Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar

The adverbials, if there are any, are generally placed before the possessive-marked noun
phrase. They may either precede or follow the genitive-marked possessor constituent (if
there is one):
(21) Ayten-in İstanbul’da iki arkadaş-ı var./İstanbul’da Ayten-in iki arkadaş-ı
var.
Ayten-GEN two friend-3SG.POSS Ayten-GEN two friend-3SG.POSS
‘Ayten has two friends in Istanbul.’
(22) O gün paramız yoktu.
‘We had no money that day.’
Note that the concept x has y can be expressed by both possessive existential sentences,
as in (23), and locative existential sentences, as in (17):
(23) Benim bir kitabım var.
‘I have a book.’
Possessive existential sentences are used for expressing possession or relations between
people and things which are either of a permanent nature or are considered as such. The
possessed constituent in these constructions cannot be definite or specific. Possessive
existential sentences are mainly used for expressing the following:
(i) Familial and other personal relations, as in (21).
(ii) Part-whole relations:
(24) Masanın üç ayağı var.
‘The table has three legs.’
(iii) Authorship:
(25) Shakespeare’in birçok oyunu var.
‘Shakespeare has [written] many plays.’
(iv) Ownership:
(26) Murat’ın yatı var.
‘Murat has a yacht.’
Simple and complex sentences 113
Locative existential sentences, on the other hand, denote contiguity between persons or
things at a particular time:
(27) Nejat’ta sadece 10 dolar varmış.
‘It seems Nejat only has 10 dollars [on him].’
The subject in these constructions can be definite or non-definite:
(28) Murat’ta bu resim/bir resim var.
‘Murat has this/a picture.’