You will say what you have and do not have, using a possessive ending and the words var and yok.
The idea
Turkish has no verb for “to have”. Put a possessive ending on the thing you own, then add var (it exists) or yok (it does not): Kitabım var means “I have a book”, literally “my book exists”. The ending shows the owner: -ım mine, -ın yours, -ı/-si his or hers, -ımız ours, -ınız yours (plural or formal), and its vowel follows harmony. You may add the owner in the genitive: benim kitabım var. For I, you and we it is usually dropped, but a name or a noun must stay and takes -in: Ayşe'nin kedisi var.
| Owner | After a vowel | After a consonant |
|---|---|---|
| benim | kedim | kitabım |
| senin | kedin | kitabın |
| onun | kedisi | kitabı |
| bizim | kedimiz | kitabımız |
| sizin | kediniz | kitabınız |
| onların | kedileri | kitapları |
Examples
- Benim iki kardeşim var.I have two siblings.After iki (two) the noun stays singular, but it keeps its possessive ending: kardeşim, not kardeşlerim.
- Senin araban var mı?Do you have a car?
- Bugün param yok.I have no money today.Yok is the negative of var, so there is no değil here. The pronoun benim is left out: the ending -m already says whose money it is.
- Ayşe'nin kedisi var.Ayşe has a cat.A named owner takes the genitive 'nin, and the thing takes -si: Ayşe'nin kedisi. Unlike benim, a name cannot be dropped.
- Bizim bahçemiz yok.We have no garden.
- kedimmy catkedim-im / -ım / -um / -üm / -m: my
- kitabımmy bookkitabım-im / -ım / -um / -üm / -m: my
- çocuğunuzyour child (formal or plural you)çocuğunuz-ınız / -iniz / -unuz / -ünüz: your (plural, polite)
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Watch out
The ending goes on the thing owned, and it cannot be left out: Ben kitap var is wrong, because it does not say whose book it is. Say Kitabım var or Benim kitabım var. Watch softening too: kitap becomes kitabım and çocuk becomes çocuğum.
Try it yourself
Add the possessive ending to araba (car): I have a car.
Show answer or example answer
arabam
arabam: araba ends in a vowel, so the ending for “my” is only -m.
Add the possessive ending to kitap (book): I have a book.
Show answer or example answer
kitabım
kitabım: kitap ends in a consonant, so the ending is -ım (last vowel a gives ı), and the p softens to b before the vowel.
Add the third-person ending to kedi (cat): Elif has a cat.
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kedisi
kedisi: the owner is already in the genitive (Elif'in), and after the vowel i the third-person ending is -si.
Add the possessive ending to çocuk (child): Do you (formal or plural) have a child?
Show answer or example answer
çocuğunuz
çocuğunuz: sizin asks for -unuz after the last vowel u, and the k softens to ğ before it.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Add the possessive ending to araba (car): I have a car.
Add the possessive ending to kitap (book): I have a book.
Add the third-person ending to kedi (cat): Elif has a cat.
Add the possessive ending to çocuk (child): Do you (formal or plural) have a child?
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the parts in order to build this word: my cat
Tap the parts in order to build this word: my book
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Write four sentences about what you have and do not have at home, using var and yok. Underline each possessive ending and check the last vowel and last consonant of the noun.