Learn Hardcore Turkish: Mesleki eğitim önemli. - Professional training is important.

mesleki comes from meslek (“profession, vocation”) + the adjectival suffix -i, yielding “vocational” or “professional.” In Turkish, you often create adjectives from nouns by adding suffixes like -li/-lı/-lu/-lü or -i.

Why is there no verb “to be” in this sentence?

Turkish drops the present-tense copula in nominal sentences. Instead of saying “Mesleki eğitim is important,” you simply say Mesleki eğitim önemli. You can optionally add the suffix -dir (making it önemlidir) for formality or emphasis, but it’s frequently omitted.

Why is eğitim not in the plural form?

eğitim (“education, training”) is treated as an uncountable noun when speaking generally. If you wanted to refer to multiple distinct training courses, you could say eğitimler.

What case is eğitim in, and why is there no case ending?

Both parts of a simple predicate sentence stay in the nominative (dictionary) form. There’s no need for a case suffix on eğitim because it isn’t showing possession, object, or movement—it’s the topic/subject of the sentence.

How would I turn this into a question?

Add the question particle -mi after the adjective (with vowel harmony):
Mesleki eğitim önemli mi?
You can also rely on rising intonation in speech, but mi makes it explicit.

How do I express the opposite, i.e. “Vocational training is not important”?

Use değil after the adjective:
Mesleki eğitim önemli değil.

How can I strengthen the meaning to say “very important”?

Insert an intensifier before önemli, for example çok (“very”) or son derece (“extremely”):
Mesleki eğitim çok önemli.
Mesleki eğitim son derece önemli.

Is the word order fixed here?

In simple nominal sentences, adjective–noun (“mesleki eğitim”) comes first, followed by the predicate adjective (“önemli”). Turkish generally places the verb or predicate (including adjectives) at the end.