past six.’
Here is how you would say ‘20 to four.’ Note the dative case on the hour.
Saat d¨orde yirmi var. ‘It is 20 to four.’
Saat d¨orde c¸eyrek var. ‘It is 15 to four.’
The word ge¸ce is also used for expressing ‘past.’ Similarly, the word kala is used for ‘to,’
when you are expressing the time in a sentence, rather than telling the time alone.
Otob ¨us altıyı c¸eyrek ge¸ce geliyor.
‘The bus is coming at quarter past six.’
Otob ¨us d¨orde yirmi kala geliyor.
‘The bus is coming at 20 to four.’
13:40 14:20
Telling the time only: Saat ikiye yirmivar.
Saat on ¨uc¸ kırk.
Saat ikiyi yirmigec¸iyor.
Saat ond¨ort yirmi.
Using the time in a sentence: Otob¨us ikiye yirmi kala geliyor.
Otob ¨us on ¨uc¸ kırkta geliyor.
Otob ¨us ikiyi yirmi gec¸e geliyor.
Otob ¨us iki yirmide geliyor.
The word for midnight, 24:00, is gece yarısı.
To ask how long something takes or lasts, we use the verb s¨ur-. Instead of ka¸c saat you may use the term ne kadar as well.
Film ka¸c saat s ¨urecek?
Yolculuk ne kadar s ¨urecek?
Exercise 7 How would you tell the time? Use the words ¸ceyrek, bu¸cuk, ge¸ciyor, when you can.
11:00 Saat 08:30 Saat
12:15 Saat 09:00 Saat
10:45 Saat 07:10 Saat
Exercise 8 What time is it? Write the numbers.
1. Saat dokuzu bes¸ gec¸iyor :
2. Saat onbire yirmi var :
3. Saat bes¸ buc¸uk :
4. Saat d¨orde c¸eyrek var : 5. Saat altıyı c¸eyrek gec¸iyor :
6. Saat ¨uc¸ buc¸uk :
7. Saat yarım :
Exercise 9 Match the sentences with the time that is mentioned in the sentence.
07:00 07:30 08:15 09:05 10:00 12:00 12:30 13:15 16:45 17:00 17:40 19:00 19:30 20:00 24:00
1. Toplantı altıya yirmi kala bas¸layacakmıs¸.
2. Vapur on ¨uc¸ onbes¸te Kadık¨oy iskelesinde oluyor.
3. Stadyumun kapılarını tam sekizde ac¸acaklarmıs¸.
4. Seda’nın Almanca dersleri aks¸am yedide bas¸lıyor.
5. Bu d¨onem derslerim herg ¨un onda bas¸layacak.
6. Ahmet Bey’in misafirleriyle ¨o˘glen bulus¸up yemek yiyece˘giz.
7. Babam bu gece n¨obetc¸i. Sabah yediden ¨once evde olmaz.
8. Bizim kafe yarımda ac¸ılıyor.
9. Dedemin saat yedi buc¸ukta tansiyon ilacını ic¸mesi gerekiyor.
10. Saat bes¸te terminalde olmamız gerekiyordu ama hala yoldayız.
11. Servisler okulun ¨on ¨unden bes¸e c¸eyrek kala kalkıyor.
12. B ¨ut¨un ¨o˘grenciler en gec¸ sekizi c¸eyrek gec¸e arka bahc¸ede toplansınlar.
13. ATV’nin ana haber b ¨ulteni ondokuz otuzda mı bas¸lıyor?
14. Aslıhan’ın uc¸a˘gı gece yarısı kalkacakmıs¸.
15. Atat ¨urk 10 Kasım 1938’de saat dokuzu bes¸ gec¸e ¨olm ¨us¸.
6.8 Telephone numbers
Telephone numbers are not read digit by digit. Rather, the digits are pronounced as groups of three digits and then the last four digits as two numbers:
534 25 34 bes¸y ¨uz otuzd¨ort yirmibes¸ otuzd¨ort
Numerals and plurality
Exercise 10 Read or write down these telephone numbers:
212 245 11 15 216 304 14 95 314 333 24 52 212 414 35 02
6.9 Dates
The date 1970 is not ondokuz yetmis¸, it is rather expressed as ‘one thousand, nine hundred, seventy,’ bin dokuz y¨uz yetmis¸.
Exercise 11 Read and write down these dates:
1933 1973 1966 1924 2006 2000 1881 1071
Exercise 12 Match the expression of the dates with the dates in the second column.
bin dokuz y ¨uz doksan dokuz bin altmıs¸ altı
bin dokuz y ¨uz dokuz iki bin kırk sekiz bin altı y ¨uz dokuz bin dokuz y ¨uz altmıs¸sekiz iki bin oniki
bin d¨ort y¨uz doksan ¨uc¸
bin bes¸ y ¨uz yedi
bin dokuz y ¨uz seksen d¨ort bin ¨uc¸ y ¨uz kırkd¨ort iki bin on
Exercise 13 Write the dates that are mentioned in the sentences between the brackets provided right after the sentences and reorder the sentences according to the time order.
1. Bin dokuzy ¨uz kırk d¨ortte ve bin dokuzy¨uz kırk altıda iki kızları olmus¸
( , ). ˙Isimlerini Hale ve Hayriye koymus¸lar.
