Turkish Language - The Demonstratives - "this and that"

These are called Demonstrative Pronouns and Adjectives because they demonstrate which item is being mentioned

The Simple Form - "this and that, these and those"

bu - this (here) or this (which was just mentioned)
bunlar - these
şu - that (nearby) or that (which follows on)
şunlar - those (nearby)
o - that (over there, yonder)
onlar - those (over there)

bu kedi - this cat
şu fincan - that cup
o adam - that man over there
The Demonstrative Pronouns and Adjectives - this, that, that yonder - use buffer letter -n- when adding further suffixes as the examples show below:.

"bu - this, this here"

The Singular FormsThe Plural Forms
bu - thisbunlar - these
buna - to thisbunlara - to these
bunun - of thisbunların - of these
bunu - this (object)bunları - these (obj.)
bunda - in/on/at thisbunlarda - in/etc. these
bundan - from thisbunlardan - from these
bununla - with thisbunlarla - with these

"şu - that, that there"

The Singular FormsThe Plural Forms
şu - thatşunlar - those
şuna - to thatşunlara - to those
şunun - of thatşunların - of those
şunu - that (object)şunları - those (obj.)
şunda - in/on/at thatşunlarda - on those
şundan - from thatşunlardan - from those
şununla - with thatşunlarla - with those

"o - that over there"

The Singular FormsThe Plural Forms
o - that yonderonlar - those yonder
ona - to thatonlara - to those
onun - of thatonların - of those
onu - that (object)onları - those (obj.)
onda - in/on/at thatonlarda - on those
ondan - from thatonlardan - from those
onunla - with thatonlarla - with those

Turkish has two words for - "that"

(1) şu - signifies something near by OR something between the speakers.
It also means - that which follows - eg. şu tavsiye - the following recommendation.

Let's get nasty

Care must be taken using - şu - and its extensions as it is also used in a derogatory sense (according to context) - see below.
Şu adama bakın! - Look at that bloke!
Şunu istemedim - I didn't want that! - (damn thing)
Şu herif kim? - Who the hell is that fellow? - (herif - "fellow, guy, bloke")

(2) O - signifies items far away or which does not lie between the speakers.
O - is often used for descriptions of happenings in foreign countries and cities.
When adding any suffixes including the plural suffix -lar buffer letter -n- is always used with the Demonstratives - thus forming -nlar as the Plural Suffix.

Extended Forms

These extended suffixed forms show the use of the buffer -n- which is always used with the demonstrative.

The suffix "-ca - concerning"

This is used with the Demonstrative Pronoun to produce - bunca - all this, bunlarca - all these, onca - all that, onlarca - all those. Although - şunca - or - şunlarca - are not normally in use - however - it is sometimes used disparagingly. However, in Turkish it could be used to despise something in quantity or magnitude , or someone in muscular power. For instance, if someone has a small wound due to some reason and complaining too much about it then you could say - şunca/şuncacik, yaradan ölmezsin - You won't die from such a small wound (surely not..!.)
bunca and onca are plural and they take a singular object.
bunca kedi, onca kedi - all these/those cats - is similar to Bu kediler , o kediler. - theses cats, those cats.

Thanks to Onur Üstünel for the notes above. - Jan 2007

Suffixed Demonstratives

These extended suffixed forms show the use of the buffer -n- which is always used with the demonstrative.

The Singular Forms
bunuthis (Obj.)şunu that nearby (Obj.)onuthat yonder (Obj.)
bunato thisşunato that nearbyonato that yonder
bundanfrom thisşundanfrom that nearbyondanfrom that yonder
bundain/on/at thisşundain/on/at that nearbyondain/on/at that yonder
buncaall this(şunca - Not used)(Lacking)oncaall that yonder
The Plural Forms
bunlarıthese (Obj.)şunlarıthose (nearby) (Obj.)onlarıthose (yonder) (Obj.)
bunlarato theseşunlarato those (nearby)onlarato those (yonder)
bunlardanfrom theseşunlardanfrom those (nearby)onlardanfrom those (yonder)
bunlardain/on/at theseşunlardain/on/at thoseonlardain/on/at those
bunlarcaall these(şunlarca - Not used)(Lacking)onlarcaall those (yonder)

Examples of Extended Forms

bu ne? - what's this?
Bu bir büyük kedi - This is a big cat.
Bunca kedi uzun kuyruklu(dur). - All these cats are long tailed
Bütün bu kediler uzun kuyrukludur. - All these cats are long tailed

şu ne? - what is that (just there)?
şu bir gazete - that is a newspaper
Onca gazete dünkünün. - All those newspapers are yesterday's.
Bütün o gazeteler dünkünün.. - All those newspapers are yesterday's.

o ne? - what is that over there?
o bir dergi - that is a magazine
Bunlarca dergi - All these are magazines.

bunlar ne? - what are these?
bunlar yeşil elma. - these (ones) are green apples.

şunlar ne? - what are those?
şunlar beyaz evler. - those are white houses.

onlar kim? - who are those (people) over there?
onlar genç kızlar. - those (people) are young girls.
Onlarca kızlar genç. - All those girls are young.

buna bakar mısınız? - would you look after this? - [-a bakmak = to look after, take temporary care of..]
bunlara bakar mısınız? - would you look after these?

ona bakar mısınız? - would you look after that?
onlara bakar mısınız? - would you look after those?

Adverbial Forms

The are further derivations of - bu, şu, o - which have produced the words - böyle, şöyle, öyle - the meanings are a follows:
böyle - In this way/thus
şöyle - like this/ that
öyle - such as that/like that

The -ce suffix can also be added to form adverbs:
böylece - In this way/thus
öylece - such as that/like that

Böyle bir iş yapmayın! - Don't do anything like that!
Böylece onu yapın! - Do it this way..
şöyle böyle - like this, like that - (as French - comme ci comme ça)
This can be given as an answer when asked - How are you? - [ie. I'm up and down, I'm getting on OK etc..]
öyle bir yağış yağdı ki.. - There was such a downpour that..
The "Formula Speak" - Öyle mi? - is also used a lot when listening with apparent disbelief to some one describing events. It means something like - Well I never, Go on then, Really?? - This formula is used a lot in normal daily conversation.