A2 · Numbers, time and date · about 7 minutes
First, two each, one and a half
ordinals, distributives, half
“-inci” for first, “-er” for each, and two words for “half”.
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 need9
They appear in this topic’s examples and exercises and are new at this point on the learning path.
- ikincisecond
- üçüncüthird
- katfloor, storey
- kilokilo
- yolculukjourney, trip
- sürmekto drive; to last
- asansörlift
- domatestomato
- onarmakto repair, to mend
Understand
Remember-inci for first, -er for “each”; yarım on its own, buçuk after the number.
- Signal words
- kaçıncı
- kaçar
- yarım
- buçuk
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.
| 1st · 2nd · 3rd · 4th | birinci · ikinci · üçüncü · dördüncü |
| 5th · 6th · 9th · 10th | beşinci · altıncı · dokuzuncu · onuncu |
| 20th · 100th | yirminci · yüzüncü |
| one each · two each · three each | birer · ikişer · üçer |
| four each · six each · ten each | dörder · altışar · onar |
| half · one and a half | yarım kilo · bir buçuk kilo |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
Ordinal: -inci by four-way harmony.
Bu benim ikinci ziyaretim.This is my second visit.
After a consonant the vowel comes first.
Ofisimiz üçüncü katta.Our office is on the third floor.
Distributive: -er/-ar, after a vowel -şer/-şar.
Çocuklara ikişer elma verdim.I gave the children two apples each.
yarım without a number, before the noun.
Yarım kilo peynir, lütfen.Half a kilo of cheese, please.
buçuk after a number.
Yolculuk iki buçuk saat sürdü.The journey took two and a half hours.
Example sentences
Asansörle beşinci kata çıkın.Take the lift to the fifth floor.
Her öğrenciye birer kitap verdik.We gave each pupil a book.
Bir buçuk kilo domates aldım.I bought one and a half kilos of tomatoes.
6 more example sentences
Yarım saat sonra geliyorum.I’ll be there in half an hour.
Bu, Elif'in üçüncü çocuğu.This is Elif’s third child.
Yarışta onuncu oldu.She came tenth in the race.
İçeri ikişer ikişer girin.Come in two at a time.
Herkes onar lira verdi.Everyone gave ten lira each.
Yarım ekmek yeter.Half a loaf is enough.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English “one and a half” suggests bir yarım. But yarım never comes after a number; after a number, “half” is buçuk.
Quick check
A warm-up: 2 questions, answered straight away. They do not count towards your progress.
Practise
9 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
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Next on the path: 50 · The aorist: negatives, questions, polite requestsBack to the learning path
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
The ordinal takes -inci by four-way vowel harmony, after a vowel just -nci: birinci “first”, ikinci “second”, üçüncü “third”, dördüncü, altıncı, onuncu. dört becomes dörd-. In figures you write a full stop: 3. kat “the third floor”.
For “each” Turkish has an ending of its own: -er or -ar, after a vowel -şer/-şar. birer “one each”, ikişer “two each”, üçer, dörder, altışar, onar. Çocuklara ikişer elma verdim. “I gave the children two apples each.”
There are two words for “half”. yarım goes without a number, before the noun: yarım kilo“half a kilo”yarım saat“half an hour” buçuk goes after a number: bir buçuk kilo“one and a half kilos”iki buçuk saat“two and a half hours”
A closer look
“ilk” or “birinci”?
birinci is first in a ranking: birinci kat“the first floor”birinci oldu“she came first” ilk is first in time: ilk kez“for the first time”ilk gün“the first day” Often both fit.
Percentages and fractions
With percentages yüzde comes before the number: yüzde elli “fifty per cent”, written %50. A fraction takes the locative: üçte bir “a third”, literally “one in three”.
Worth knowing2
Worth knowing
Compared with English
English says “two each” with a separate word after the number. Turkish adds an ending: ikişer. Doubled, it means “two at a time”, “in pairs”.
Biletler beşer lira.The tickets are five lira each.
Worth knowing
Ordinals in figures
After a figure a full stop is enough: 5. kat “5th floor”. With an apostrophe and ending it works too, following the spoken word: 5'inci, 3'üncü.
Ofisimiz 3. katta.Our office is on the third floor.
The verbs on this page, in every form: gelmek · sürmek · inmek