Let G be an (r + 1)-uniform hypergraph of n vertices, let f(r + 1, G) denote the minimum number of complete (r + 1)-partite subgraphs necessary to cover all edges of G. We note that f(r + 1, G) less than or equal to T(r, r + 1, n); the corresponding Turan number, and prove that up to a factor of 1 + o(1) this bound is best possible. (C) 1995 John Wiley and Sons, Inc.