Basics

Nouns (isimler) are words that represent people, places, things, or ideas. Turkish nouns have some key characteristics:

No Grammatical Gender:

Unlike many European languages, Turkish nouns do not have grammatical gender. The same word is used regardless of gender (e.g., 'o' means he, she, or it). This simplifies learning considerably.

Number (Singular & Plural):

Nouns can be singular or plural. The plural is formed by adding the suffix -lar or -ler to the noun, according to Major Vowel Harmony:

• If the last vowel of the noun is a back vowel (a, ı, o, u), add -lar.
• If the last vowel of the noun is a front vowel (e, i, ö, ü), add -ler.

Examples of Plural Formation:

• kitap (book) → kitaplar (books)
• ev (house) → evler (houses)
• kedi (cat) → kediler (cats)
• masa (table) → masalar (tables)
• arkadaş (friend) → arkadaşlar (friends)
• göz (eye) → gözler (eyes)