Questions & Answers about Onlar yaşlı değil.
Why isn't there a plural suffix on değil (like değiller)?
Because the subject pronoun onlar (they) already tells us the sentence is plural! In Turkish, when the subject clearly shows plurality, you don't have to add the plural suffix to the end of the sentence. You can say Onlar yaşlı değiller, but Onlar yaşlı değil is perfectly correct and very common.
Does değil always come after the word it makes negative?
Yes. While English puts the negative word before the adjective ("not old"), Turkish word order puts it after. You state the noun or adjective first (yaşlı), and then follow it with değil to negate it.
Could I use this exact same sentence to say "They are not old" about a group of cars or buildings?
No, you can't! The word yaşlı comes from yaş (age) and specifically means "aged" or "elderly." It is only used for living things like people and animals. If you want to say that objects are not old, you have to use the word eski.
I don't see a personal suffix for "are" here. Does değil just mean "are not" all by itself?
Exactly. In the present tense, the third-person forms ("he/she/it/they") often don't need a specific "to be" suffix in Turkish; it is simply understood from the context. Because there is no special suffix for "is" or "are" here, değil handles the whole job of meaning "are not" on its own.
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