Nominal Sentences in Turkish

İsim Cümleleri (Nominal Sentences) are nominal sentences in the Turkish language, meaning sentences without a verb-predicate in the form of an action. They are built around a noun, adjective, or pronoun, and express a state, characteristic, or possession.

In Turkish, nominal sentences can appear in the following forms:

• Affirmative form
  
• Negative form
  
• Interrogative form
  
• Negative-interrogative form

Affirmative form

Vowel Harmony (Büyük Ünlü Uyumu – Major Vowel Harmony)

In Turkish, suffixes must match the last vowel of the word. There are two types of vowels:

• Front vowels: e, i, ö, ü
  
• Back vowels: a, ı, o, u
  

The personal suffix must harmonize with the last vowel in the predicate noun or adjective.

Personal Endings in Affirmative Nominal Sentences

How to Choose the Correct Suffix

Look at the last vowel of the noun or adjective:

 Examples

Note: The suffix is added according to vowel harmony rules.
In 3rd person plural (Onlar), the plural suffix -ler is used for clarity, though it’s not a verb suffix.

Negative Nominal Sentences in Turkish

Definition:

Negative nominal sentences express what someone/something is not.
They use the word “değil” (not) + personal suffix.

Subject + Predicate + değil + personal ending

Personal Endings with “değil”

 Suffix Harmony Note:

The suffix after “değil” is the same as in affirmative sentences and follows vowel harmony, even though “değil” always ends in “l” and doesn’t affect the vowel choice.

Examples:

Note: The word “değil” stays the same for all persons. The personal suffix (like -im, -sin, -iz…) is added after it, matching the subject.
Some speakers say “değiller” for “Onlar” in speech, but grammatically “değil” is accepted.

📝 Note: In the third person plural (Onlar), sometimes değiller is used for emphasis or clarity, but grammatically değil is correct.

Interrogative Nominal Sentences in Turkish

Definition:

Interrogative nominal sentences are yes/no questions that ask about someone’s identity, profession, condition, etc. They use the question particle “mi / mı / mu / mü” with personal suffixes.

Subject + Predicate + question particle (mi/mı/mu/mü) + personal ending

The question particle is written separately and changes according to vowel harmony.

Question Particle – Vowel Harmony

Personal Suffixes with Question Particles

Note: For Ben and Biz, a buffer letter “y” is added between the question particle and the personal suffix: miyim, miyiz.

Examples:

Note on harmony: The question particle mi / mı / mu / mü follows vowel harmony based on the last vowel of the predicate.
Since “öğretmen” has the vowel e, we use mi.
Ben and Biz take a buffer letter “y”: miyim, miyiz

Negative-Interrogative Nominal Sentences in Turkish

Definition:

Negative-interrogative sentences ask a yes/no question while also negating the statement — basically asking, “Aren’t you…?” / “Isn’t he…?” etc.

Subject + Predicate + değil + question particle (mi/mı/mu/mü) + personal ending

The question particle comes after “değil”, and the personal ending follows the question particle.

Formation by Person

Note: “değil” remains unchanged; the question particle adapts to vowel harmony and takes the personal suffix. For Ben and Biz, insert buffer “y”: miyim, miyiz.

Examples:

değil” is constant and never changes.
The question particle mi follows vowel harmony — here always “mi” because “öğretmen” contains front vowel e.
Buffer letter “y” is used for Ben and Biz forms (e.g., miyim, miyiz).