Questions & Answers about Konser sırasında ara var.
How is sırasında formed and what does it exactly mean?
sırasında comes from the noun sıra (“turn/time”) + the 3rd-person possessive suffix -sı (“its”) + the locative suffix -nda (“in/at”). Literally sıra-sı-n-da means “in its time,” i.e. “during” or “in the course of.” You use it to say “during X.”
Should I say konser sırasında or konserin sırasında? Which is correct?
Standard Turkish grammar calls for the genitive on the possessor:
• konserin sırasında (“during the concert”)
In everyday speech, however, people often drop the -in and simply say konser sırasında. Both are understood; konserin sırasında is more “textbook,” while konser sırasında is very common in conversation.
Why isn’t there a “the” or “a” before ara? How do I say “a break” or “the break”?
Turkish has no articles like English a/the. You can show indefiniteness by adding bir (“one/a”) if you want:
• bir ara var = “there is a break”
To indicate “the break,” you’d use a demonstrative:
• o ara var = “there is that break”
Most of the time, plain ara var (“there is a break”) is enough when context is clear.
What does var mean here, and why is it at the end of the sentence?