Bu, şu, o in Turkish: pointing to what is near and far

To point to something, Turkish uses three words: bu, şu, o. The difference between them is how far the thing is from the speaker. These three words also take suffixes and form new words for places: burası, burada, buraya. In this article I cover the meaning of the three words, their use before a noun and on their own, their forms with suffixes, how they are used for animals and people, and the mistakes learners make most often.

1. Near, a little further, far

Word	When?	Example
bu (this)	Something next to the speaker	Bu benim kalemim. (This is my pen.)
şu (that)	Something a little further away or being pointed at	Şu ev çok güzel. (That house is very nice.)
o (that)	Something far away or not present	O dağın adı ne? (What is the name of that mountain?)

O is also the third-person pronoun: O öğretmen. (He/She is a teacher.) The sentence shows which meaning is meant.

2. “Bu kitap” and “bu bir kitap”

Bu, şu and o are used in two ways:

• Before a noun, they show which thing it is: Bu kitap güzel. (This book is good.)
• On their own, they replace the noun: Bu bir kitap. (This is a book.)

Compare:

• Bu ev büyük. (This house is big.)
• Bu bir ev. (This is a house.)

3. Plural and case suffixes: bunlar, bunu, burada

When they are used on their own, bu, şu and o take suffixes. The plural suffix comes directly, but before case suffixes an n comes in:

Suffix	bu	şu	o
Plural	bunlar (these)	şunlar (those)	onlar (those / they)
Accusative	bunu	şunu	onu
Dative	buna	şuna	ona
Locative	bunda	şunda	onda
Ablative	bundan	şundan	ondan

Examples: Bunu ben aldım. (I bought this.) Ona söyle. (Tell him/her.) Bundan hoşlanmadım. (I didn’t like this.) For the rules of the case suffixes, see the case suffixes article.

When they come before a noun, they take no suffix; the suffix goes on the noun: bu kitabı (this book, accusative), bu evde (in this house), o şehirden (from that city).

4. For places: burası, şurası, orası

To point to a place, the roots bura-, şura-, ora- are used:

Question	bura- (here)	şura- (there)	ora- (over there)
Neresi? (which place?)	burası	şurası	orası
Nerede? (where?)	burada	şurada	orada
Nereye? (where to?)	buraya	şuraya	oraya
Nereden? (where from?)	buradan	şuradan	oradan

• Burası neresi? Burası okul. (What is this place? This is the school.)
• Kitap orada. (The book is over there.)
• Buraya gel! (Come here!)

5. Question patterns

Question	Answer
Bu ne? (What is this?)	Bu bir masa. (This is a table.)
O kim? (Who is he/she?)	O benim öğretmenim. (He/She is my teacher.)
O ne? (What is that?)	O bir uçak. (That is a plane.)
Bunlar ne? (What are these?)	Bunlar kitap. (These are books.)
Burası neresi? (What is this place?)	Burası Taksim. (This is Taksim.)

For people you ask kim (who), for things ne (what), for places neresi (which place).

6. For animals: kim or ne?

In Turkish, you usually ask ne about animals: Bu ne? Bu bir kuş. (What is this? This is a bird.) An ordinary animal, or one you don’t know, is thought of like a thing.

But for a pet with a name, you can say kim; the animal is like a member of the family:

• Bu kim? Bu bizim kedimiz Pamuk. (Who is this? This is our cat Pamuk.)
• Bu ne? Bu bir kedi. (What is this? This is a cat, any cat.)

In some languages, such as Russian, you always ask “who” about animals. In Turkish, “kim” is only for people and for animals we know by name.

7. Politeness when pointing to people

In Turkish, pointing to a person next to you or in front of you with bu or şu on its own is considered disrespectful. A sentence like Şu kim? (Who’s that?) or Bunu tanıyor musun? (Do you know this one?) sounds as if you were looking down on the person.

Instead, say the person with a noun or with their name:

• Bu bey kim? / Bu hanım kim? (Who is this gentleman? / Who is this lady?)
• Bu arkadaşım Ali. (This is my friend Ali.)
• Ayşe Hanım’ı tanıyor musunuz? (Do you know Ms Ayşe?)

For someone far away or not present, o is used and is not considered rude: O benim öğretmenim. (He/She is my teacher.)

When asking about someone in a photo, however, Bu kim? Şu kim? is natural, because the person is not there: Bu kim? Bu benim annem. (Who is this? This is my mother.) That is why the examples in the channel’s Bu kim? Şu kim? O kim? video are given with photos.

8. Common mistakes

Wrong	Right	Why
buyu, bunı	bunu	An n comes in before a case suffix; the suffix has four forms.
Bu kim? (about a table)	Bu ne?	“Ne” is for things, “kim” for people.
Şu kim? (about a person next to you)	Bu bey kim? / Bu hanım kim?	Pointing to a person with “bu, şu” on its own is disrespectful.
Burası ne?	Burası neresi?	For a place you ask “neresi”.
Kitap burası.	Kitap burada.	The answer to “Nerede?” takes the locative.
bunu kitap	bu kitabı	Before a noun “bu” takes no suffix; the suffix goes on the noun.

Test yourself

5 questions

1. 01You are showing the pen in your hand: "___ benim kalemim." (This is my pen.)

   OBuOrası

   Answer:Bu. "Bu" is used for something next to the speaker.

2. 02"___ ver!" (Give this!; bu, accusative)

   BuyuBunıBunu

   Answer:Bunu. An n comes in before the case suffix: bu-n-u.

3. 03"Kitap ___." (The book is over there.)

   oradaorasıoraya

   Answer:orada. The answer to "Nerede?" takes the locative: orada.

4. 04Which one is the question about a place?

   Burası ne?Burası neresi?Burası kim?

   Answer:Burası neresi?. For places you ask "neresi".

5. 05You are politely asking about a person next to you:

   Şu kim?Bu ne?Bu hanım kim?

   Answer:Bu hanım kim?. Pointing to a person with "bu, şu" on its own is disrespectful; you say "bu hanım, bu bey".

Next step

The channel has videos on this topic with practice: Bu kim? Şu kim? O kim?, Burası, Şurası, Orası and “Bu ne?” + 20 everyday words. For all A1 topics, see the grammar guide. If you have a question, ask me.