A third, one and a half, twice over: the Turkish fraction reads backwards
Unit 52 stands on numbers, and the first thing that trips an English speaker in it is the word order in a fraction. For example: “Sınıfın üçte biri gelmedi” — A third of the class did not come. A rule from the Turkish course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Unit 52 stands on numbers, and the first thing that trips an English speaker in it is the word order in a fraction.
A fraction: the denominator first, the numerator second. 'One third' is üçte bir — literally 'in three, one'. The denominator goes first and takes the locative -te/-de; the numerator comes second and bare: dörtte bir (a quarter), beşte iki (two fifths), yüzde on (ten percent — exactly the same construction, 'in a hundred, ten'). English does it backwards: 'a third' names the number of parts and only then the pieces; Turkish names the parts first, then points at the pieces standing inside them.
The half lives in two words. yarım — a half as an independent quantity (yarım ekmek — half a loaf); buçuk — a half with a whole number (bir buçuk — one and a half, iki buçuk saat — two and a half hours). Saying 'bir yarım' is impossible, and that is the commonest mistake on this spot.
Multiples: kat and misli. iki kat — twice over, üç kat — three times; kat kat by doubling means 'many times over, by an order of magnitude'. The borrowed misli works the same and sounds more official: iki misli, üç misli. The verb of multiplication is katlanmak with the to-case: ikiye katlandı — it doubled.
The distributive -er/-ar. birer — one each, ikişer — two each, üçer — three each. Doubled, it becomes an adverb: birer birer (one by one), ikişer ikişer (in twos). After a vowel an ş is inserted: not 'ikier' but ikişer.
What does not change for number. After a numeral the noun stays singular: beş kitap, not 'beş kitaplar'; bir düzine yumurta — a dozen eggs. English insists on its plural here, and the habit dies hard.
Table
| in English | in Turkish | how it reads literally |
|---|---|---|
| a third | üçte bir | in three — one |
| a quarter | dörtte bir | in four — one |
| ten percent | yüzde on | in a hundred — ten |
| an hour and a half | bir buçuk saat | one with a half, an hour |
| half a loaf | yarım ekmek | half bread |
| twice over | iki misli | two of multiplicity |
| one by one | birer birer | one-each one-each |
By example
- Sınıfın üçte biri gelmediA third of the class did not come
- Yol bir buçuk saat sürdüThe trip took an hour and a half
- Nüfus otuz yılda ikiye katlandıThe population doubled in thirty years
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
A third, one and a half, twice over: how does it work in Turkish?
Unit 52 stands on numbers, and the first thing that trips an English speaker in it is the word order in a fraction.
What does it look like in an example sentence Turkish?
“Sınıfın üçte biri gelmedi” — A third of the class did not come. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.