The Turkish plural is a single ending: -ler or -lar. (pen) becomes (pens), and (book) becomes (books). There are no irregular plurals like English “children” or “mice”: every noun works the same way.
You only choose between two shapes, and the word itself tells you which one. Add a few habits, such as leaving the plural out after numbers, and you know the whole topic.
The pattern
nounplus-ler / -larmore than one
-ler or -lar: two-way vowel harmony
Look at the last vowel of the word. After e, i, ö or ü the plural is -ler. After a, ı, o or u it is -lar. This is two-way vowel harmony: there are only two choices.
pen · last vowel e
kalem
kalemler: the last vowel is e, a front vowel, so the ending has e.
- last vowel e
- front
- ending vowel e
pens
The ending:Ending: l, e or a, here e, r
| Last vowel | Ending | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| e, i, ö, ü | -ler | kalemler,evler,gözler,günler |
| a, ı, o, u | -lar | kitaplar,kızlar,telefonlar,okullar |
Last vowel
e, i, ö, ü
- Ending
- -ler
- Examples
- kalemler,evler,gözler,günler
Last vowel
a, ı, o, u
- Ending
- -lar
- Examples
- kitaplar,kızlar,telefonlar,okullar
Only the last vowel counts, however long the word is. bilgisayar (computer) starts with two i’s, but its last vowel is a, so it is bilgisayarlar. (teacher) ends in e, so it is .
Why?
Turkish likes the vowels in a word to sound alike, so endings change to fit the word. Say and “kitapler” aloud: the first one flows. The same idea runs through all Turkish endings, so it pays to learn it now. Our guide to Turkish vowel harmony explains it step by step.
Kerem’s note
Tip: A few words borrowed from Arabic or French break the rule and take -ler after a, o or u. The one you need first is saat (hour, clock, watch): saatler. Learn the others as you meet them.
No glue letters, no consonant changes
Because -ler and -lar start with a consonant, the noun never changes in front of them. After a vowel no glue letter is needed: masa → masalar (tables), araba → arabalar (cars), kedi → kediler (cats).
A final p, ç, t or k stays as it is, too. These letters only soften before an ending that starts with a vowel, like “my”: (my book), but (books).
When an ending starts with a vowel, a hard letter at the end of the word goes soft.
- pbecomes+ vowelb
- çbecomes+ vowelc
- tbecomes+ voweld
- kbecomes+ vowelğ
- kitapbookımmy
my book: -ım starts with a vowel
- çocukchildummy
my child: -um starts with a vowel
These keep their letter
- kitapbooklarmore than one
books: -lar starts with a consonant
- çocukchildlarmore than one
children
- ağaçtreelarmore than one
trees
Tip: Words that drop a vowel before “my” keep it before the plural: (son) → (my son), but (sons).
No plural after numbers
After a number the noun stays singular. The number already says “more than one”, so Turkish doesn’t say it twice: (two books), (three students), (ten days).
bir anahtar
one key
iki anahtar
two keys
üç anahtar
three keys
The same goes for other words that count: (how many), (a few), (a lot of, many) and (every).
Kaçkardeşinvar?
Word by word: how many, your sibling, there is.How many brothers and sisters do you have?
Birkaçarkadaşımgeliyor.
Word by word: a few, my friend, is coming.A few of my friends are coming.
Buşehirdeçokturistvar.
Word by word: this, in the city, many, tourist, there is.There are a lot of tourists in this city.
Hergünçalışıyorum.
Word by word: every, day, I work.I work every day.
Why?
In , the word has already done the job of saying “more than one”. English marks it twice (two books); Turkish marks it once. Practice counting with our guide to Turkish numbers.
Kerem’s note
The plural with other endings
The plural comes right after the noun, before any other ending. So “my books” is kitap + lar + ım = kitaplarım, and “in the houses” is ev + ler + de = evlerde. The endings after it take their vowel from -ler or -lar.
in my houses
Step 4 of 4dein / at / on
Where something is or happens.
- Last vowel i is a front vowel, so -de, not -da.
- m is not one of f s t k ç ş h p, so d stays d.
Cars never swap places. A word only uses the cars it needs; the empty ones are skipped.
Kitaplarım çantada.
My books are in the bag.
Çocuklar okulda.
The children are at school.
Arkadaşlarımla kahve içiyorum.
I’m having coffee with my friends.
Öğrenciler sınıfta mı?
Are the students in the classroom?
Tip: After -ler, “my” is always -im, and after -lar it is always -ım: evlerim, kitaplar. The vowel of the plural is now the last vowel, so it decides.
“They”, these and those
and o stay the same in front of a plural noun: (these books). When they stand alone, they take the plural with an n: (these), (those), (they, those).
Bu kitaplar yeni.
These books are new.
Bunlarne?
Word by word: these, what.What are these?
Onlaröğrenci.
Word by word: they, student.They are students.
Misafirler geliyor.
The guests are coming.
With a plural subject, the verb often leaves out its own -ler or -lar: Saying Misafirler geliyorlar is also correct, just a little heavier. In the same way, is more common than “Onlar öğrenciler”.
Some things that are plural in English are singular in Turkish: (glasses), pantolon (pants), makas (scissors). One pair of glasses is just . And when you ask about something in general, Turkish uses the singular too: = Do you have (any) children? More on that in our guide to var and yok.
In Türkiye
Annemler: my mom and the family
Add -ler to a person and it can mean “that person and their family”. is “my mom and the others”, usually just “my parents”, and is “Ayşe and her family”. You’ll hear it all the time in plans:
Bu akşam annemlere gidiyoruz.
We’re going to my parents’ place this evening.
Common mistakes
Watch out
Not:kalemlar
Say:kalemler
Only the last vowel counts. has an a and an e, and the last one is e, so it takes -ler.
Watch out
Not:iki kitaplar
Say:iki kitap
After a number the noun stays singular: , , .
Watch out
Not:çok turistler
Say:çok turist
(many) counts like a number, so the noun after it stays singular. The same goes for and :
Watch out
Not:kitablar
Say:kitaplar
-lar starts with a consonant, so the p stays a p. It only becomes b before a vowel: (my book).
Watch out
Not:kitabımlar
Say:kitaplarım
The plural comes first, then “my”: kitap + lar + ım.
A short dialogue
Read or listen, then answer
How many glasses does Ayşe have?
Can
Vay, burada çok kutu var! Bunlar ne?
Ayşe
Kitaplar. Çok kitabım var!
Can
Şu kutular da kitap mı?
Ayşe
Hayır, onlarda tabaklar ve bardaklar var.
Can
Kaç bardak var?
Ayşe
On iki bardak, altı tabak.
Can
Peki, sandalyeler nerede?
Ayşe
Sandalyeler yarın geliyor. Bugün yerde oturuyoruz!
Spot the plurals: , , , , and . And the singulars after counting words: , , , and .
Summary
| How | Example | |
|---|---|---|
| After e, i, ö, ü | noun + -ler | |
| After a, ı, o, u | noun + -lar | |
| After a number, çok, kaç, birkaç | no plural | |
| With other endings | noun + -ler / -lar + my + case |
After e, i, ö, ü
- How
- noun + -ler
- Example
After a, ı, o, u
- How
- noun + -lar
- Example
After a number, çok, kaç, birkaç
- How
- no plural
- Example
With other endings
- How
- noun + -ler / -lar + my + case
- Example