Kimse evde kalmıyor.

No one is staying at home.

Breakdown of Kimse evde kalmıyor.

• ev: the house
• kalmak: to stay
• -de: in
• kimse: no one

Questions & Answers about Kimse evde kalmıyor.

What does Kimse evde kalmıyor literally mean in English?

It literally means “No one is staying at home.”

• Kimse = “no one”
• evde = “at home” (ev = “house,” ‑de = locative “at/in”)
• kalmıyor = “is not staying” (kal- = “to stay,” ‑mıyor = present-continuous negative)

Why do we use kimse with a negative verb form instead of just saying “Kimse evde kalıyor”?

In Turkish, kimse is a negative-polarity item— it only appears with negation. An affirmative sentence would use herkes (“everyone”) instead:

• Correct negative: Kimse evde kalmıyor (“No one is staying at home.”)
• Correct affirmative: Herkes evde kalıyor (“Everyone is staying at home.”)

How is the negation formed in kalmıyor?

Turkish expresses negation by inserting -ma/-me before the tense suffix:

1. kal- (stem “to stay”)
2. ‑ma (negative) → kalma-
3. ‑ıyor (present-continuous) → kalmıyor
4. No extra person ending for 3rd person singular

Why isn’t there an explicit “he/she/they” in kalmıyor?

In Turkish, the 3rd person singular and plural forms often have a zero ending in the present-continuous tense:

• kalmıyor can mean “he/she/it is not staying” or “they are not staying,” depending on context.
• If you need to clarify “they,” you can add onlar: Onlar evde kalmıyor.

Can I change the word order? For example, is Evde kimse kalmıyor also correct?

Yes. Turkish has flexible word order for emphasis:

• Kimse evde kalmıyor. (neutral)
• Evde kimse kalmıyor. (emphasizes the location “at home”)

What’s the difference between kimse and hiç kimse?

• kimse already means “no one” and requires negation.
• hiç kimse adds emphasis (“absolutely no one”) and still needs a negative verb:
  Hiç kimse evde kalmıyor. = “Absolutely no one is staying at home.”

Why don’t we say kimseler to make “no ones” plural?

Indefinite pronouns like kimse are inherently non-count and don’t take a plural suffix. They already cover the idea of “no person(s)” collectively.