Correlatives: hem…hem, ya…ya, ne…ne | Turkish Grammar

Some conjunctions come in matched pairs that wrap around the two things being joined — "both … and …," "either … or …," "neither … nor …." Turkish has a tidy set of these correlatives, and the best way to learn them is as fixed templates: you place one half before each coordinated item and don't improvise. Three of them — hem…hem, ya…ya, ne…ne — are everyday vocabulary; a fourth, gerek…gerek(se), belongs to formal and literary registers.

hem … hem (de): "both … and"

hem … hem adds two things together emphatically: not just X, but X and Y. The optional de on the second member ("hem … hem de") strengthens the "and also" feeling and is extremely common in speech.

Bu daire hem güzel hem ucuz.

This flat is both nice and cheap.

Hem çalışıyorum hem de okula gidiyorum, çok yoruluyorum.

I'm both working and going to school, I get really tired.

Çocuk hem ağlıyor hem gülüyordu, ne olduğunu anlamadık.

The child was both crying and laughing, we didn't understand what was going on.

You can extend the pattern to three or more items by repeating hem before each one: hem … hem … hem ….

Tatilde hem dinlendik hem gezdik hem de yeni insanlarla tanıştık.

On holiday we both rested and toured around and also met new people.

ya … ya (da): "either … or"

ya … ya presents two alternatives, exactly one of which holds — "either X or Y." Adding da to the second member ("ya … ya da") is the most common spoken shape. This is the emphatic, balanced cousin of plain veya / ya da "or" (covered on Or: veya, ya da, yoksa); the doubled ya at the front signals up front that a choice between exactly two options is coming.

Tatile ya bugün ya yarın çıkacağız, henüz belli değil.

We'll leave for holiday either today or tomorrow, it's not clear yet.

Bu işi ya sen yaparsın ya da ben, başkası yok.

Either you do this job or I do, there's no one else.

Akşam yemeğine ya pizza ya da makarna, ikisinden birini seç.

For dinner, either pizza or pasta — pick one of the two.

ne … ne (de): "neither … nor"

This is the one with a twist. ne … ne means "neither … nor," and it has a famous quirk: although its meaning is negative, the verb stays positive in form. The negativity is already carried by the ne … ne frame, so adding a negative verb on top would be a double negative — which Turkish does not do here. This counterintuitive rule is important enough to have its own dedicated page, Neither…Nor: ne … ne (de); learn the template carefully.

Dün gece ne uyudum ne dinlendim.

Last night I neither slept nor rested.

Ne param var ne zamanım, tatil şimdilik hayal.

I have neither money nor time; a holiday is a dream for now.

O akşamdan beri ne aradı ne yazdı.

Since that evening he has neither called nor written.

In all of these, the verb (uyudum, dinlendim, var, aradı, yazdı) is in its plain affirmative form, yet the sentence is firmly negative. That is the signature of ne … ne.

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The trap with ne … ne (de) is the verb. Because English says "neither slept nor rested" with no negative on the verb, your instinct from English is right here — but if your native language uses a negative verb in such sentences, resist it. Turkish keeps the verb affirmative: ne uyudum (not ne uyumadım).

gerek … gerek(se): "whether … or"

gerek … gerek(se) joins two items while saying that the statement applies equally to both — "whether X or Y," often rendered as "both … and." The second member usually appears as gerekse (from gerek + ise, "if it be"), and you may also see olsun added for the same effect. This pair is built from the verb gerekmek ("to be necessary") and lives mainly in formal, literary, and bureaucratic Turkish — it's dry rather than emotional, good for long, balanced written sentences. You should recognise it; you rarely need it in casual speech.

Gerek öğrenciler gerek öğretmenler bu karara karşı çıktı.

Both students and teachers opposed this decision. (formal)

Gerek iş hayatında gerekse özel hayatında dürüst bir insandı.

Whether in his work life or his private life, he was an honest person. (literary)

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Learn correlatives as whole templates, not as two free-floating words. Mixing halves from different pairs — say, hem … ya da — is ungrammatical. The safe pattern is: pick the pair, then drop one half in front of each item, optionally adding de/da (for hem and ya) on the second half.

Quick reference

Pair	Meaning	Verb form	Register
hem … hem (de)	both … and	affirmative	all registers
ya … ya (da)	either … or	affirmative	all registers
ne … ne (de)	neither … nor	affirmative (no extra negation!)	all registers
gerek … gerek(se)	whether … or / both … and	affirmative	formal, literary

Common mistakes

❌ Ne uyumadım ne dinlenmedim.

Incorrect — ne…ne already makes it negative, so the verbs must stay affirmative.

✅ Ne uyudum ne dinlendim.

I neither slept nor rested.

The classic error: putting a negative on the verb after ne … ne. The frame already supplies the negation; ne uyumadım is a double negative and is wrong.

❌ Hem güzel ya da ucuz.

Incorrect — mismatched halves; 'hem' must pair with 'hem'.

✅ Hem güzel hem ucuz.

Both nice and cheap.

Don't mix pairs. hem pairs only with hem, ya with ya, ne with ne. Splicing hem with ya da breaks the template.

❌ Bu işi ya sen ya ben yaparsın.

Clunky — with two different subjects, hanging one verb (agreeing with only 'sen') off both reads awkwardly.

✅ Bu işi ya sen yaparsın ya da ben.

Either you do this job or I do.

With ya … ya, when the two options are different subjects, it reads most naturally to attach the verb to the nearer option and let the other stand alone (… ya da ben), rather than forcing one verb to cover both subjects.

❌ O hem çalışıyor hem okula gidiyor ne yoruluyor.

Incorrect — 'ne' is stranded with no second 'ne' and no clear function here.

✅ Hem çalışıyor hem okula gidiyor, çok yoruluyor.

He both works and goes to school; he gets very tired.

Key takeaways

Turkish correlatives are fixed pairs: hem … hem (de) "both … and," ya … ya (da) "either … or," ne … ne (de) "neither … nor," gerek … gerek(se) "whether … or."
One half goes in front of each coordinated item; de/da on the second half (for hem/ya) is a common intensifier.
ne … ne is negative in meaning but takes an affirmative verb — no extra negation.
gerek … gerek(se) is formal/literary; recognise it, but use the other three in everyday speech.
Never mix halves of different pairs.

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