[Grammar] One Size Doesn’t Fit All: Use of plurals and singulars in Turkish and English

I am learning Turkish

[Originally posted on 03/25/15 on the Duolingo Turkish for English speakers forum by Selcen_Ozturk]

In Turkish, if you have a general direct object, there is no need to put any case or suffix on the object itself. A general direct object is one that uses “a/an” or the plural without “the.” If you want to be extra specific, you can add the numeral bir to makes sure that the meaning “a/an” is given.

In general, we love using singular objects 😀 And just to add, everything is countable in Turkish, water, oil, sugar, bread, air, anything you can imagine have a plural form too.

For example:

• The men eat an apple: Adamlar (bir) elma yer.
• The men eat the apples: Adamlar elmaları yer.
• The men eat the apple: Adamlar elmayı yer.
• The men eat apples: Adamlar elma yer. Adamlar elmalar yer is simply wrong in Turkish.
• The men eat apple: This sentence is wrong in English, you cannot use a singular countable object without an article (or other determiners)
• The men eat five apples: Adamlar beş elma yer. Adamlar beş elmalar yer is simply wrong in Turkish.
• The men eat a lot of apples: Adamlar çok elma yer. Adamlar çok elmalar yer is simply wrong in Turkish.

[Updated by Danika_Dakika starting 03/01/22]

I am learning Turkish