Breakdown of Bu mağazada hem çorap hem şapka var.
bu
this
var
there is / existent
şapka
hat
hem
both / and (used in pairs as both... and...)
mağaza
store / shop
çorap
socks
Questions & Answers about Bu mağazada hem çorap hem şapka var.
How do we use hem... hem... in this sentence?
It works exactly like 'both... and...' in English. You just put hem before the first item (çorap) and another hem before the second item (şapka). You do not need the word ve (and) because the hem... hem... structure already gives that meaning.
Why are çorap and şapka singular when the translation says 'socks and hats'?
In Turkish, when you are talking about the general existence of things using var (there is/are), you usually leave the nouns in their singular form. Adding the plural suffix to make çoraplar or şapkalar would sound like you are talking about specific, definite groups of items rather than just 'socks and hats in general'.
If I wanted to say 'There are neither socks nor hats', would I change var to yok?
Surprisingly, no! If you use the negative pair ne... ne... (neither... nor...) from this lesson, the sentence would be Bu mağazada ne çorap ne şapka var. Because ne... ne... itself makes the overall meaning negative, the existence word at the end stays positive (var instead of yok).
What does the -da suffix do in mağazada?
It is the locative case suffix, which means 'in', 'on', or 'at'. Attached to mağaza (store), it becomes mağazada (in the store). Together with var at the end of the sentence, it creates the structure 'In this store, there are...'.
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