A1 · The simple sentence · about 6 minutes
There is and have: “var” and “yok”
there is, there is not, to have
Two words for “present” and “not present” — with them you say “there is” and “I have”.
Do you know this already?
“New to me”: the explanation first, then practice. “Test myself”: 3 short questions – get at least two right and you go straight to the harder exercises.
Words you will need8
They appear in this topic’s examples and exercises and are new at this point on the learning path.
- birisomebody
- buzdolabıfridge
- tuvalettoilet
- paramoney
- yakındasoon
- derslesson, class; subject
- sormakto ask
- vakittime
Understand
Remember“I have” means: my … is var.
- Signal words
- var
- yok
- var mı
- yok mu
The form
The patterns at a glance
Each row first says when or what the pattern is used for, then gives an example in Turkish.
question marker
| there is | Evde süt var. |
| there is not | Burada park yeri yok. |
| is there …? | Burada eczane var mı? |
| I have | Arabam var. |
| I do not have | Vaktim yok. |
| do you have …? | Kardeşin var mı? |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
var means “there is” and goes at the end of the sentence.
Kapıda biri var.There is someone at the door.
yok means “there is not”.
Buzdolabında süt yok.There is no milk in the fridge.
“Have” is: the noun with a possessive ending, plus var.
İki kardeşim var.I have two brothers and sisters.
The question is mı after var and mu after yok.
Burada tuvalet var mı?Is there a toilet here?
You need no word for “no” or “any”; yok already negates.
Hiç param yok.I have no money at all.
Example sentences
Yakında bir market var mı?Is there a supermarket near here?
Bugün dersim yok.I have no lessons today.
Onun bir kedisi var.She has a cat.
6 more example sentences
Sorunuz var mı?Do you have a question?
Odada büyük bir pencere var.The room has a big window.
Vaktim yok, sonra konuşalım.I have no time, let us talk later.
Arabanız var mı?Do you have a car?
Bu otelde havuz yok.This hotel has no pool.
Evde ekmek var ama peynir yok.There is bread at home, but no cheese.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
If you translate “I have a car” in your head, you put var in the place of “have” and leave the car without an ending: Ben bir araba var. That means nothing. The car has to be “my” car — arabam — and then it is var.
Quick check
A warm-up: 2 questions, answered straight away. They do not count towards your progress.
Practise
8 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
Now write it yourself8 sentences on this topic, typed and checked instantly.
Well done
How well do you know this topic?
This is filled in automatically after you practise. You can change it here at any time.
Next on the path: 20 · Telling the timeBack to the learning path
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
var means “present, existing”, yok “not present”. At the end of a sentence they stand for “there is” and “there is not”: Evde süt var“There is milk at home”Burada park yeri yok“There is no parking space here”
There is no verb “to have”. Instead you say that your thing exists: Arabam var “I have a car”, literally “my car exists”. Vaktim yok “I have no time”. The ending on the noun (-immy-inyour …) shows whose it is; you can put benim “my” in front for emphasis.
For the question you add the question particle: var mı?, yok mu? — Burada eczane var mı? “Is there a chemist’s here?” The answer is short: Var. or Yok.
yok negates var, not “to be”. “I am not a teacher” is Öğretmen değilim. yok says something is missing; değil says something is not so.
A closer look
“Have” and “there is” are one construction
In Turkish, “There is a cat in the house” and “I have a cat” are the same sentence with a different beginning: Evde bir kedi var, Bir kedim var. Once a phrase of place says where the cat is; once a possessive ending says whose it is.
Worth knowing2
Worth knowing
Compared with English
English says “I have” and makes the owner the subject. Turkish makes the thing the topic and says that it is there: “my car exists”. English “there is” is the closest model: “there is my car” is nearer to Turkish than “I have a car”.
Benim vaktim yok.I have no time.
Worth knowing
One word as a whole answer
To Çay var mı? “Is there any tea?” you simply answer Var. or Yok. — no “yes”, no verb. You hear this all the time in shops and at the market.
Ekmek var mı? — Var.Is there any bread? — Yes, there is.