Pastane bakkaldan daha uzak ama kasaptan daha yakın.

The pastry shop is farther than the small grocery store but closer than the butcher.

Breakdown of Pastane bakkaldan daha uzak ama kasaptan daha yakın.

• olmak: to be
• ama: but
• daha: more
• yakın: near

Questions & Answers about Pastane bakkaldan daha uzak ama kasaptan daha yakın.

Why do bakkal and kasap become bakkaldan and kasaptan?

Because Turkish usually marks the thing you compare against with the ablative case: -dan / -den / -tan / -ten.

So:

• bakkaldan daha uzak = farther than the grocer/store
• kasaptan daha yakın = closer than the butcher/butcher's shop

This suffix also follows normal sound rules:

• after a voiced consonant, you get -dan / -den
• after a voiceless consonant, you get -tan / -ten

So:

• bakkal + dan → bakkaldan
• kasap + tan → kasaptan

What does daha mean here?

Here daha is the comparative marker, meaning more.

Turkish usually forms comparatives with:

daha + adjective/adverb

So:

• daha uzak = farther / more distant
• daha yakın = closer / nearer

Unlike English, Turkish does not usually add an -er ending to the adjective.

Why is daha placed before uzak and yakın?