Breakdown of Rafta bardak yok, tabak var.
var
there is / existent
yok
there is not / non-existent
bardak
glass / cup
tabak
plate
raf
shelf
Questions & Answers about Rafta bardak yok, tabak var.
Why does the translation say "glasses" and "plates" if bardak and tabak are singular in the sentence?
When talking about a general category of things existing (or not existing), Turkish uses the singular form. Bardak yok literally means "glass doesn't exist." If you said bardaklar yok, it would mean "the specific glasses are not there." This rule of keeping nouns singular is exactly the same rule you use after the question word kaç (how many)!
Why is it rafta and not rafda for "on the shelf"?
The suffix for "in/on/at" is usually -da or -de. However, the word raf ends with a voiceless consonant (f). In Turkish, when a word ends in a voiceless consonant, the suffix also changes to start with a voiceless consonant (t) to make it easier to say. So, -da becomes -ta.
Could I use değil instead of yok to say "there are no glasses"?
No, because they have different jobs. Değil means "is not" and is used to describe things (like "the glass is not big"). Yok means "there is not" or "does not exist." Whenever you want to express that something exists or is located somewhere, you must use var and its opposite yok.
Why isn't there a word for "but" between the two halves of the sentence?
In Turkish, you often don't need connector words like ama (but) when contrasting two things. Placing the opposites yok and var in two short phrases separated by a simple comma is a very natural and common way to say "not this, but that."
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