var, yok (there is/are, there isn’t/aren’t)

var and yok are adjectives which respectively mean existent/present and non-existent/absent.
var corresponds in meaning to “there is/ there are” while yok corresponds to “there isn’t / there
aren’t”:

1- var / yok are used at the end of the sentence:

Sınıfta bir öğrenci var/yok . (There is/isn’t one student in the classroom.)
Buzdolabında bir şişe süt var/yok. (There is/isn’t a bottle of milk in the refridgerator.)
Bilgisayarımda çok güzel oyunlar var/yok. (There are very good games in my computer.)
Bahçede iki köpek var/yok. (There are / aren’t two dogs in the garden.)

2- ...var mı? and ...yok mu? are used to the place of English ‘is/are there...?’ and
‘isn’t/aren’t there...?’:

Burada Türkçe kursu var mı ? (Is there a Turkish course here?)

Bahçede çiçek var mı? (Are there flowers in the garden?)
Televizyonda film yok mu? (Isn’t there a film on TV?)
Bugün parti yok mu? (Isn’t there a party today?)
Sınıfta öğrenci yok mu? (Aren’t there students in the classroom?)

3- var / yok can also denote persons, in which case they respectively mean ‘present’ and
‘absent’:

A: Pelin yok mu? – Is Pelin absent? or Isn’t Pelin here?

B: Hayır. Okula gitti. – No. She’s gone to school.

A: Baban var mı? – Is your father present? or Is your father here?

B: Evet. İçeride. – Yes. He’s in.

4- var / yok can take the past tense suffix:

Sınıfta üç öğrenci vardı. (There were three students in the classroom.)

Evde kimse yoktu. (There wasn’t anybody at home.)

5- var is also used to tell the time:

Saat üçe beş var. (It’s 5 to 3 o’clock.)

Saat ona çeyrek var. (It’s a quarter to 10 o’clock.)

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