Questions & Answers about İyi arkadaşız.
Where is the word for 'we' in this sentence?
It is built right into the suffix -ız at the end of arkadaşız. Because this suffix specifically means 'we are', you don't need to include the pronoun biz (we) at the start of the sentence, though it wouldn't be wrong if you did.
Why isn't there a plural suffix on arkadaş (friend) if the translation says 'friends'?
In English, we say 'we are good friends', making the noun plural. In Turkish, the 'we are' suffix (-ız) already shows there is more than one person. Because of this, you don't add the regular plural suffix (-lar) to the noun. You just say arkadaşız, not arkadaşlarız.
How do we know to use -ız instead of the other 'we are' suffixes like -iz or -uz?
We use the rules of 4-way vowel harmony. You look at the last vowel in the word you are attaching the suffix to. The last vowel in arkadaş is a. When a word's last vowel is a or ı, the suffix takes an ı, making it arkadaşız.
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