Questions & Answers about Bu kadınlar kim?
Why does kadın take -lar instead of -ler to mean "women"?
This is because of 2-way vowel harmony. The last vowel in kadın is ı, which is a back vowel. Words with back vowels (a, ı, o, u) take the -lar plural suffix, while words with front vowels (e, i, ö, ü) take -ler.
Since the sentence means "these women", why do we use bu instead of the plural bunlar?
In Turkish, when a pointing word like bu (this) is used right before a noun to describe it, it never takes a plural suffix. You only make the noun plural. So you say bu kadınlar, which translates to "these women". Bunlar is only used when the pointing word stands alone as a pronoun, like in "Bunlar kim?" (Who are these?).
If we are asking about multiple women, why is the word for "who" (kim) singular?
You could actually say kimler, but it isn't required. If the subject (bu kadınlar) already clearly has a plural suffix, Turkish usually leaves the other words in the sentence singular to avoid repeating the plural sound.
Where is the word for "are" in this sentence?
In simple present tense sentences, Turkish often drops the "to be" verb completely. Simply placing the subject (bu kadınlar) next to the question word (kim) is enough to mean "Who are these women?".
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