English splits the world into two: this (near) and that (far). Turkish splits it into three — bu, şu, o — and the middle term, şu, has no clean English equivalent. It is not "that"; it is the attention-directing demonstrative, the one you use to point at something you are showing or about to mention. Getting şu right is what separates textbook Turkish from natural Turkish. This page covers the three-way system and the base pronoun forms; the full case paradigm lives on its own page.
The three-way distinction
The choice is about distance from the speaker and how the thing is being introduced into the conversation.
| Word | Core meaning | Use it when… |
|---|---|---|
| bu | this (near the speaker) | the thing is right here, with me, in my hand or reach |
| şu | that (just-indicated / about to show) | you are pointing at it, drawing attention to it, or about to mention it |
| o | that (far / already known) | the thing is over there, away from both of you, or already established in talk |
A common (rough) mapping is bu = near me, şu = near you / just over there, o = away from both of us — but the real divider for şu is gesture and forthcomingness, not pure metres. More on that below.
Bu kitap çok güzel, mutlaka oku.
This book is very good, you should definitely read it.
Şu adamı tanıyor musun?
Do you know that man (the one I'm pointing at)?
O ev satılık değilmiş.
That house (over there / the one we know) isn't for sale, apparently.
bu: this, here, mine
Use bu for what is physically close to you — in your hand, on your desk, the thing you are holding up — and for what you have just this moment said. It is also the demonstrative of "this current" things: bu hafta "this week," bu sefer "this time," bu yüzden "for this reason."
Bu çayı sen mi yaptın? Çok güzel olmuş.
Did you make this tea? It's turned out really nice.
Bu hafta çok yoğunum, gelecek hafta görüşelim.
I'm very busy this week, let's meet next week.
şu: the demonstrative English doesn't have
This is the heart of the page. şu is the attention-directing demonstrative. Three jobs make it special:
1. Pointing. When you physically gesture at something — "look at that, over there, the one I'm pointing to" — Turkish uses şu, not o. O would imply the thing is already known or out of the pointing frame.
Şuna bak, ne kadar büyük bir köpek!
Look at that — what a huge dog!
2. Cataphora — pointing forward in speech. şu introduces something you are about to say or show. Where English says "Here's the thing:" or "Listen to this:", Turkish reaches for şu.
Şunu söyleyeyim: bu iş hiç kolay olmayacak.
Let me say this: this job is not going to be easy at all.
Şu soruyu bir cevapla: neden geç kaldın?
Answer me this one question: why were you late?
3. Mid-distance / "near you." When the thing is closer to the listener than the speaker — across the table, by your side — şu often fits where bu (mine) and o (gone/known) both feel wrong.
Şu tuzu uzatır mısın?
Could you pass that salt (near you)?
o: that, far, and already-known — also "he/she/it"
o is the far demonstrative: the thing away from both of you, and — crucially — the thing already established in the conversation. Once you have introduced something with bu or şu, you refer back to it with o. This anaphoric job is why o is also the personal pronoun "he/she/it": a known, third-person referent.
Dün bir film izledim. O film beni çok etkiledi.
Yesterday I watched a film. That film really moved me.
O ne demek istediğini hiç anlamadım.
I didn't understand at all what he meant.
So o covers two things English keeps separate: distal "that" and the pronoun "he/she/it." Context tells them apart — o ev "that house" vs. o geldi "he/she came."
Determiner vs. pronoun: bu kitap vs. bunu aldım
All three words work in two roles, exactly like English this/that:
- As a determiner, before a noun: bu kitap "this book," şu adam "that man," o ev "that house." Here the demonstrative does not inflect — it stays bare and the noun takes any case ending. (See demonstratives as determiners.)
- As a pronoun, standing alone for the thing itself: bu "this one," şu "that one," o "that / it."
Bu senin mi? — Hayır, o Ali'nin.
Is this yours? — No, that's Ali's.
Şu kim? — Tanımıyorum, ilk defa görüyorum.
Who's that? — I don't know him, I'm seeing him for the first time.
The pronoun forms take a hidden n
When a demonstrative pronoun picks up a case ending — accusative, dative, locative, ablative, genitive — a pronominal n appears between the stem and the suffix. So the everyday object forms are bunu, şunu, onu "this one / that one (as object)," and the dative forms buna, şuna, ona "to this / to that." This n is obligatory and easy to forget.
Bunu nereden aldın? Bayıldım.
Where did you get this? I love it.
Şuna bir bakar mısın, bozulmuş galiba.
Could you take a look at this, I think it's broken.
Onu bana ver, ben hallederim.
Give that to me, I'll handle it.
The full set — bunu, buna, bunda, bundan, bunun and the şun-/on- parallels, plus the plurals bunlar/şunlar/onlar — is laid out with its table on the demonstrative cases page. Here, just remember: the moment a demonstrative pronoun takes a case, the n shows up.
Common mistakes
❌ O tuzu uzatır mısın?
Unnatural when you mean the salt right next to the listener — for something you're gesturing toward, use şu: şu tuzu uzatır mısın?
✅ Şu tuzu uzatır mısın?
Could you pass that salt?
❌ O söyleyeyim: çok yorgunum.
Incorrect — to introduce something you're about to say, use şu: şunu söyleyeyim.
✅ Şunu söyleyeyim: çok yorgunum.
Let me say this: I'm very tired.
❌ Bu aldım, çok beğendim.
Incorrect — as an object pronoun it needs the accusative with n: bunu aldım.
✅ Bunu aldım, çok beğendim.
I bought this, I really liked it.
❌ Buu ver bana.
Incorrect — the pronominal n is missing: bunu ver.
✅ Bunu ver bana.
Give this to me.
The deepest error is collapsing şu into "that" and reaching for o whenever English says "that." Remember that o means far or already-known; if you are pointing, showing, or about to reveal, the word is şu. The second recurring slip is dropping the n on pronoun forms (buu, bua) — see demonstrative cases.
Key takeaways
- Turkish has three demonstratives: bu (this, near me), şu (attention-directing / forthcoming), o (that, far / already-known).
- şu has no clean English equivalent: use it when you point, show, or are about to mention something. "Look at that!" = şuna bak; "Here's the thing" = şu.
- o is both "that (far/known)" and the pronoun "he/she/it."
- All three work as determiners (bu kitap, uninflected) and pronouns (bunu aldım, inflected).
- Pronoun forms insert a pronominal n before any case: bunu, buna, onu, ona — never buu or bua. Full paradigm at demonstrative cases.
- When in doubt between the three, see the decision guide at bu vs. şu vs. o.
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Start learning Turkish→Related Topics
- Personal PronounsA1 — The subject pronouns ben, sen, o, biz, siz, onlar — and the crucial fact that Turkish usually drops them, because the verb ending already names the person.
- bu / şu / o as DeterminersA1 — When bu, şu, and o sit in front of a noun they stay bare — no pronominal n, no case ending — because the case lives on the noun (bu evde, not bunda evde).
- Demonstratives in the CasesA2 — The full case paradigm of bu, şu, o as pronouns — every form inserts the pronominal n, giving the oblique stems bun-, şun-, on- (bunu, buna, bunda, bundan, bunun).