Pazarda toplam beş elma var.

There are a total of five apples at the market.

Breakdown of Pazarda toplam beş elma var.

• olmak: to be
• beş: five
• -de: in
• pazar: the market
• elma: the apple
• toplam: in total

Questions & Answers about Pazarda toplam beş elma var.

What does Pazarda mean, and how is it formed?

Pazarda breaks down into two parts:

• pazar = “market”
• -da = the locative case suffix meaning “in/at/on”

Together, Pazarda means “in the market” or “at the market.”

Why is there no apostrophe between pazar and -da?

In Turkish, you only use an apostrophe before suffixes when attaching them to proper nouns (like İstanbul’da). Since pazar is a common noun, its locative suffix -da is attached directly without an apostrophe.

How does the locative suffix -da change according to vowel and consonant harmony?

The locative suffix has two variants: -da/-de and -ta/-te.

1. Vowel harmony (back vs. front vowels):
   
   • “a” or “ı” ⇒ -da or -ta
   • “e” or “i” or “ö” or “ü” ⇒ -de or -te
2. Consonant harmony (voicing):
   
   • After voiced consonants or vowels ⇒ -da/de
   • After voiceless consonants (p, ç, t, k, f, h, s, ş) ⇒ -ta/te

Since pazar ends in the vowel “r” (voiced) and “a” is a back vowel, we pick -da: hence pazarda.

What is toplam, and why is it used here?

toplam is an adverb meaning “in total” or “altogether.”

• It emphasizes that you are talking about the sum of whatever follows (here, the apples).
• In the sentence Pazarda toplam beş elma var, toplam highlights “a total of five apples.”

Can you omit toplam, and if so, how does the meaning change?

Yes, you can simply say Pazarda beş elma var.

• Without toplam, you still convey that there are five apples, but you lose the extra nuance of “in total.”
• With toplam, it sounds more like you are summing up quantities.

Why is it beş elma and not beş elmalar (the plural form)?

In Turkish, when you use a cardinal number (one, two, three…), the noun stays in the singular form without any plural suffix.

• Correct: beş elma (“five apple­-SG”)
• Incorrect: beş elmalar

What role does var play in this sentence?

var is the existential verb in Turkish, meaning “there is” or “there are.”

• It indicates existence or presence of something at a location.
• It always appears at the end of an existential sentence.

Could you use bulunmak instead of var?

Yes. bulunmak is a more formal verb meaning “to be located” or “to exist.”

• You would say: Pazarda toplam beş elma bulunuyor.
• Note the change to -iyor for the present continuous tense form of bulunmak.

How would you turn this into a question: “Are there five apples in the market?”

Add mı/mi/mu/mü (the question particle) after var (with a linking vowel if needed):

• Pazarda toplam beş elma var mı?
  This literally means “In the market, is there a total of five apples?”

How do you pronounce Pazarda toplam beş elma var?

Approximate phonetic transcription in IPA:
/paˈzaɾ.da topˈlam beʃ ˈel.ma vaɾ/

• Stress in Turkish is usually on the last syllable, but it can vary by dialect. In everyday speech, it often sounds like pa-ZAR-da top-LAM beş EL-ma VAR.