Turkish Var & Yok: How to Express “There Is”, “There Isn’t”, and Possession
What are Var and Yok?
In English, when you want to state that something exists or that someone owns something, you use the phrases “there is / there are” or the verb “to have”.
In Turkish, there is no separate verb “to have”. Instead, Turkish uses two fundamental existential words:
- Var: There is / exists / available
- Yok: There isn’t / does not exist / unavailable
1. Basic Existential Sentences (“There is” / “There isn’t”)
The simplest pattern is: [Location (Locative -de/-da)] + [Noun] + [Var / Yok].
| Turkish Sentence | Literal Meaning | Natural English Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Masada kitap var. | On the table book exists. | There is a book on the table. |
| Evde süt yok. | In the house milk not-exists. | There is no milk at home. |
| Sokakta kimse yok. | On the street nobody not-exists. | There is nobody on the street. |
| Zamanımız var. | Our time exists. | We have time. |
| Hiç param yok. | None my-money not-exists. | I have no money at all. |
2. Expressing Possession (“I have” vs “I don’t have”)
Because Turkish does not have a verb for “to have”, possession is expressed mathematically using:
[Possessor in Genitive / Possessive Suffix] + [Item possessed] + [Var / Yok]
- Benim kedim var. = My cat exists. → I have a cat.
- Benim arabam yok. = My car not-exists. → I do not have a car.
- Senin vaktin var mı? = Does your time exist? → Do you have time?
- Onun bir sorusu var. = His/her question exists. → He/she has a question.
Full Possession Conjugation Table:
| Person | Positive (“I have…”) | Negative (“I don’t have…”) |
|---|---|---|
| Benim | Evim var (I have a house) | Evim yok (I don’t have a house) |
| Senin | Evin var (You have a house) | Evin yok (You don’t have a house) |
| Onun | Evi var (He/She has a house) | Evi yok (He/She doesn’t have a house) |
| Bizim | Evimiz var (We have a house) | Evimiz yok (We don’t have a house) |
| Sizin | Eviniz var (You have a house) | Eviniz yok (You don’t have a house) |
| Onların | Evleri var (They have a house) | Evleri yok (They don’t have a house) |
3. Asking Questions with Var and Yok
To ask “Is there?” or “Do you have?”, use the standard Turkish question particles mı / mu:
- Var mı? → Is there? / Do you have?
- Örnek: “Çay var mı?” (Is there tea? / Do you have tea?) → “Evet, var.” / “Hayır, yok.”
- Yok mu? → Isn’t there? / Don’t you have?
- Örnek: “Vaktin yok mu?” (Don’t you have time?) → “Yok.” / “Var!”
