Questions & Answers about Tavan çok yüksek.
Why is there no word for “is” in Tavan çok yüksek?
In Turkish, the verb to be (olmak) is usually omitted in simple present tense. The sentence literally reads Ceiling very high, and the “is” is understood implicitly. If you wanted to add it explicitly (more formally), you could use the copula suffix -dir:
Tavan çok yüksektir.
Why does the adjective yüksek come after tavan instead of before it?
Here yüksek is functioning as a predicate adjective (describing the subject). In Turkish, predicate adjectives and predicate nouns follow the subject (and any adverbs). If you want to use yüksek attributively (directly modifying the noun), it precedes the noun:
yüksek tavan → “high ceiling” (noun phrase)
What role does çok play in this sentence?
Çok is an adverb meaning very when it modifies an adjective. In Tavan çok yüksek, it intensifies yüksek, so it means very high. (With verbs, çok means “a lot,” and with countable nouns it can mean “many,” but here it’s just an intensifier.)
How would I ask “Is the ceiling very high?” in Turkish?