Measures and shares: buçuk, çeyrek, yüzde and multiples on kat
Measure is the first place where Turkish does not behave the way English expects, and the mistake is heard at once. For example: “Kasaptan yarım kilo kıyma aldım” — At the butcher’s I bought half a kilo of ground meat. A rule from the Turkish course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Measure is the first place where Turkish does not behave the way English expects, and the mistake is heard at once.
After a number the noun does not pluralize. 'Five kilograms' is beş kilo, not 'beş kilolar'; 'three meters of fabric' is üç metre kumaş. The number has already said how many, and the -lar tail becomes redundant. The rule covers everything: iki kişi, on gün, yüz lira. The plural appears only where there is no number: kilolarca — by the kilo upon kilo.
Turkish has two halves, and they are not interchangeable. yarım is a half on its own: yarım kilo — half a kilo, yarım saat — half an hour, yarım ekmek — half a loaf. buçuk is the half AFTER a whole number: iki buçuk saat — two and a half hours, bir buçuk metre — one and a half meters — exactly the English 'and a half'. Saying 'iki yarım saat' is impossible. Hence the clock: iki buçuk — half past two.
The quarter works both as a share and as clock time. çeyrek elma — a quarter of an apple; but on the clock it has its own pair: üçe çeyrek var — quarter to three, üçü çeyrek geçiyor — quarter past three. Note the cases: to the hour that has not yet come — the to-case; from the hour that has passed — the accusative.
The percent word goes BEFORE the number. yüzde yirmi — twenty percent, literally 'in a hundred, twenty'. The order is the reverse of English, and it cannot be swapped: 'yirmi yüzde' means nothing. The sign on the price tag reads the same way: %20 aloud is yüzde yirmi.
Multiples come from kat, repeats from kere and defa. iki kat — twice as much (fiyat iki kat arttı — the price doubled), iki kere — twice (iki kere aradım — I called twice). Mixing them is impossible: it would be as meaningless as at home.
The tail -lik turns a measure into a quality. beş kiloluk çanta — a five-kilo bag, iki metrelik ip — a two-meter rope, üç günlük iş — a three-day job. This is the same -lık that makes uzunluk out of uzun; only here it looks not at a quality but at a measure.
Table
| the form | what it means | example | translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| number + measure | no plural | beş kilo elma | five kilos of apples |
| yarım | a half on its own | yarım saat | half an hour |
| buçuk | a half after a whole | iki buçuk saat | two and a half hours |
| çeyrek | a quarter | çeyrek elma | a quarter of an apple |
| yüzde + number | percent, the order reversed | yüzde yirmi | twenty percent |
| kat | that many times over | iki kat arttı | it doubled |
| kere / defa | that many times (occasions) | iki kere aradım | I called twice |
| -lik / -lık | a measure as a quality | iki metrelik ip | a two-meter rope |
By example
- Kasaptan yarım kilo kıyma aldımAt the butcher’s I bought half a kilo of ground meat
- Toplantı iki buçuk saat sürdüThe meeting lasted two and a half hours
- Fiyatlar yüzde on arttıPrices rose by ten percent
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
Measures and shares: how does it work in Turkish?
Measure is the first place where Turkish does not behave the way English expects, and the mistake is heard at once.
What does it look like in an example sentence Turkish?
“Kasaptan yarım kilo kıyma aldım” — At the butcher’s I bought half a kilo of ground meat. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.