2. Bin dokuzy ¨uz ellide ˙Istanbul’a tas¸ınmıs¸lar ( ).
3. Dedem bin dokuz y ¨uz onaltıda Sakarya’da do˘gmus¸ ( ).
4. Orada dayım ˙Ibrahim de aileye katılmıs¸. Dayımın do˘gum tarihi bin dokuzy ¨uz elli iki.
( ).
5. Bin dokuz y ¨uz kırk ¨uc¸te anneannemle evlemis¸ler ( ).
6.10 Age
The age of a person is followed by the word yas¸ında and person markers are attached to the word accordingly. These are the person markers that you attach to nominal predicates (when you say ‘I am home,’ for example: evdeyim).
Mustafa 40 yas¸ında.
Ben yirmi ¨uc¸ yas¸ındayım.
The word yas¸ında is preceded by the question word ka¸c in questions ‘how old . . .?’ Tense markers -(y)DI and -(y)mIs¸ can be used together with the person marker to express past meaning.
Biz yirmi yas¸ındayız. Siz kac¸ yas¸ındasınız?
Sen ˙Istanbul’a geldi˘ginde kac¸ yas¸ındaydın?
Negative sentences are formed with de˘gil. When de˘gil is used, person and tense markers are attached to de˘gil.
Ben 20 yas¸ında de˘gilim.
Ben o zaman hen ¨uz 18 yas¸ında de˘gildim.
When the age is used as a modifier (as in ‘8-year-old girl’ in English), it precedes the noun that it modifies.
Sekiz yas¸ında bir ¨o˘grenci
˙Iki yas¸ında bir c¸ocuk
Exercise 14 Translate the sentences into Turkish.
1. I am 19.
2. I was 23 when we moved to Adana (= Adana’ya tanıs¸tı˘gımızda).
3. How old is your eldest brother?
4. Musa has a 4-year-old son.
5. This is an 18-year-old building.
6. How old were you in 2000?
7. I don’t have a driver’s licence because I am not 18 yet.
8. My father got married when he was 35.
9. We have a 2-year-old Van cat.
10. How old was the Turkish Republic when Atat ¨urk died (= Atat¨urk ¨old¨u˘g¨unde)?
6.11 Measuring substances
Description of substances in terms of measurement such as ‘a cup of . . . ’ is done in the following way. The order is the amount, followed by the measure, followed by the substance.
As seen in the examples, Turkish does not have a word like of in English.
Bir bardak s ¨ut (a glass milk) ‘a glass of milk’
˙Iki fincan T¨urk kahvesi (two cup Turkish coffee) ‘two cups of Turkish coffee’
The plural marker -lAr is not used on the measure word, contrary to the use of the plural marker in English. Note in the examples above that the words bardak and fincan do not have -lAr.
Measure phrases can form questions with ka¸c (‘how many?’), which replaces the number part of the measure phrase.
G ¨unde kac¸ bardak su ic¸iyorsunuz? ‘How many glasses of water?’
Bu c¸orbayakac¸ kas¸ık tuz koymak gerekiyor? ‘How many spoons of salt?’
Numerals and plurality
When the noun part can be inferred from the context, it can be dropped.
Ben g ¨unde sekiz bardak su ic¸iyorum. Siz kac¸ bardak Ø ic¸iyorsunuz?
‘I drink eight glasses of water every day. How many glasses (of water= Ø) do you drink?’
C¸ orbaya iki kas¸ık tuz koydum. Salataya bir kas¸ık Ø koydum.
‘I put two spoons of salt in the soup. One spoon (of salt= Ø) in the salad.’
Exercise 15 Complete the sentences with the measure phrases between brackets. Do not forget to add case markers when it is necessary.
1. Her sabah kahvaltıda (a glass of orange juice) ic¸iyorum.
2. Bize (two cups of Turkish coffee) yapar mısınız?
3. Hediye olarak (a box of chocolates) alalım mı?
4. Kos¸uya katılmak ic¸in (a pair of shoes) ihtiyacım var.
5. Yemekte sadece (a bowl of soup) ic¸tim ve biraz salata yedim.
6. Ahmet ve Banu (two bottles of rakı) ic¸ip sarhos¸ olmus¸lar.
7. Bu yeme˘ge (a tablespoon of olive oil) eklemek lazım.
8. Ays¸e c¸ayına (a teaspoon of sugar) koyuyor.
Exercise 16 Can you guess which measuring word is used for these substances? Note that some of the measures can be used in more than one sentence. Use each of them only once.
adım, avu¸c, bas¸, ¸cay barda˘gı, damla, demet, dilim, dis¸, grup, kadeh, kas¸ık, kavanoz, ko¸can, kutu, k¨ulah, otob¨us, paket, porsiyon, saksı, s¸is¸e, s¨urahi, tabak, top, tutam, yudum
1. Bu salata sosuna kac¸ sarımsak koydun?
2. Taksim’deki g ¨uvenlik ¨onlemleri ic¸in iki polis geldi.
3. Yeme˘ge iki so˘gan ve bir maydanoz koyduk, kapatmadan da bir tuz ve yarım zeytinya˘gı ekledik.
4. Ahmet c¸ayına kac¸ s¸eker ekledi, g¨ord ¨un m ¨u?
4. Ahmet c¸ayına kac¸ s¸eker ekledi, g¨ord ¨un m ¨u?