[Originally posted on 03/25/15 on the Duolingo Turkish for English speakers forum by AlexinNotTurkey]
There are a few ways to say “to be” in Turkish depending on what you are saying. This is shocking since there is not actual verb “to be.” A suffix is used to form “to be” in the present tense. The suffixes are as follows:
There are a few points to keep in mind:
1) All except the 3rd person pl. suffix follow 4-way vowel harmony.
2) In the 1st person, you will see a buffer “-y-” be used if the adjective or noun ends in a vowel.
3) The suffix -DIr is used to clarify any ambiguity, emphasize, or state facts. This both follows 4-way vowel harmony and has consonant harmony; ‘d’ changes to ‘t’ after the following consonants (f p ç t k s ş h).
4) The suffix -lAr is optional in the 3rd person pl. However, it can only be used when referring to people. This suffix cannot be used for items and animals. Only humans!
5) To use “be” as a command in Turkish, the stem of the verb olmak, which means “to become.” All you have to do is take off the -mak and you have the command for “ol.” To make it formal, add the ending -In, which according to 4-way vowel harmony, comes out as “olun.”
[Updated by Danika_Dakika starting 03/01/22]
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