Soğan taze.

to be

Breakdown of Soğan taze.

• taze: fresh
• soğan: the onion

Questions & Answers about Soğan taze.

Where is the verb “to be”? Why is there no “is”?

Turkish drops the present-tense “to be” in third person. Soğan taze literally says “Onion fresh.”

• 1st/2nd persons take endings: Ben tazeyim, Sen tazesin.
• 3rd person has zero: O taze; Soğan taze.
• Other tenses add endings or use ol-: Soğan tazeydi (was), Soğan taze olacak (will be).

How do you pronounce soğan taze? What is that letter ğ?

• soğan: roughly “so-ahn.” ğ isn’t a hard “g”; it lengthens/smooths the previous vowel: o becomes a bit longer. Many say something like [soːan].
• taze: “ta-ze,” with a voiced z.
• Don’t drop the diacritics: writing sogan is incorrect.

Does it mean “the onion” or “an onion”?

Turkish has no articles. Soğan can mean “the onion” or “an onion,” depending on context. In a typical remark like this, it’s understood as “the onion (we’re talking about) is fresh.”

Could it mean “Onions are fresh” (in general)?

Use the plural for a general statement: Soğanlar taze (“Onions are fresh”). Singular Soğan taze normally refers to a specific onion in context.