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Questions & Answers about Ailem burada.
Where is the word for "my" in this sentence?
In Turkish, "my" is attached as a suffix to the end of the noun. The word for family is aile. Because it ends in a vowel, we just add the letter -m to make ailem (my family).
How would I change this to say "your family is here"?
To say "your", you use the second person singular suffix. Since aile ends in a vowel, you simply attach -n to the end. The sentence becomes Ailen burada.
Why isn't there a word for "is" in this sentence?
Turkish doesn't have a direct translation for the verb "to be" like "is" or "are" as separate words. Instead, it uses personal suffixes on the final word. For a third person subject (like "my family"), there is often no suffix at all. So Ailem burada translates perfectly to "My family is here" without needing an extra word.
I remember the suffix -da means "in" or "at". Is that what is happening at the end of burada?
Exactly! The base word is bura, which roughly means "this place". Adding the locative suffix -da gives us burada, which literally means "at this place" or simply "here".