Having

10.1 Kardeşim var: I have a brother or sister

Turkish has no verb for "have". To say that someone has something, it says that the thing is there, with a possessive ending for whose it is: kardeşim var, word for word "my brother-or-sister there is", is "I have a brother or sister". For "haven't", yok takes the place of var.

The glosses write var as there.is and yok as there.isn't, which is what they say on their own.

The thing had is the subject, and the one who has it is only an ending on it. So "I have", "you have" and "we have" are one sentence with a different ending on the noun: kardeşim var, kardeşin var, kardeşimiz var.

A noun alone, without bir or a number, doesn't say how many: kardeşim var is "I have a brother or sister", or more than one. Bir or a number says it.

Without a possessive ending, var is only "there is", as it was with places. The ending is all that makes a sentence about having:

10.2 Family

Family words come up with var and yok more than any others.

kardeş is a brother or a sister, and Turkish says which only when it matters, with erkek, "male", or kız, "girl", in front. An elder sister has a word of her own, abla, and so has an elder brother, ağabey. People also use them to speak to a woman or a man a little older than themselves, family or not.

After a number the noun stays singular, as it always does in Turkish: iki çocuk, "two children".

10.3 Ali'nin arabası var: what others have

With a name or a noun, the owner takes the genitive, and the thing had takes -(s)I, as in "Ali's car": Ali'nin arabası var, "Ali has a car".

Things have things in the same way:

When the thing had is described, the adjective goes before bir, and var still comes last:

Turkish describes people the same way, by what they have. Eyes come in the plural, since there are two:

10.4 Asking what someone has

mI after var or yok makes a question: var mı?, "is there?", and yok mu?, "isn't there?". The short answer is var or yok on its own, with evet or hayır in front if wanted.

kaç, "how many", asks the number, and the noun after it stays singular, as after any number:

In a shop or a café, Turkish asks whether a thing is there. Ekmek var mı?, "is there bread?", is the way to ask "do you have any bread?".

With a possessive ending on the noun, the question is about what the place itself has, as a hotel has rooms:

yok mu? asks the same thing expecting a yes, as English "isn't there any?" does:

And together, var and yok make a greeting between friends:

10.5 None at all: hiç

hiç before the noun makes yok stronger: "none at all", "not a single one". In a question with var mı? it asks "any at all?".

A few everyday phrases are a noun and yok, and nothing more:

10.6 Bende: what someone has on them

var after a possessive says what someone owns, or has in their life. For what someone has on them, or has to hand just now, Turkish puts -DA on the person instead, "at me", "at you": bende, sende, onda, bizde, sizde, onlarda, and with a name, Ali'de. The thing had takes no possessive.

Param yok is "I have no money", none at all; bende para yok is "I've got no money on me", whatever there is at home.

The same -DA on a person says who has a thing that is already known:

10.7 Had and hadn't: vardı, yoktu

For the past, var and yok take -DI, the ending of the past: vardı, "there was", and so "had"; yoktu, "there wasn't", and so "didn't have". After the k of yok, D is t, and the I follows harmony. The glosses write -DI as PAST; the past tense of verbs has a chapter of its own.

In a question, -DI moves onto mI. Since mI ends in a vowel, a y comes between them: var mıydı?, "was there?", "did ... have?", and yok muydu?, "wasn't there?".

10.8 Where English says "have"

English "have" does more than own. Turkish uses var for what someone owns, and for what they have about them, a question, a plan, a fever:

But for what someone does, "have breakfast", "have a shower", Turkish uses a verb, often yapmak, "do", or almak, "take":

And "have to" is another matter again, with a chapter of its own.