Indefinite pronouns for things and places (her şey, hiçbir şey)

Everything: Her şey

When preparing for a trip, you want to make sure you have all your belongings. To talk about "everything," use her şey.

Notice the spelling: şey (thing) is always written as a separate word in Turkish. Just like in English, her şey is grammatically singular and takes singular verbs.

Is everything ready?
Her şey hazır mı?
Is everything in the luggage?
Her şey bagajda mı?
Yes, everything is here.
Evet, her şey burada.

Nothing: Hiçbir şey and Double Negation

To say "nothing," use hiçbir şey.

Just like with kimse (no one), Turkish requires double negation when using this word. If you use an action verb, the verb itself must be negative. If you are describing a state of being, you must pair it with a negative word like yok (there is not) or değil (not).

Nothing is missing.
Hiçbir şey eksik değil.
There is nothing in the pocket.
Cepte hiçbir şey yok.
He is very forgetful, but today he is forgetting nothing.
O çok unutkan ama bugün hiçbir şey unutmuyor.

Somewhere: Bir yer

Turkish expresses "somewhere" using bir yer (literally: a place).

Because it represents a physical location, you will usually attach a spatial case ending to it, depending on the verb:

  • bir yerde: in/at somewhere (locative case, for stationary location)
  • bir yere: to somewhere (dative case, for movement toward)

You can easily combine this with başka (other) to say "somewhere else" (başka bir yerde).

Maybe it is somewhere else.
Belki başka bir yerde.
The suitcase is sitting somewhere at the airport.
Bavul havaalanında bir yerde duruyor.
He is putting the things somewhere and forgetting.
Eşyaları bir yere koyuyor ve unutuyor.

Putting It Together

Keep an eye out for how these indefinite pronouns can take case endings just like regular nouns. For example, when you are searching for "everything," it takes the accusative case because it is a specific direct object (her şeyi arıyor).

The wallet is maybe in the pocket, maybe somewhere else.
Cüzdan belki cepte, belki başka bir yerde.
The forgetful passenger is looking for everything, but there is nothing in the luggage.
Unutkan yolcu her şeyi arıyor ama bagajda hiçbir şey yok.