When there is no subject to be found: var, yok, lazım and the passive
English uses 'there is / there isn't' for existence, and Turkish answers with two words that have no person and no tense of their own: var and yok. The place goes into the locative, and the thing is named plain: Odada iki kişi var — literally 'in-the-room two people there-are'. In the past these become vardı and yoktu, in the future olacak and olmayacak: the verb olmak lends them the tenses they lack. For example…
How it works
English uses 'there is / there isn't' for existence, and Turkish answers with two words that have no person and no tense of their own: var and yok. The place goes into the locative, and the thing is named plain: Odada iki kişi var — literally 'in-the-room two people there-are'. In the past these become vardı and yoktu, in the future olacak and olmayacak: the verb olmak lends them the tenses they lack.
'Need' is built with lazım (or gerek). On its own it is impersonal: beklemek lazım — some waiting is needed, and by whom is unsaid. To name the person, the tail goes not on lazım but on the action noun: gitmem lazım — 'my going is needed', that is, 'I have to go'. gitmen lazım — you do, gitmesi lazım — he does. It is the same possessive tail as in evim.
The third way to skip a subject is the passive on -il/-ın. In Turkish it runs wider than the English passive: it carries the sense of 'people in general'. Burada sigara içilmez — no smoking here, 'cigarettes are not smoked here'. Nasıl gidilir? — how does one get there? There is no subject at all, and it is a perfectly normal sentence.
Finally, live speech often borrows the third person plural: Çantamı çaldılar — 'my bag got stolen', formally 'they stole it'. No 'they' is in sight — exactly like the English 'they say', where nobody knows who they are.
Table
| the turn | example | literally |
|---|---|---|
| var / yok | Bilet var mı? | is there a ticket? |
| vardı / yoktu | Dün ekmek yoktu | there was no bread yesterday |
| -mak lazım | Beklemek lazım | waiting is needed — by whom, unsaid |
| -mam lazım | Gitmem lazım | my going is needed → I have to go |
| -il- (the passive) | Burada park edilmez | parking is not done here → no parking |
| the 3rd person plural | Kapıyı kırmışlar | the door got broken — by whom, unimportant |
By example
- Bugün markete gitmek lazımToday I have to go to the store
- Odada kimse yokThere is no one in the room
- Bu saatte taksi bulunmazAt this hour there is no taxi to be found
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
Var vs yok?
English uses 'there is / there isn't' for existence, and Turkish answers with two words that have no person and no tense of their own: var and yok. The place goes into the locative, and the thing is named plain: Odada iki kişi var — literally 'in-the-room two people there-are'. In the past these…
Gitmem lazım or gitmek lazım?
'Need' is built with lazım (or gerek). On its own it is impersonal: beklemek lazım — some waiting is needed, and by whom is unsaid. To name the person, the tail goes not on lazım but on the action noun: gitmem lazım — 'my going is needed', that is, 'I have to go'. gitmen lazım — you do, gitmesi…
How to say no smoking here in Turkish?
The third way to skip a subject is the passive on -il/-ın. In Turkish it runs wider than the English passive: it carries the sense of 'people in general'. Burada sigara içilmez — no smoking here, 'cigarettes are not smoked here'. Nasıl gidilir? — how does one get there? There is no subject at all…
How to say the bag was stolen in Turkish?
Finally, live speech often borrows the third person plural: Çantamı çaldılar — 'my bag got stolen', formally 'they stole it'. No 'they' is in sight — exactly like the English 'they say', where nobody knows who they are.
What does it look like in an example sentence Turkish?
“Bugün markete gitmek lazım” — Today I have to go to the store. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.