Turkish articles
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The Turkish articles, "the, a, and an" are crucial in order to learn the language. The Turkish articles refer the noun in terms of definiteness or indefiniteness. Generally, the articles specify the grammatical definiteness of the noun.
Grammar tips:
- The definite article “the” does not exist in the Turkish language. The accusative suffix ( ‑i ‑ı ‑u ‑ü) is used to state the definite case (the).
- Unlike in English, there is only one kind of article in Turkish which can be called an indefinite article.
- In Turkish “bir” is used as an indefinite article like “a or an”
| English Articles | Turkish Articles |
|---|---|
| the | - |
| a | bir |
| one | bir |
| some | bazı |
| few | az |
| the apple | elma |
| the apples | elmalar |
| an apple | bir elma |
| one apple | bir elma |
| some apples | bazı elmalar |
| few apples | birkaç elma |
Notice the structure of the articles in Turkish.
Lesson Outline
HideDefinite article
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Turkish -the-
The definite article “the” does not exist in the Turkish language. The accusative suffix ( ‑i ‑ı ‑u ‑ü) is used to state the definite form (the).
Examples
- Evi görüyormusun? - Do you see the house?
- Köfteyi yiyor. -He is eating the meat.
Essentially, the declesion -i is not an article. No need to use the articles in the Turkish language.
| Turkish | English |
|---|---|
| küçük kız | (the) small girl |
| kız küçük | (The) girl (is) small |
| büyük kız | (the) big girl |
| kız büyük | (The) girl (is) big |
The Turkish language has no separate word equivalent to the English definite article ‘the.’ You may be understood with or without ‘the’ by examples.
| Turkish | English |
|---|---|
| baş | head (or) the head |
| kahve | coffee (or) the coffee |
Indefinite article
Turkish -a or an-
Unlike the English, there is only one kind of article in Turkish which can be called an indefinite article.In Turkish “bir” is used as an indefinite article like “a or an”
- The article ''bir'' is not used before a plural noun. (the houses) : bir evler
evler 
- In Turkish, the articles 'a, an, the' are not used in general in a sentence.
- The article ''bir'' (a/an) is used to express the quantity.
Examples
- Bana bir elma verebilir misin? - Can you give me an apple?
- Bir kalem almalıyım. -I should buy a pencil.
Example table
| Singular | Plural | |
| No case | Bana kitap verir misin? Can you give me a book? | Bana kitaplar verir misin? Can you give me books? |
| Definite case | Bana kitabı verir misin? Can you give me the book? | Bana kitapları verir misin? Can you give me the books? |
| Indefinite case | Bana bir kitap verir misin? Can you give me a book? | Bana birkaç kitap verir misin? Can you give me few books? |
Exercises
Multiple choice exercise on the Turkish articles
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Hi to everyone! Welcome to my profile. My name is Eyyup. I was born in Turkey and I live in Turkey.
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Eyyup C.
Thank you very much for your nice comments Mila. Studying Turkish with you is also a great experience for me. It makes me happy to bring your superior ability in language learning to Turkish. Best wishes.
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Thank you Sebastien it was also a great pleasure for me to meet such a diligent and kind student like you. Thank you for everything. See you again..
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Türkçe ana dilimdir, dolayısı ile düzgün Türkçe öğreneceksiniz. Sosyal öğrenme ve tecrübe ederek öğrenme yaklaşımlarını birleştirmekteyim. Sosyal öğrenme benimle öğrenci arasındaki etkileşimin egemenliği ve öğrencinin benden destek almasını içerir. Tecrübe ederek öğrenme ise öğrencinin yeni tecrübeler geliştirmesine olanak sağlanmasi anlamındadır.
Tüm yaş grupları ve tüm düzeyler davetlidir.
Sizinle, Türkçe'yi kendinize güvenerek öğrenmenizde yardımcı olabileceğim bir yolculuk paylaşmayı umarım.
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Thank you Sereen! Derya
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Thank you Bernie...
Merhaba!
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8 years experience in total, 3 different schools in Turkey until I moved to Belgium 2 years ago. Also in Belgium, teaching several students Turkish, from different age groups, levels and expectations.
4 years college, 8 years private one by one lessons.
Oyleyse, gorusmek uzere!
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Hello everybody, I am Revan. I am a native Turkish speaker. I am an experienced Turkish instructor who has taught Turkish as a foreign language in Turkey and the U.S.A.
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I am native Turkish speaker from the south of Turkey. I graduated from departmant of science teacher at Cukurova University. Teaching is significant and enjoyable for me because I like to learn new things with right sources so I care to teach. When I was student I worked at study center course and I teached english to children. and I teached at homes.
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Hilal P.
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Hello Turkish Learners!
I am a professional Turkish Teacher and a translator with a master degree.I have visited so many countries to research cultures and Turkish Dialects.
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In the past, I worked as a lecturer in the School of Foreign Languages of Turkish Education at Kyrgyzstan Turkey Manas University for 3 years. During my appointment, I have taught all levels of Modern Turkish to the students who are from different nationalities such as Americans, Russians, English, German, Kazaks, Kyrgyz, Tatars, Mongol, Tuvas, Uighur Turk. I am also very fluent in Kyrgyz Turkish and Kazak Turkish.
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Kyuwon L.
Although it hasn’t long time since I started with her actually, but it was really helpful to me. It was simple but compact. She handles both of grammar and build-up with examples and exercise.
AYSEGUL Y.
Hi, My name is Ayşegül. I have graduated from Hacettepe University the department of English Language Teaching. I'm an English teacher in a private institution now. I can teach both English and Turkish.
The first and foremost I want to start with one of my favourite quotation from Richard Henry Dana(!) (I'm not sure whether this quotation belong to him or not, but I liked it. :) “He who dares to teach must never cease to learn.” First of all we as a teacher must improve ourselves about everything such as cultural knowledge, technology, best seller book, new novel etc. We should keep up with the time and try to understand our students.
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Hello everybody. I am a native Turkish speaker. I growed up in Istanbul. Also I am a Turkish Language and Literature teacher/academic with 10 years of experience. I have a BA and MA degree. Now I am writing my doctoral dissertation. It's about 'Turkish Novels'.
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Teaching is my passion. I motivate my students very well. I give them homeworks and follow their progress. My lessons are cheerful. My students usually say they feel relax in my lessons.
I have written a master thesis, two books and now I've been writing my PhD thesis. Turkish literature is my profession. When you made a lot of progress we will read and discuss on Turkish literary. I am a huge fan of Dostoyevksi. I think he is the best author off all times. My favourites from Turkish literary are Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar and İhsan Oktay Anar. Maybe we will be discussing their writings one day, who knows :)
I am a patient and cheerful teacher. Because I really love my job. I believe that I'm making language learning enjoyable and easy.
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Now, you know me some more :)
If you're still looking at my profile now probably you are interested in my Turkish courses. I know you are irresolute between to take a trial lesson or not. I know, it is a bit hard to find the right teacher that you can agree. And also I know you think whether learning Turkish is a good idea or not. I am here for meeting with you and answering your questions :) And also...
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After you've booked the trial lesson, please give me some information about you and your Turkish language level. If you demand, I am going to apply placement test.
Görüşmek üzere :)
Taylor .
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Hilal D.