Questions & Answers about Tabii, bu çok kolay.
Where is the word for "is" in this sentence?
In Turkish, there is no direct word for "am", "is", or "are". For the third person (like "this" or "it"), the "is" is simply understood from the context. So, bu çok kolay literally means "this very easy", but translates perfectly to "this is very easy". You might sometimes see a suffix like -dir added to the end of the sentence in formal writing to mean "is", but in everyday speech, it is usually left off.
Why does tabii have two i's at the end, and how do I pronounce it?
Tabii is a word borrowed from Arabic, which is why it has that unusual double vowel. When speaking naturally, most Turkish speakers pronounce it with a slightly lengthened "i" sound at the end. In fact, it is very common to hear people pronounce it with just a single short "i" sound, and you will even see it spelled as tabi in casual text messages.
I've seen çok used to mean "a lot". Does it mean "very" here?
Yes! Çok is a very versatile word. When you put it directly in front of an adjective like kolay (easy), it translates to "very" (çok kolay = very easy). When you use it with a noun or a verb, it means "many" or "a lot" (like in çok teşekkürler, which means "many thanks").
Could I use o instead of bu here?
Absolutely. Bu means "this", and it is used when the thing you are talking about is right in front of you or was just brought up. If you wanted to say "that is very easy" or "it is very easy" (referring to something a bit further away or more abstract), you could use o and say o çok kolay.
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