Existence with Var and Yok in Turkish

In Brief

Use var when something exists, is present, or is available, and yok when it is absent: Masada bir kitap var means “There is a book on the table,” while Masada kitap yok means “There is no book on the table.” To express possession, put a possessive ending on the thing possessed: Param var means “I have money,” and Param yok means “I don’t have money.” Ask a yes/no question with the separate question particle: var mı? or yok mu?

Overview

Var and yok are among the most practical words in Turkish. They cover ideas that English divides among “there is,” “there are,” “have,” “do not have,” “available,” and “absent.” You will hear them when people discuss places, belongings, food, time, appointments, services, and problems. This is an A1 topic, but the same basic pattern remains useful at every level.

The beginner rule is simple: place the person, thing, or location before var or yok. Turkish normally puts the key predicate—the part that says what is true—at the end. There is no change for singular versus plural: var can mean either “there is” or “there are,” and yok can mean either “there is not” or “there are not.”

Possession requires a small change of viewpoint. English makes the owner the subject: “I have a car.” Turkish usually marks the object as “my car” and then says that it exists: Arabam var. This is natural Turkish, not a word-for-word version of English. Learning the whole pattern rather than searching for a direct equivalent of “have” will prevent many common mistakes.

How It Works

The basic contrast

Form	Core meaning	Typical English equivalents
var	something exists or is present	there is/are; available; have
yok	something does not exist or is absent	there is/are no; unavailable; do not have

Neither form changes according to the number of things mentioned:

• Bir sandalye var. — There is one chair.
• Üç sandalye var. — There are three chairs.
• Sandalye yok. — There are no chairs.

Saying where something exists

For a basic existence statement, use this order:

location + thing + var/yok

The location commonly takes the locative case, an ending that means “in,” “at,” or “on.” Its forms are -da, -de, -ta, -te, chosen according to Turkish sound harmony and the final sound of the word.

Turkish	English	Note
Evde kahve var.	There is coffee at home.	evde = at home/in the house
Masada bir kitap var.	There is a book on the table.	masada = on the table
Otelde havuz yok.	There is no pool at the hotel.	yok supplies the negative meaning
Sokakta insanlar var.	There are people in the street.	var does not become plural

Turkish often omits bir (“one/a”) when the exact number is unimportant. Masada kitap var can mean “There is a book on the table” or more generally “There are books on the table,” depending on context. Use bir when you mean one item or introduce a particular single item.

Saying that someone has something

Turkish normally expresses “have” with:

possessed noun + possessive suffix + var/yok

A possessive suffix is an ending attached to a noun to show whose thing it is. The exact vowels and sometimes consonants change through vowel harmony, but the person expressed by the ending remains the same.

Turkish	English	Owner shown by the ending
Arabam var.	I have a car.	araba-m: my car
Araban var.	You have a car.	araba-n: your car, singular informal
Arabası var.	He/She has a car.	araba-sı: his/her car
Arabamız var.	We have a car.	araba-mız: our car
Arabanız var.	You have a car.	araba-nız: your car, plural or polite
Arabaları var.	They have a car/cars.	araba-ları: their car(s)

The owner pronoun is usually unnecessary because the suffix already identifies the owner. Benim param yok and Param yok both mean “I have no money,” but benim (“my”) adds contrast or emphasis: “As for me, I have no money.”

With a named third-person owner, both the owner and the possessed noun are marked:

• Ali'nin arabası var. — Ali has a car.
• Merve'nin zamanı yok. — Merve does not have time.

The ending -(n)in on the owner means roughly “of,” while the possessed noun also receives a third-person possessive ending. You can treat this fuller construction as a later step; at A1, forms such as param var and vaktim yok are the priority.

Making a negative statement

Do not add the ordinary verbal negative ending -ma/-me to var. Use yok as the negative counterpart:

• İnternet var. — There is internet access.
• İnternet yok. — There is no internet access.
• Vaktim var. — I have time.
• Vaktim yok. — I do not have time.

In neutral present-time statements, forms such as var değil are not the normal way to say “there is not.” Yok already contains the negative meaning.

Asking questions with mı/mi/mu/mü

The yes/no question particle has four vowel-harmony forms: mı, mi, mu, mü. A particle is a short grammar word that adds a function such as questioning. It is written separately from var and yok.

Statement	Question	Meaning
Market var.	Market var mı?	There is a market. → Is there a market?
Param var.	Paran var mı?	I have money. → Do you have money?
Sorun yok.	Sorun yok mu?	There is no problem. → Isn’t there a problem?

After var, the correct form is mı; after yok, it is mu. In a possession question, the possessive suffix still marks the owner: Paran var mı? asks whether you have money, while Parası var mı? asks whether he or she has money.

Short answers are straightforward:

• Evet, var. — Yes, there is / Yes, I do.
• Hayır, yok. — No, there isn’t / No, I don’t.

English changes its short answer according to the original verb (“there is,” “I do,” “we have”). Turkish can simply repeat var or yok because the context supplies the missing details.

Asking what or who is present

Question words do not take mı/mi/mu/mü in the same simple clause. Put the question word before var or yok:

• Masada ne var? — What is on the table?
• Evde kim var? — Who is at home?
• Menüde ne yok? — What is not on the menu?

Compare Evde kim var? (“Who is at home?”) with Evde biri var mı? (“Is anyone at home?”). The first asks for an identity; the second asks for yes or no.

