Questions & Answers about Şu on beş kedi aç.
Why is "fifteen" written as two separate words (on beş)?
In Turkish, numbers from 11 to 19 are formed by simply stating on (ten) followed by the single digit, with a space in between. So on beş literally means "ten five".
Since there are fifteen cats, why is it kedi and not the plural kediler?
This is a very important rule in Turkish: whenever you use a number to say how many of something there are, the noun must stay in its singular form. You always say on beş kedi (literally "fifteen cat").
Why does the sentence use şu instead of a plural word for "those"?
Pointing words like bu, şu, and o do not take a plural ending when they describe a noun that follows them. Even though English changes "that" to "those", Turkish just keeps the base form şu.
Where is the word for "are" in this sentence?
There isn't one! In Turkish, simple statements about what something "is" or "are" in the third person often don't need an explicit verb. Just putting the adjective aç (hungry) at the end completely forms the sentence.