Var and Yok

In Turkish, "var" and "yok" are used to express the presence and absence of things. There are no direct English equivalents so understanding these concepts are important in learning Turkish. "Var" and "yok" are generally placed at the end of the sentence. There are four cases to be considered:

1. Positive - Var
2. Negative - Yok
3. Positive Question - Var mı
4. Negative Question - Yok mu

1. Positive - Var

Var basically means "there is".

Examples:

Garajda araba var - There is a car in the garage
Parkta çoçuk var - There is a child in the park
Futbol sahasında top var - There is a ball on the football field
Trende yolcu var - There is a passenger on the train
Camide müezzin var - There is a muezzin in the mosque

2. Negative - Yok

Yok is used to mean "there isn't".

Examples:

Garajda araba yok - There isn't a car in the garage
Parkta çoçuk yok - There isn't a child in the park
Futbol sahasında top yok - There isn't a ball on the football field
Trende yolcu yok - There isn't a passenger on the train
Camide müezzin yok - There isn't a muezzin in the mosque

3. Positive Question - Var mı

In Turkish we use the different forms of "mi" to form questions ("mı"/"mi"/"mu"/"mü"). By applying the rules of vowel harmony we add "mı" to "var" to get the positive question form var mı.

Examples:

Garajda araba var mı? - Is there a car in the garage?
Parkta çoçuk var mı? - Is there a child in the park?
Futbol sahasında top var mı? - Is there is a ball on the football field?
Trende yolcu var mı? - Is there is a passenger on the train?
Camide müezzin var mı? - Is there is a muezzin in the mosque?

4. Negative Question - Yok mu

To form the negative question form we add "mu" to "yok" to get yok mu.

Examples:

Garajda araba yok mu? - Isn't there a car in the garage?
Parkta çoçuk yok mu? - Isn't there a child in the park?
Futbol sahasında top yok mu? - Isn't there a ball on the football field?
Trende yolcu yok mu? - Isn't there a passenger on the train?
Camide müezzin yok mu? - Isn't there a muezzin in the mosque?