Examples in Context

Turkish	English	Note
Masada bir kitap var.	There is a book on the table.	Basic existence with a location
Burada market var mı?	Is there a market here?	Yes/no question
Bu mahallede iki eczane var.	There are two pharmacies in this neighborhood.	var stays unchanged after a plural quantity
Buzdolabında süt yok.	There is no milk in the refrigerator.	Absence in a location
Otelde boş oda var mı?	Is there an available room at the hotel?	var can express availability
Bugün ders yok.	There is no class today.	A scheduled event is not taking place
Param yok.	I don’t have money.	Possession with “my” suffix
Bir sorum var.	I have a question.	soru-m = my question
Kardeşin var mı?	Do you have a sibling?	kardeş-in = your sibling
Onun üç çocuğu var.	He/She has three children.	Third-person owner and possessed noun
Vaktimiz yok.	We don’t have time.	vakt-imiz = our time
Wi-Fi var mı?	Is Wi-Fi available?	Common service question
Menüde vejetaryen yemek var.	There is a vegetarian dish on the menu.	Existence within a selection
Evde kimse yok.	There is nobody at home.	kimse with yok means nobody
Sorun yok.	No problem.	Very common fixed response

Common Mistakes

Looking for a Turkish equivalent of English “have”

• Wrong: Ben bir araba var.
• Right: Benim bir arabam var. / Bir arabam var.
• Why: Turkish marks the possessed thing: araba-m means “my car.” The owner can usually be omitted because that ending already shows who has it.

Using var with a separate negative

• Wrong: Evde ekmek var değil.
• Right: Evde ekmek yok.
• Why: In a neutral present existence statement, yok is the standard negative counterpart of var.

Joining the question particle to var or yok

• Wrong: Burada banka varmı?
• Right: Burada banka var mı?
• Why: The question particle is a separate word. Write var mı and yok mu, even though they are pronounced as one rhythmic group.

Forgetting the possessive ending

• Wrong: Para var. when you mean “I have money.”
• Right: Param var.
• Why: Para var only says that money exists or is available. Param var identifies it as “my money” and therefore expresses possession.

Making var agree with a plural noun

• Wrong: İki restoran varlar. in a neutral “there are” statement.
• Right: İki restoran var.
• Why: Var does not take a plural ending just because several things exist.

Adding mı to a question-word question

• Wrong: Masada ne var mı?
• Right: Masada ne var?
• Why: Ne already makes the sentence a question. Use Masada bir şey var mı? if you want the yes/no meaning “Is there anything on the table?”

Usage Notes

Var and yok are neutral and frequent in both speech and writing. In signs, messages, and quick exchanges, Turkish may omit material that English requires. A shop assistant can answer Var (“We have it / It is available”) or Yok (“We do not have it / It is unavailable”) when the item is obvious from context.

Several short expressions are worth learning as complete units:

• Sorun yok. — No problem.
• Bir şey yok. — It is nothing / Nothing is wrong / There is nothing.
• Ne var? — What is there? / What’s wrong? (meaning depends on tone and situation)
• Yok artık! — No way! / Come on! (colloquial surprise or disbelief)

Possession can also be expressed with a person plus -de/-da: Bende var literally says “There is one on/with me” and often means “I have one” or “I have it too.” Do not confuse it with Benim kitabım var (“I have a book”). The bende pattern points to something being in someone’s possession or keeping, while the possessive-suffix pattern names the possessed item as theirs.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the following forms at A1, but they explain combinations you will meet later.

Past and other time references

Present var/yok can combine with forms historically related to “be” to locate existence in another time:

Turkish	English	Note
Dün toplantı vardı.	There was a meeting yesterday.	vardı = there was
Eskiden burada bir sinema vardı.	There used to be a cinema here.	Past existence
Evde kimse yoktu.	Nobody was at home.	yoktu = there was not
Toplantı var mıydı?	Was there a meeting?	Past yes/no question

For future existence, Turkish often uses olacak (“will be”): Yarın toplantı olacak means “There will be a meeting tomorrow.” This belongs to later tense study, but the meaning still builds on the same idea of existence.

Var as part of longer constructions

At higher levels, var appears in patterns that are not simple possession:

• Gitmek zorunda olduğum günler var. — There are days when I have to leave.
• Bildiğim kadarıyla böyle bir kural yok. — As far as I know, there is no such rule.
• Bu işin bir çözümü olmalı. — This problem must have a solution. Here Turkish uses olmak (“to be/become”) rather than plain var because modality is involved.

You will also see var olan, literally “that which exists” or “existing,” as in var olan sorunlar (“the existing problems”). In more formal language, mevcut can mean “existing,” “present,” or “available,” but it does not simply replace var in every sentence.

Ben varım is not “I have”

When personal endings attach directly to var, the meaning concerns the person’s presence or existence:

• Ben varım. — I am here / Count me in / I exist.
• Biz de varız. — We are here too / We are included too.

These are different from Benim param var (“I have money”). The contrast is useful: the noun with a possessive ending identifies what someone owns, while a personal ending on var identifies who is present or involved.

Practice Tips

1. Build location pairs. Choose five familiar places and make a var/yok pair for each: Mutfakta kahve var. Mutfakta çay yok. This trains both the locative ending and sentence-final var/yok.
2. Rotate the owner. Take one noun, such as telefon, and say telefonum var, telefonun var, telefonu var, telefonumuz var. Then repeat the set with yok and turn each form into a question.
3. Practice real service questions. Before entering a hotel, café, or shop, prepare useful questions such as Wi-Fi var mı?, Boş masa var mı?, and Tuvalet var mı? Answer each aloud with Evet, var or Hayır, yok.

Related Concepts

• Foundation: No prerequisite concept is specified for Var ve Yok; it can be learned as an independent A1 pattern.
• Useful next steps: Possessive suffixes, the locative case, vowel harmony, and past-tense forms make the same pattern more precise, but no related concept links are specified in the current grammar map.