Exactly how much: her, bütün, birkaç, bazı — and "about"
English spreads all over all, every and whole. Turkish splits it in two. bütün is the whole thing undivided: bütün gün, the whole day. her is each one separately: her hafta, every week. For example: “Her ay kira ödüyorum” — Every month I pay the rent. A rule from the Turkish course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
English spreads all over all, every and whole. Turkish splits it in two. bütün is the whole thing undivided: bütün gün, the whole day. her is each one separately: her hafta, every week.
Hence a rule that saves many errors: after her the noun stays singular. Her ay kira ödüyorum, and her aylar is never said.
The same after birkaç, a few: birkaç soru. Where a number or its stand-in sits, the plural tail does not. One word breaks ranks — bazı, some: with it the tail is required, bazı günler.
Not a single is hiçbir, and the verb beside it must be negative: hiçbir şey almadım. Roughly hangs before the number or after it: yaklaşık on kişi and on kişi kadar say the same.
Table
| the word | what it means | the number of the noun | example |
|---|---|---|---|
| bütün | the whole, undivided | sing. or pl. | bütün gün — the whole day |
| her | each one separately | singular only | her hafta — every week |
| birkaç | a few | singular only | birkaç soru — a few questions |
| bazı | some (of them) | plural required | bazı günler — on some days |
| çoğu | most | like a noun, with -in | insanların çoğu — most people |
| hiçbir | not a single (negative verb) | singular only | hiçbir şey almadım |
| yaklaşık / kadar | about (before / after the number) | — | yaklaşık on kişi ≈ on kişi kadar |
By example
- Her ay kira ödüyorumEvery month I pay the rent
- Birkaç gün içinde parayı yatıracağımWithin a few days I will deposit the money
- Faturalar yaklaşık iki bin lira tuttuThe bills came to about two thousand lira
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
Exactly how much: how does it work in Turkish?
English spreads all over all, every and whole. Turkish splits it in two. bütün is the whole thing undivided: bütün gün, the whole day. her is each one separately: her hafta, every week.
What does it look like in an example sentence Turkish?
“Her ay kira ödüyorum” — Every month I pay the rent. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.