A quantity can describe a total or each person’s share. You will make that difference explicit, then describe group sizes and people moving two at a time.
The idea
The distributive marks the amount per recipient: ikişer havlu means two towels each. Use -er after a front vowel (e i ö ü) and -ar after a back vowel (a ı o u); after a vowel-final number, use -şer/-şar: ikişer, altışar. Notice the changed consonant in dört → dörder, but the unchanged one in üç → üçer. In on iki → on ikişer, only the last word takes the ending. Adding -li/-lı gives group-size forms: üçerli gruplar means groups of three. Repeating ikişer ikişer describes successive pairs.
| Number | Suffix | Distributive |
|---|---|---|
| bir | -er | birer |
| üç | -er | üçer |
| dört | -er | dörder |
| on | -ar | onar |
| dokuz | -ar | dokuzar |
| iki | -şer | ikişer |
| yedi | -şer | yedişer |
| altı | -şar | altışar |
| on iki | -şer | on ikişer |
Examples
- Konuklara ikişer temiz havlu veriyoruz.We give the guests two clean towels each.
- Her kutuya altışar mum koyuyoruz.We put six candles in each box.
- Masalara dörder küçük tabak bırakıyoruz.We leave four small plates on each table.
- ikişerliin groups of twoikişer-er / -ar: equal sharesli-li / -lı / -lu / -lü: with, having
- üçerliin groups of threeüçer-er / -ar: equal sharesli-li / -lı / -lu / -lü: with, having
- altışarlıin groups of sixaltışar-er / -ar: equal shareslı-li / -lı / -lu / -lü: with, having
- Üçerli gruplar halinde çalışıyoruz.We work in groups of three.
- Çocuklar bahçeye ikişer ikişer çıkıyor.The children go out into the garden two at a time.
- Her pakette on ikişer kart var.There are twelve cards in each pack.
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Watch out
İki havlu can simply mean two towels in total; ikişer havlu assigns two to each recipient. Keep the counted noun singular: ikişer havlu, not ikişer havlular. Write distributives in words, without a digit-and-apostrophe shortcut.
Try it yourself
Write “three each” as one Turkish word.
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üçer
üçer: the final ü selects e. Since üç ends in a consonant, no ş is inserted, and ç stays unchanged.
Complete with “six each”; write only the missing word.
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altışar
altışar: every box receives six candles. The number ends in ı, so the ending needs both ş and the back vowel a.
Write “four each”; pay attention to the final consonant of the number.
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dörder
dörder: four plates go to each table. The t of dört changes to d before -er; keeping t would miss this word’s consonant change.
Write “twelve each”; keep the number in words.
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on ikişer
on ikişer: each pack contains twelve, so the ending belongs to iki within on iki. Keep the space between the two number words.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Write “three each” as one Turkish word.
Complete with “six each”; write only the missing word.
Write “four each”; pay attention to the final consonant of the number.
Write “twelve each”; keep the number in words.
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: in groups of two
Tap the parts in order to build this word: in groups of three
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Plan supplies for four guests: give each person two towels and three cards. Write two allocation sentences, calculate the totals, then ask the guests to form pairs using ikişerli.