this/these, that/those | Turkish Grammar

To point at things in Turkish — "this book," "that house," "these keys" — you only need three little words: bu, şu, and o. They go straight in front of the noun, they never change, and they are the easiest pointing words you will ever learn, because the surprise here is how little you have to do. English makes you change "this" into "these" and "that" into "those." Turkish does not. This page shows you exactly how to say this/these and that/those, with no extra steps.

The three pointing words

English has a two-way split: this (near) versus that (far). Turkish has a three-way split, which is actually more intuitive once you see the logic:

Word	English	When you use it
bu	this	near me — I could touch it
şu	that	the thing I'm pointing at, a bit away
o	that	far away, or something we both already know about

For a beginner, a rough rule is enough: bu = "this (here)," and both şu and o = "that (there)." The fine difference between şu and o has its own page at bu vs şu vs o; you do not need to master it today.

Bu çay çok güzel.

This tea is really good. (bu = this, near me)

Şu adamı tanıyor musun?

Do you know that man? (şu = that one I'm pointing at)

O film çok uzundu.

That film was very long. (o = that one we already talked about)

Just put it in front of the noun

The whole construction is: pointing word + noun. Nothing attaches, nothing changes shape. This part looks exactly like English.

bu ev

this house

şu kapı

that door (the one I'm indicating)

o araba

that car

So far, so simple. Now comes the one genuinely useful thing this page teaches.

"These" and "those": just add the plural to the NOUN

In English, "this" becomes a brand-new word, "these," and "that" becomes "those." In Turkish, the pointing word does not change at all. To make it plural, you pluralize the noun — by adding the plural ending -lar / -ler (see the plural) — and you leave bu / şu / o completely alone.

So "these books" is bu kitaplar: bare bu + the plural noun kitaplar. There is no plural form of bu.

Singular	Plural
bu kitap — this book	bu kitaplar — these books
şu çocuk — that child	şu çocuklar — those children
o ev — that house	o evler — those houses

Bu kitaplar çok ağır.

These books are very heavy. (bu stays bare; only kitap → kitaplar pluralizes)

Şu çiçekler ne kadar?

How much are those flowers? (şu unchanged; çiçek → çiçekler)

O evler eskiden bizimdi.

Those houses used to be ours. (o unchanged; ev → evler)

This is genuinely good news: "these" and "those" cost you nothing new. If you can say the noun in the plural, you can say "these/those" — just stick the unchanged bu, şu, or o on the front.

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"These books" = bu kitaplar. The pointing word bu never becomes plural; the noun does all the work. There is no Turkish word that means "these" on its own as a determiner — it's always just bu + a plural noun.

And it stays bare even when the noun grows

Turkish nouns can take more endings — for example to say "in this house" you add a location ending to the noun. Here too, bu / şu / o do not change. Every ending lands on the noun; the pointing word stays bare at the front.

Bu evde kimse yok.

There's nobody in this house. (the 'in' ending -de is on ev; bu is untouched)

O çocuklara hediye aldım.

I bought presents for those children. (the 'to' ending is on çocuklar; o is bare)

You do not need to learn those endings yet — that comes with the noun cases. The point to lock in now is the habit: whatever happens, the pointing word in front of a noun never changes. It is always plain bu, şu, or o.

A quick warning about standing alone

There is one situation where these words do change shape, and it is worth a heads-up so it does not confuse you later. When bu / şu / o stand alone — not in front of a noun, but as "this one / that one" by themselves — they grow a little -n- and can change: bunlar ("these ones"), şunlar, onlar ("those ones / they").

Bunlar senin mi?

Are these yours? (bunlar = 'these ones', standing alone — no noun after it)

But the moment a noun follows, you are back to the bare determiner: bu kitaplar, not bunlar kitaplar. So:

with a noun: bu kitaplar (these books) — bare bu
alone: bunlar (these ones) — the -n- form

That standalone use is a separate topic, covered at the demonstratives bu, şu, o. For now, simply remember: noun after it → keep it bare.

Common mistakes

❌ bular kitap

Incorrect — there's no plural of bu; for 'these books' pluralize the noun: bu kitaplar.

✅ bu kitaplar

these books

❌ bunlar evler güzel

Incorrect — bunlar is the standalone 'these ones'; before a noun use bare bu: bu evler.

✅ bu evler güzel

these houses are nice

❌ şu çocukları, hepsi yorgun

Mixing forms — for 'those children' as a plain phrase, keep şu bare with the plural noun: şu çocuklar.

✅ şu çocuklar, hepsi yorgun

those children, all of them tired

❌ bunu ev satıldı

Incorrect — bunu is a standalone form; in front of a noun it must be bare: bu ev satıldı.

✅ bu ev satıldı

this house was sold

The single error English speakers make is trying to make the pointing word plural, copying the English "this → these" switch. Turkish never does that. Keep bu / şu / o frozen and let the noun carry the plural. If you can resist the urge to change the pointing word, you have mastered this whole page.

Key takeaways

Three pointing words: bu (this, near), şu (that, indicated), o (that, far/known).
Put the word straight in front of the noun: bu ev, şu kapı, o araba.
For "these/those," pluralize the noun, not the word: bu kitaplar = "these books." There is no plural of bu.
The pointing word stays bare no matter what endings the noun takes (bu evde = "in this house").
bunlar / şunlar / onlar are the standalone "these/those ones" — only used when no noun follows.

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