Asking the price: kaç lira?

The idea

Two questions ask the price. Kaç lira? means "how many lira" and fits when the price is in lira: Bu kaç lira? Ne kadar? means "how much" and stands alone: Hepsi ne kadar? The answer is a number plus lira: Yirmi beş lira. Numbers are written as separate words, tens first: yirmi beş.

Examples

• Bu kaç lira?How much is this?Word for word: this, how many lira? The word kaç asks for a number, and lira follows it in the singular.
• Bu ceket kaç lira?How much is this jacket?
• Ben on lira veriyorum.I am giving ten lira.The pronoun ben may be dropped: On lira veriyorum. The verb ending already says "I".
• Hepsi ne kadar?How much is everything together?Hepsi means all of it. You say this at the till when you have picked several things.
• Bir kilo peynir kaç lira?How much is a kilo of cheese?
• Üç simit on beş lira.Three simit cost fifteen lira.After a number the noun stays singular: üç simit and on beş lira, never simitler or liralar.
• Fiyatı ne kadar?What is the price?Fiyatı is fiyat (price) plus -ı (its). Ne kadar stands alone here, without lira.
• Bu biraz pahalı.This is a bit expensive.
• İndirim var mı?Is there a discount?The word mı is written apart and makes the sentence a yes-or-no question. The answer is Var or Yok.
• Yirmi beş lira.Twenty-five lira.

Watch out

Kaç asks for a number, so the noun after it stays singular: Kaç lira?, never Kaç liralar?. The answer works the same way: yüz lira, not yüz liralar, however large the number.

Try it yourself

1. Fill in the question word: How much is this? (word for word: how many lira)

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   kaç

   kaç: you want a number of lira, and only kaç asks for a number; ne kadar stands alone and is not joined to lira.

2. Fill in the missing word: What is the price?

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   ne

   ne: ne kadar is the fixed question "how much"; kaç kadar does not exist.

3. Three simit cost fifteen lira. Write the missing word without adding a plural.

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   lira

   lira: the number on beş already shows there is more than one, so the noun stays singular.

4. This is twenty-five lira. Write the number 25 in Turkish words.

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   yirmi beş

   yirmi beş: the ten comes before the unit and the two words are written apart: yirmi (20), then beş (5).

Use it today

Pick five things around you, ask the price of each with kaç lira or ne kadar, and answer with a made-up price written in words.