Learn Turkish: Bazı dersler zor, örneğin bu ders. - Some lessons are hard, for example this one.

Bazı dersler zor, örneğin bu ders.

Some lessons are hard, for example this one.

Breakdown of Bazı dersler zor, örneğin bu ders.

Questions & Answers about Bazı dersler zor, örneğin bu ders.

Why is it dersler (plural) after bazı? I thought Turkish used singular nouns after quantity words.

You are right that numbers like iki (two) and quantity words like birçok (many) take a singular noun. However, bazı (some) is an important exception! It is always followed by a plural noun, which is why we must say bazı dersler (some lessons) rather than bazı ders.

Where is the verb for 'are' in the first half of the sentence?

In simple present tense statements, Turkish often drops the 'to be' verb completely. Just putting the adjective zor (hard) right after the subject bazı dersler (some lessons) is enough to mean 'some lessons are hard.'

Is örneğin related to the word örnek?

Yes! Örnek means 'example' or 'model.' By adding the suffix -in, it becomes the fixed adverb örneğin, which is the most common way to say 'for example' or 'for instance' in Turkish.

The English translation says 'this one.' Why does the Turkish side say bu ders (this lesson) again instead of using a word for 'one'?

Turkish does not use the number bir (one) as a replacement pronoun the way English does. To say 'this one' or 'that one,' you usually just repeat the noun, as in bu ders (this lesson), or you can simply use the pointing word bu (this) on its own.