Learn Hardcore Turkish: Bu kilisenin mimari detayları çok ilginç. - The architectural details of this church are very interesting.

In Turkish, to express “of the church” (the church’s), you add the genitive suffix -(n)in to the noun.
• kilise (church) + -nin (genitive for front‐vowel words) → kilisenin (“of the church” or “the church’s”).

Why does detayları have both -lar and -ı?

This word shows both plurality and possession:

-lar is the plural marker → detaylar (“details”).
-ı is the 3rd person singular possessive suffix → detayları (“its details”).
When you indicate that some noun belongs to someone/something, the possessed noun takes a possessive ending, and if you also want plural, you put -lar/-ler before the possessive suffix.

Why is there no the or a in this Turkish sentence?

Turkish has no separate articles like English “a” or “the.” Definiteness can be shown by context, word order, or demonstratives such as bu (“this”). In our sentence, bu already tells us “this church,” so no article is needed.

Why is there no verb like is or are in Bu kilisenin mimari detayları çok ilginç?

In Turkish, the present‐tense copula “to be” is usually omitted. A plain adjective or adjective phrase can serve as the predicate. So çok ilginç simply means “(they are) very interesting.”

What role does mimari play here? Does it change form for number or case?

mimari is an adjective meaning “architectural.” Turkish adjectives are invariable: they do not take plural, possessive, or case endings. They stay the same and directly precede the noun they modify.

Why is bu used at the beginning, and can it be omitted?

bu means “this” and specifies which church you mean. If the context already makes clear which church you’re talking about, you can drop bu and simply say kilisenin mimari detayları çok ilginç (“the church’s architectural details are very interesting”), but you lose the extra emphasis “this particular church.”

Why don’t adjectives like mimari show plural or case endings?

In Turkish, adjectives never take number or case markers. They always remain in their root form and sit directly in front of the noun. Only the noun itself carries plural, possessive, or case suffixes.

How does vowel harmony decide which vowels to use in suffixes like -nin and -lar?

Turkish suffixes follow vowel harmony, meaning they adapt to the vowels in the word they attach to:

For genitive you have four variants: -in / -ın / -ün / -un. You pick one based on the last vowel of the noun. kilise ends in -e (a front vowel), so you use -in → kilise + nin.
For plural you have -ler / -lar. The last vowel of detay is a (a back vowel), so you choose -lar → detaylar. Then you add the possessive -ı (again chosen by the last vowel a) → detayları.