Kara bulutlar yaklaşıyor.

• kara = black, dark
• bulutlar = clouds
  
  • bulut = cloud
  • -lar = plural ending
• yaklaşıyor = is approaching / are approaching / coming closer

So the sentence literally looks like dark clouds are approaching.

Because Turkish adjectives do not change to match plural nouns.

In English, adjectives also stay the same: dark cloud / dark clouds. Turkish works the same way here:

• kara bulut = dark cloud
• kara bulutlar = dark clouds

Only the noun takes the plural ending, not the adjective.

Yes, siyah bulutlar is also possible.

Both kara and siyah can mean black, but kara often has a more literary, emotional, or traditional feel, and it can also suggest dark, gloomy, ominous depending on context. With clouds, kara bulutlar is a very natural phrase and can feel especially dramatic.

So:

• kara bulutlar = dark/black clouds, often with a gloomy sense
• siyah bulutlar = black clouds, more straightforward color description

-lar is the plural suffix, meaning -s or -es in English.

• bulut = cloud
• bulutlar = clouds

The plural suffix appears in two forms because of vowel harmony:

• -lar
• -ler

Here it is -lar because the vowels in bulut fit that harmony pattern.

It comes from the verb yaklaşmak, which means to approach / to come closer.

Breakdown:

• yaklaş- = verb stem
• -ıyor = present continuous suffix (-yor type)
• full form: yaklaşıyor = is approaching / are approaching

The exact vowel before -yor changes according to vowel harmony and sound patterns, so you see forms like:

• geliyor = is coming
• bakıyor = is looking
• duruyor = is standing
• yaklaşıyor = is approaching

This is a very common question.

In Turkish, when the subject is already clearly plural, especially if it is non-human like clouds, the verb is often left in the third person singular form.

So this is completely natural:

• Kara bulutlar yaklaşıyor.

Using yaklaşıyorlar is much less natural here. With non-human plural subjects, singular verb agreement is very common and standard.

So even though English says clouds are approaching, Turkish can use a form that looks like is approaching.

Because Turkish often leaves out subject pronouns when they are not needed.

Here, the subject is already stated as kara bulutlar, so there is no reason to add onlar (they).

Turkish prefers not to repeat information unnecessarily. Compare:

• Kara bulutlar yaklaşıyor. = The dark clouds are approaching.
• Onlar yaklaşıyor. = They are approaching.
  This would only be used if they had already been identified from context.

Turkish does not have a direct equivalent of English the.

Whether something is understood as clouds, the clouds, or those clouds depends on context, word order, and sometimes other words in the sentence.

So Kara bulutlar yaklaşıyor can naturally mean:

• Dark clouds are approaching
• The dark clouds are approaching

English needs an article more often than Turkish does.

It is the present continuous form, built with the -yor suffix.

In many cases, this corresponds to English:

• is approaching
• are approaching

But Turkish -yor is used a bit more broadly than the English progressive in some contexts. It can describe something happening now, something currently in progress, or something that is unfolding.

Here it gives the sense that the clouds are in the process of coming nearer.

The neutral, most natural order here is:

• Kara bulutlar yaklaşıyor.

That is a standard subject + verb pattern.

But Turkish word order is somewhat flexible, and changing it can shift the emphasis:

• Yaklaşıyor kara bulutlar.
  More marked or poetic; it emphasizes the action first.

Still, for a learner, Kara bulutlar yaklaşıyor is the safest and most neutral version.

Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

yaklaşmak often takes a noun in the dative case when you say what something is approaching:

• Bize yaklaşıyor. = It is approaching us.
• Şehre yaklaşıyor. = It is approaching the city.

But if you do not say what it is approaching, the verb can stand on its own:

• Kara bulutlar yaklaşıyor. = Dark clouds are approaching.

So this sentence is complete as it is.

Yes. Literally, it means dark clouds, but it can also be metaphorical, like in English.

It may suggest:

• trouble
• danger
• bad times ahead
• a gloomy atmosphere

So depending on context, Kara bulutlar yaklaşıyor could be literal weather language or a dramatic metaphor for problems coming.