Questions & Answers about Şu elli doktor çok yorgun.
Why is it doktor and not doktorlar if there are fifty of them?
In Turkish, nouns that come right after a number always stay in their singular form. Because elli (fifty) already tells us there is more than one, adding the plural ending -lar is unnecessary and actually grammatically incorrect in Turkish!
The English translation says 'those', so shouldn't we use the plural şunlar instead of şu?
No, because şu is acting as an adjective here (pointing out which fifty doctors). In Turkish, adjectives never take plural endings. You only use şunlar (those) when it stands completely alone as a pronoun, like in Şunlar çok yorgun (Those are very tired).
Does elli (fifty) come from the word for five (beş)?
No, and that is a great thing to watch out for! Unlike English, where you can easily see 'five' inside 'fifty', many Turkish tens look completely different from their single-digit counterparts. Five is beş, but fifty is elli. You just have to memorize the tens as their own unique words.
Where is the word for 'are' in this sentence?
In Turkish, there is no separate word for 'am', 'is', or 'are'. Instead, 'to be' is usually a suffix attached to the final word. However, for the third person ('is' or 'are'), Turkish often drops the suffix completely in everyday language. So çok yorgun literally translates to 'very tired', but means 'are very tired' in this context.
Learn Şu elli doktor çok yorgun and more in Turkish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free