ya ... ya

Either ... or

Level 3

Use ya ... ya (da) to present a clear choice between two alternatives where only one is usually possible.

How It Works

The correlative conjunction ya ... ya is the standard Turkish equivalent of 'either ... or.'

1. Structure and Usage:
The first ya is placed before the first option, and the second ya (often followed by the particle da) is placed before the second option. While ya ... ya is correct, ya ... ya da is more common in modern spoken Turkish. You can extend this to three or more options by repeating ya for each item: Ya elma ya armut ya da muz al.

2. Grammatical Parallelism:
The elements being compared must have the same grammatical form. If the first option uses a specific case ending, the second must use it too:

  • Ya evde ya da okulda kal. (Stay either at home or at school.)

3. Punctuation Rule:
A critical rule in Turkish orthography is that no comma should be placed between the parts of a repeated conjunction. Writing ya A, ya B is considered a punctuation error.

4. Subject-Verb Agreement:
When the subjects of the options are different, the verb usually agrees with the subject closest to it. For example: Bu işi ya sen yaparsın ya da ben (yaparım).

5. Morphology:
The word ya is a standalone conjunction. It does not change based on Two-Way Vowel Harmony.

Examples (5)

  1. Ya bugün ya yarın geliyorum.

    I am coming either today or tomorrow.

    Word by Word: Either today either tomorrow I am coming.

    Here, the conjunction coordinates two time adverbs.

  2. Bu işi ya sen yaparsın ya da ben.

    Either you do this job or I do.

    Word by Word: This work either you you-do either-also I.

    This shows the pattern coordinating two subjects. Note the use of 'ya da' for the second part.

  3. Ya sinemaya ya tiyatroya gidelim.

    Let's go either to the cinema or to the theater.

    Word by Word: Either cinema-to either theater-to let-us-go.

    Notice the parallelism: both nouns take the dative case suffix -(y)e/-(y)a.

  4. Ya bu deveyi gütmeli ya bu diyardan gitmeli.

    Either you must herd this camel or leave this land.

    Word by Word: Either this camel-acc must-herd either this land-from must-go.

    A famous Turkish proverb demonstrating the use of the pattern with whole clauses.

  5. Çayını ya şekerli ya şekersiz içer.

    He drinks his tea either with sugar or without sugar.

    Word by Word: Tea-his-acc either with-sugar either without-sugar he-drinks.

    The pattern is used here with adjectives describing the object.

Common Mistakes

  • Using a comma between the options.

    Ya bugün, ya da yarın gel.
    Ya bugün ya da yarın gel.

    According to Turkish punctuation rules, no comma should be placed between repeated conjunctions like 'ya ... ya'.

  • Mismatched case endings (lack of parallelism).

    Ya evde ya okul git.
    Ya evde ya okulda kal.

    If the first noun uses the locative case (-de), the second noun must also use the locative case to maintain grammatical balance.

  • Mixing 'ya' with 'veya'.

    Ya bugün veya yarın gel.
    Ya bugün ya yarın gel.

    You cannot start with 'ya' and end with 'veya'. You must use the 'ya ... ya' pair for this emphatic structure.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

ya ... yaLevel 3Either ... or

Learn This First

The 'ya ... ya' pattern is a correlative conjunction used to express 'either... or'. To use it effectively, you should already be familiar with basic Turkish word order and simpler ways to connect words or ideas, such as using 've' (and) or 'veya' (or).

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Words in This Pattern

ya