LingoflyÇok, biraz, fazla — and the speaker’s verdict: galiba, tabii
çok does two jobs. In front of a quality it is very: çok ilginç. In front of a name it is many: çok insan var. Its partner az covers both few and a little, and biraz is built from bir and az: biraz yorgunum. For example: “Bu uygulama çok yavaş, biraz bekle” — This app is very slow, wait a bit. A rule from the Turkish course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
çok does two jobs. In front of a quality it is very: çok ilginç. In front of a name it is many: çok insan var. Its partner az covers both few and a little, and biraz is built from bir and az: biraz yorgunum.
fazla is read as too, but it really means more than needed. çok tuzlu is very salty and perhaps meant so; fazla tuzlu is oversalted. For not at all there is hiç, and the verb beside it goes negative: hiç sevmiyorum.
Your own verdict hangs on the whole sentence. galiba is probably: galiba unuttum. tabii is of course: Tabii ki yardım ederim.
The trap is position. çok, biraz, fazla and hiç press against their own word, while galiba can sit at either end of the phrase.
Table
| the word | what it does | example |
|---|---|---|
| çok | very / many | çok ilginç — very interesting |
| biraz | a little, a bit | biraz yorgunum — I am a bit tired |
| fazla | too, past the norm | fazla pahalı — too expensive |
| hiç | not at all (the verb negated) | hiç sevmiyorum — I do not like it at all |
| galiba | probably, it seems | galiba unuttum — I think I forgot |
| tabii | of course | tabii ki gelirim — of course I will come |
By example
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Çok, biraz, fazla — and the speaker’s verdict: how does it work in Turkish?
çok does two jobs. In front of a quality it is very: çok ilginç. In front of a name it is many: çok insan var. Its partner az covers both few and a little, and biraz is built from bir and az: biraz yorgunum.
What does it look like in a Turkish example sentence?
“Bu uygulama çok yavaş, biraz bekle” — This app is very slow, wait a bit. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.