The Verb “To Be”

In the present tense, Turkish nominal sentences use personal endings to mark person and number. There is no separate verb corresponding to "to be" in these sentences. 

Predication is expressed through endings attached to the predicate. The third person singular uses a zero form. Other tenses and constructions follow different patterns, which you will learn at later levels.

1. Structure of Nominal Predication

The basic pattern is:

Predicate + Personal ending

The predicate may be a noun, adjective, or locative phrase (such as evde, "at home").

Examples:

Öğretmenim.
Hazırsın.
Evdeyiz.

2. Personal Endings

The endings follow four-way vowel harmony. The third person plural ending -lAr is the exception and follows two-way harmony.

1st singular (ben): -(y)Im → ım / im / um / üm
Öğretmenim.

2nd singular (sen): -sIn → sın / sin / sun / sün
Hazırsın.

3rd singular (o): -∅ (no ending)
Hasta.

1st plural (biz): -(y)Iz → ız / iz / uz / üz
Evdeyiz.

2nd plural (siz): -sInIz → sınız / siniz / sunuz / sünüz
Yoğunsunuz.

3rd plural (onlar): -lAr → lar / ler
Mutlular.

The consonant y appears before the ben and biz endings when the predicate ends in a vowel. See Section 4.

3. Zero Form (3rd Singular)

Third person singular takes no ending:

O hasta.
Bu doğru.
Ev büyük.

You may also see the suffix -DIr in the third person (Bu doğrudur). It adds a sense of certainty or general truth and is common in formal and written Turkish. At A1 level, the zero form is enough for everyday sentences.

4. Buffer Consonant y (Vowel-Final Predicates)

When the predicate ends in a vowel and the personal ending begins with a vowel, y appears:

iyi → iyiyim
mavi → maviyim
hasta → hastayım
mutlu → mutluyum

All of these show vowel + vowel sequences resolved by the buffer y.

5. Direct Attachment (Consonant-Final Predicates)

If the predicate ends in a consonant, the personal ending attaches directly since no buffer is needed:

hazır → hazırsın
zengin → zenginiz
tembel → tembelsiniz

Some words undergo consonant softening before vowel-initial personal endings. For example, genç → gencim (ç → c).

6. Plural Predication

When the subject onlar is present, the predicate may appear with or without plural marking:

Onlar mutlu.
Onlar mutlular.

Both forms are grammatical. When the subject is omitted, -lAr can indicate that the subject is plural:

Mutlular.

In everyday Turkish, context may also make the plural meaning clear:

Çocuklar nerede? Bahçede.

With non-human plural subjects, -lAr is usually omitted:

Evler büyük.

7. Full Conjugation with Different Predicates

hazır
ben hazırım · sen hazırsın · o hazır · biz hazırız · siz hazırsınız · onlar hazır(lar)

hasta
ben hastayım · sen hastasın · o hasta · biz hastayız · siz hastasınız · onlar hasta(lar)

iyi
ben iyiyim · sen iyisin · o iyi · biz iyiyiz · siz iyisiniz · onlar iyi(ler)

mutlu
ben mutluyum · sen mutlusun · o mutlu · biz mutluyuz · siz mutlusunuz · onlar mutlu(lar)

üzgün
ben üzgünüm · sen üzgünsün · o üzgün · biz üzgünüz · siz üzgünsünüz · onlar üzgün(ler)

The buffer y appears only in the ben and biz forms of vowel-final words (hasta, iyi, mutlu). The parentheses in the onlar forms show that -lAr is optional when onlar is present.