To present mutually exclusive alternatives, Turkish uses the correlative conjunction ya... ya da... (either... or...).
| either... or | ya... ya da |
Presenting Choices
Place ya before your first option and ya da before your second option. (The da is optional, but including it is common and natural).
| I want either tiles or hardwood floors for the floor. | Zemin için ya fayans ya da parke istiyorum. |
You can use this conjunction to link nouns, or to link entire clauses:
| Either the wallpaper is very dark or the lighting is very bad. | Ya duvar kağıdı çok karanlık ya da aydınlatma çok kötü. |
Matching Grammatical Cases
A key rule when using ya... ya da... is that both options must be grammatically parallel. If the options are the direct object of a verb or describe a location, both items must take the same case endings.
For example, if you are talking about specific objects, both nouns receive the accusative case:
| For the new decoration, we need to change either the furniture or the lighting. | Yeni dekorasyon için ya mobilyaları ya da aydınlatmayı değiştirmemiz lazım. |
Similarly, if you are pointing out where a problem is located, both options take the locative case (-da / -de / -ta / -te):
| The problem is either in the plumbing or in the design. | Problem ya tesisatta ya da tasarımda. |
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