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Questions & Answers about Bu sokakta kiralık ev var.
What does the word bold VAR do in this sentence?
Bold var expresses existence, roughly “there is/are.” The literal feel is “In this street, a for-rent house exists.” It does not change for singular/plural; context tells you if it’s one or more.
How do I make the sentence negative?
Use bold yok, not bold değil.
- Bu sokakta kiralık ev yok. = “There isn’t a house for rent on this street.”
To emphasize “none at all,” add bold hiç: Bu sokakta hiç kiralık ev yok.
Why is it sokakTA and not sokakDA?
That’s the locative suffix (-DA/-DE/-TA/-TE). It follows:
- Vowel harmony: after a back vowel (a, ı, o, u) use -da/-ta; after a front vowel (e, i, ö, ü) use -de/-te.
- Consonant voicing: after a voiceless consonant (k, p, t, ç, f, s, ş, h), use -t-.
Since sokak ends with voiceless k and has back vowel a, you get bold sokakta.
English says “on this street,” but Turkish says bu sokakta. Is that normal?
Yes. The Turkish locative (-DA) covers English in/at/on, depending on the noun:
- evde = at home
- masada = on the table
- sokakta = on the street
Why is there no “a/an” before ev?
Turkish has no articles. Bare bold ev is indefinite by default. If you want to explicitly mark “a/one,” add bold bir: Bu sokakta bir kiralık ev var.
Does singular ev mean there’s only one house?
Not necessarily. With bold var, a bare singular often means “at least one (some).” If you want to stress plurality, you can say bold evler var, but the bare singular is very common for “there is/are.”
When should I use evler?
Use bold evler var to emphasize “there are houses (more than one).”
- Bu sokakta kiralık ev var. = There is at least one house for rent.
- Bu sokakta kiralık evler var. = There are houses for rent (plural explicitly).
Where does bir go in the noun phrase?
Numerals and the indefinite marker bold bir come before adjectives:
- Bu sokakta bir kiralık ev var. (correct) Not: ~Bu sokakta kiralık bir ev var~ is also acceptable and common. Both orders work with bir and adjectives; the default is usually numeral/adjective + noun, but Turkish allows both “bir kiralık ev” and “kiralık bir ev,” with slight stylistic differences (the latter often feels a bit more natural).
What exactly does kiralık mean? Is it a verb?
Bold kiralık is an adjective “for rent,” formed from bold kira (rent) + -lIk. Related words:
- kiralamak = to rent/lease (as a verb)
- kiracı = tenant
- kirada = “rented” (e.g., Ev kirada = The house is rented)
- satılık = for sale
Does ev mean “house” only, or can it be an apartment?
Bold ev is a general “home/dwelling” and often refers to an apartment in everyday speech. If you specifically mean an apartment unit, bold daire is common: Bu sokakta kiralık daire var.
Can I change the word order?
Yes, Turkish is flexible, and word order shifts focus:
- Bu sokakta kiralık ev var. (neutral)
- Kiralık ev bu sokakta (var). (emphasizes the location)
- Bu sokakta ev kiralık. (predicative: “The houses/a house on this street are/is for rent,” less about existence, more about state)
Keep bold var at the end in neutral existence statements.
Can I drop var?
Not in normal sentences. You might see it omitted in headlines/signs: Bold Kiralık ev (House for rent). But in a full sentence, keep bold var.
How do I ask “Is there a house for rent on this street?”
Use the yes–no particle bold mı/mi/mu/mü:
- Bu sokakta kiralık ev var mı?
Answers: Bold var (yes), bold yok (no).
How do I ask “Which street has a house for rent?” or “Where is there one?”
- Hangi sokakta kiralık ev var? = Which street has a house for rent?
- Nerede kiralık ev var? = Where is there a house for rent?
How do I talk about numbers? Do I pluralize ev?
After numbers, the noun stays singular:
- Bu sokakta iki kiralık ev var. (not evler)
- Bu sokakta birkaç kiralık ev var. = a few houses for rent
Why can’t I say var değil for the negative?
Bold var doesn’t take bold değil. Its set negative is bold yok.
- Doğru: Bu sokakta kiralık ev yok.
- Yanlış: ~Bu sokakta kiralık ev var değil.~
What’s the difference between var and vardır?
Bold vardır (and bold yoktur) is more formal/emphatic or used in general statements:
- Bu sokakta kiralık ev vardır. = There certainly is/are (sounds firm/formal).
- Bu sokakta kiralık ev yoktur. = There is definitely none (formal).
Do I need an apostrophe anywhere, like sokak’ta?
No. Apostrophes attach suffixes to proper names only. Bold sokak is a common noun, so bold sokakta is written as one word. With a proper name, you’d write: İstiklal Caddesi’nde.
What is the “subject” in this sentence?
Existence with bold var has no typical subject. The phrase bold kiralık ev is the thing that “exists,” and bold bu sokakta is the location. Because it’s indefinite, bold ev has no case ending (it’s not accusative).
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