Herkes

Herkes is a Turkish pronoun that means "everyone" or "everybody." It refers to all people in a general sense and is gender-neutral. As a subject or within a clause, her kes is treated as a singular entity in Turkish grammar, so verbs following it are typically in the third person singular form, even though the reference is plural in meaning.

In everyday use, herkesi, herkese, and herkesin are common inflected forms. For example: “Herkes burada mı?” (Is everyone here?), “Herkesi davet ettik.” (We invited everyone.), and “Herkesin fikri kendi fikridir.” (Everyone’s opinion is their own.) The genitive form, “herkesin,” is used to express possession, as in “Herkesin kuralları farklı olabilir” (Everyone’s rules may be different). The dative form, “herkese,” is used to indicate the indirect object, such as in “Herkese selamlar” (Greetings to everyone).

Herkes is widely used across formal and informal Turkish. It appears in media, speeches, education, and everyday conversation to address or refer to all people collectively. It is often contrasted with negations like hiç kimse (nobody). Phrase constructions with herk et can be combined with possessive or reflexive elements, as in “herkes kendi işine bakmalı” (everyone should mind their own business).