Masada altı belge var.

There are six documents on the table.

Breakdown of Masada altı belge var.

• masa: the table
• belge: the document
• var: to exist
• altı: six

Questions & Answers about Masada altı belge var.

Why does masa become masada?

Because Turkish adds a location suffix to show where something is.

• masa = table
• masa-da = on the table / at the table

The suffix here is -da / -de / -ta / -te, often called the locative suffix.

So masada literally means in/on/at the table, depending on context. In this sentence, it is understood as on the table.

Why is the ending -da here and not -de?

This is due to vowel harmony.

The last vowel in masa is a, which is a back vowel, so the locative suffix takes the back-vowel form:

• -da or -ta, not -de or -te

So:

• masa → masada

If the noun had a front vowel as its last vowel, you would usually get -de instead.

Examples:

• ev → evde = at home / in the house
• şehir → şehirde = in the city

Why is it -da and not -ta?