Çorbada fazla tuz var.

to be

Breakdown of Çorbada fazla tuz var.

• çorba: the soup
• tuz: the salt
• -da: in

Questions & Answers about Çorbada fazla tuz var.

What does the suffix -da in Çorbada mean?

It’s the locative case, meaning in/on/at. So çorba + -da = in the soup. Turkish uses the locative -DA with four forms: -da, -de, -ta, -te.

Why is it -da and not -de here?

Vowel harmony. The last vowel of çorba is a (a back vowel), so the locative takes a rather than e: -da, not -de.

Why not -ta/‑te?

The d/t part depends on the last consonant of the stem. If the stem ends in a voiceless consonant (ç, f, h, k, p, s, ş, t), you use -t; otherwise -d. Çorba ends in a vowel, so it takes -d: çorbada. Compare: parkta (park + ta), okulda (okul + da).

What does var do?

Var is the existential predicate meaning there is/there are. It doesn’t change for singular/plural. The negative is yok (there isn’t/there aren’t).

Why is the verb var at the end?