Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Turkish grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Mutfakta boru var.
Why is mutfakta used instead of just mutfak?
mutfakta is mutfak + the locative suffix -ta, which marks the meaning “in the kitchen.” Without -ta, it would just be “kitchen” (no location).
Why is there no article before boru?
Turkish has no indefinite article equivalent to “a” or “an.” If you want to emphasize “a pipe,” you can add bir: Mutfakta bir boru var, but it’s often omitted because the context already implies indefiniteness.
What does var mean here?
var is an existential verb meaning “there is” or “there are.” It’s used to state the existence of something at a location. Its negative counterpart is yok (“there isn’t/aren’t”).
How would I say “There is no pipe in the kitchen”?
Replace var with yok:
Mutfakta boru yok.
This directly means “There isn’t a pipe in the kitchen.”
Can I change the word order?
Yes. Existential sentences allow flexibility. You could say:
Boru mutfakta var or Bir boru mutfakta var
but the most neutral, common order is Mutfakta (bir) boru var.
How do I make the sentence plural: “There are pipes in the kitchen”?
Pluralize the noun and keep var unchanged:
Mutfakta borular var.
Here boru → borular (“pipes”).
Is var conjugated for person or number?
No. Unlike other verbs, var and yok remain the same regardless of person or number: Sənin evində kitablar var (“There are books in your house”) still uses var.
Why is boru in the nominative case here?
In Turkish existential constructions with var/yok, the item that exists stays in the nominative (bare) form. You never add accusative or other case endings to it.
Can I express “There was a pipe in the kitchen”?
Since var/yok don’t have tense forms, you use the past tense of olmak:
Mutfakta bir boru vardı.
Here vardı is the past tense of var (via the verb olmak).