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Questions & Answers about Antalya çok güzel.
Why isn't there a word for is in this sentence?
In Turkish, the copula (be-verb) is usually omitted in simple present or nominal sentences. You understand Antalya çok güzel as “Antalya is very beautiful” even though there is no separate is. For a more formal or emphatic tone, you can add the suffix -dir, giving Antalya çok güzeldir.
What role does çok play in the sentence?
çok is an adverb meaning very (or “a lot”). It directly modifies the adjective güzel, so çok güzel literally means “very beautiful.” In Turkish, intensifiers like çok always precede the adjective they modify and remain invariable.
Why doesn’t güzel have any endings or suffixes here?
When güzel (beautiful) is used predicatively (as part of a predicate following the subject), it stays in its base form without any case or agreement endings. Adjectives in Turkish only take suffixes when they modify a noun directly (attributive usage), e.g. güzel ev (“beautiful house”).
Is the word order fixed? Could I say çok güzel Antalya instead?
The typical pattern is Topic (subject) + Comment (predicate), so Antalya çok güzel is the most natural. Placing çok güzel before Antalya would sound unusual or poetic. For emphasis you might exclaim Çok güzel Antalya!, but that shifts the focus.
Why is Antalya not marked with a case suffix?
In the nominative case (the basic form used for subjects), Turkish nouns take no ending. Proper nouns like Antalya, when serving as the topic or subject without expressing possession or direction, remain unmarked.
How can I turn this into a question (“Is Antalya very beautiful?”)?
Add the question particle -mı/mi/mu/mü after the predicate and use rising intonation. Since güzel ends in a consonant, you take -mi:
Antalya çok güzel mi?
If you use the formal suffix -dir, you can say:
Antalya çok güzeldir mi? (less common in speech)
How do I pronounce Antalya, çok, and güzel?
• Antalya: an-TAL-ya (stress on the second syllable)
• ç in çok: like English “ch” in church, so çok = /tʃok/
• ü in güzel: a front rounded vowel (similar to German ü in über), so güzel ≈ /ˈgy.zel/