Learn Hardcore Turkish: Müzenin kubbesi kırmızı.

Turkish often uses a zero-copula for the present tense in descriptive sentences. Instead of saying is, you simply state Müzenin kubbesi kırmızı, which literally reads “The museum’s dome red.” If you want to add a more formal or emphatic copula, you can use the suffix -dır: Müzenin kubbesi kırmızıdır.

What does the suffix -nin in müzenin indicate?

The suffix -nin marks the genitive case, showing possession. It corresponds to English “’s” or “of.” So müzenin means “of the museum” or “museum’s.”

What does the suffix -si in kubbesi indicate?

The suffix -si is the third-person singular possessive ending attached to kubbe (dome). It means “its” or “’s.” Together, müzenin kubbesi literally means “the its dome of the museum,” i.e. “the museum’s dome.”

How do you form a possessive construction like müzenin kubbesi in Turkish?

In Turkish possession:

The possessor takes the genitive suffix (e.g., müze
- -nin → müzenin).
The possessed noun takes the appropriate possessive suffix (e.g., kubbe
- -si → kubbesi).
  Then you put them in order: Müzenin kubbesi (“the museum’s dome”).

Why are the suffixes -nin and -si chosen instead of -nın or -sı?

Turkish follows vowel harmony: suffix vowels match the last vowel of the stem.

müze ends in e (front unrounded), so the genitive is -nin.
kubbe ends in e, so the possessive is -si.
Had the stem ended in a, o, or u, you would use -nın or -sı, etc.

Why is kırmızı placed after kubbesi instead of before?

Here kırmızı is a predicate adjective describing the subject Müzenin kubbesi. In Turkish, predicate elements (adjectives or verbs) follow the subject: Subject → Predicate. If kırmızı were an attributive adjective directly modifying kubbe, it would come before: kırmızı kubbe (“a red dome”).

Can you add the copula -dır to make it Müzenin kubbesi kırmızıdır?

Yes. Adding -dır makes the copula explicit and the statement more formal or factual. Both are correct:

Müzenin kubbesi kırmızı. (informal, zero-copula)
Müzenin kubbesi kırmızıdır. (explicit copula, general truth)

When do you use an apostrophe before suffixes in Turkish, and why isn’t there one in Müzenin?

Apostrophes are used only with proper nouns (e.g., Ankara’nın, Türkiye’nin). Müze is a common noun, so you attach suffixes directly without an apostrophe: müzenin.

What if I said Kırmızı müzenin kubbesi—would that be correct?

It’s grammatically possible, but the focus shifts. Kırmızı müzenin kubbesi reads as “the museum’s red dome” (i.e., emphasizing the dome as red among perhaps other domes). The original Müzenin kubbesi kırmızı is a descriptive sentence stating that the dome (subject) is red (predicate).