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Learn Hardcore Turkish: Bu soru hiç kolay değil. - This question is not easy at all.

Hardcore Turkish
/Lesson 110
/Bu soru hiç kolay değil.

Bu soru hiç kolay değil.

Word

Bu soru hiç kolay değil.

Meaning

This question is not easy at all.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore Turkish

Lesson

Breakdown of Bu soru hiç kolay değil.

Questions & Answers about Bu soru hiç kolay değil.

Why is there no word for is in Bu soru hiç kolay değil?

In Turkish, the verb to be is often not expressed in the present tense, especially in the 3rd person.

So:

Bu soru kolay. = This question is easy.
literally: This question easy.

Turkish does not need a separate word like is here.

In the negative, though, Turkish uses değil:

Bu soru kolay değil. = This question is not easy.

So the idea of is not is expressed by değil.

What does bu mean here?

Bu means this.

So:

bu = this
soru = question

Together, bu soru means this question.

Turkish does not use articles like a or the in the same way English does, so soru by itself can mean question, and bu soru specifically means this question.

Why is soru before kolay?

soru

the question

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Because soru is the subject, and kolay değil is the predicate.

The basic structure is:

Bu soru = this question
hiç kolay değil = is not easy at all

A very common Turkish sentence pattern is:

subject + description/predicate

So:

Bu soru kolay. = This question is easy.
Bu soru kolay değil. = This question is not easy.

That word order is very normal and natural.

What does hiç mean in this sentence?

Here, hiç means something like:

at all
in the least
by no means (depending on tone)

So:

Bu soru kolay değil. = This question is not easy.
Bu soru hiç kolay değil. = This question is not easy at all.

This is a very common use of hiç with negatives in Turkish.

Be careful: hiç can also mean ever or never in other contexts, but in this sentence it is best understood as at all.

Why do we use değil instead of a negative ending on kolay?

Because kolay is an adjective, not a verb.

In Turkish:

verbs are usually negated with a verbal negative suffix like -ma / -me
nouns and adjectives used as predicates are usually negated with değil

So:

gelmek = to come
gelmiyor = he/she is not coming

But:

kolay = easy
kolay değil = not easy

Since kolay is descriptive, Turkish uses değil.

Is değil the same as not?

It is often translated as not, but it does not behave exactly like English not.

In this sentence:

kolay değil = is not easy

So değil is the element that makes the predicate negative.

It works especially with:

nouns
adjectives
noun-like predicates

Examples:

Doktor değil. = He/She is not a doctor.
Hazır değil. = He/She/It is not ready.
Kolay değil. = It is not easy.

So değil is more like a special Turkish negative form used with non-verbal predicates.

Can I leave out hiç and still have a correct sentence?

Yes, absolutely.

Bu soru kolay değil. = This question is not easy.
Bu soru hiç kolay değil. = This question is not easy at all.

Without hiç, the sentence is still completely correct.
Adding hiç just makes the negative stronger.

I’ve also seen hiç de kolay değil. What is the difference?

Yes, Bu soru hiç de kolay değil is also very common.

The extra de adds emphasis. It often makes the sentence sound more like:

This question is really not easy at all
This question is definitely not easy

So:

hiç kolay değil = not easy at all
hiç de kolay değil = a slightly more emphatic version of the same idea

Both are natural.

Why doesn’t kolay change form? Shouldn’t adjectives agree with the noun?

No. In Turkish, adjectives do not agree with nouns in number or gender.

So kolay stays kolay no matter what it describes:

kolay soru = easy question
kolay sorular = easy questions

There is no masculine/feminine agreement, and no singular/plural agreement on the adjective.

That makes Turkish adjectives simpler than English speakers sometimes expect from studying other languages.

Could the word order be changed?

The neutral, standard order is:

Bu soru hiç kolay değil.

Turkish does allow word order changes for emphasis, but not every change sounds equally natural.

For example, moving words around may shift focus:

Bu soru kolay değil. = neutral
Kolay değil bu soru. = more marked, like This question isn’t easy
Bu soru hiç kolay değil. = neutral with emphasis from hiç

For learners, the safest choice is the original order.

How is değil pronounced?

Değil is often pronounced roughly like deyil in careful explanation, though actual speech can sound smoother and more compressed.

A learner-friendly approximation is:

deh-eel or dey-il

Important points:

ğ usually does not sound like a hard g
it often lengthens or smooths the vowel before it

So değil is definitely not pronounced like degil with a hard g.

Is this sentence formal or informal?

It is neutral and natural in both speech and writing.

Bu soru hiç kolay değil. is perfectly normal conversational Turkish.
It is also fine in written Turkish.

It is neither especially formal nor especially slangy. It is just standard Turkish.

Could bu soru also mean the question instead of this question?

In this sentence, bu soru specifically means this question because of bu.

If you just wanted the question in a general sense, Turkish might simply use soru or a context-dependent form.

So:

bu soru = this question
soru = question / the question depending on context

Turkish relies a lot on context rather than articles like a and the.

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