Learn Hardcore Turkish: Kimse evde kalmıyor.

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:

kal- (stem “to stay”)
‑ma (negative) → kalma-
‑ıyor (present-continuous) → kalmıyor
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.