Breakdown of Şu kapılar büyük, o çiçekler güzel.
o
that / he / she / it
şu
that (pointed out)
büyük
big
güzel
beautiful / nice / good
çiçek
flower
kapı
door
Questions & Answers about Şu kapılar büyük, o çiçekler güzel.
Why is the plural suffix -lar for doors, but -ler for flowers?
This is the 2-way vowel harmony in action! You look at the last vowel in the noun. kapı (door) ends with the back vowel 'ı', so it takes the back-vowel suffix -lar to become kapılar. çiçek (flower) has the front vowel 'e' in its last syllable, so it takes the front-vowel suffix -ler to become çiçekler.
If the sentence means "those doors", why isn't şu pluralized to şunlar?
In Turkish, pointing words like bu (this), şu (that), and o (that) don't get plural suffixes when they are placed directly in front of a noun. Since the noun kapılar is already plural, şu stays exactly as it is. It's just şu kapılar, never şunlar kapılar.
Both şu and o are translated as "those" here. What is the difference between them?
It is about distance and focus! o is used for things that are far away from both speakers. şu is usually for things that are slightly closer, or when you are actively pointing at something to draw the listener's attention to it.
Where is the word for "are" in "Those doors are big"?
Turkish usually drops the "to be" verb (is/am/are) in the present tense for simple descriptions. You just place the subject (şu kapılar) next to the adjective (büyük) and the meaning "are" is automatically understood!
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