Talking about your family: annem, kardeşim, var

The idea

The family word carries the 'my': anne becomes annem, abla becomes ablam, kardeş becomes kardeşim. After a vowel the ending is -m; after a consonant it is -im, -ım, -um or -üm by vowel harmony. To say that you have someone, put that form before var: Kardeşim var. Use yok for none, and ask Kaç kardeşin var? (How many siblings do you have?). To introduce someone, say Bu benim annem.

Examples

• Benim iki kardeşim var.I have two siblings.After a number the noun stays singular, and benim may be left out: İki kardeşim var.
• Senin kaç kardeşin var?How many siblings do you have?
• Babam öğretmen, annem doktor.My father is a teacher and my mother is a doctor.Turkish needs no word for 'is' in the third person, and the ending -m already means 'my'.
• Bu benim ablam.This is my older sister.Bu benim… points out a person. Abla is an older sister; an older brother is ağabey or abi.
• Hiç kardeşim yok.I have no siblings at all.Yok is the opposite of var, and hiç adds 'none at all'.
• Dedem ve babaannem köyde yaşıyor.My grandfather and my paternal grandmother live in the village.Turkish names the grandmothers apart: babaanne is the father's mother, anneanne the mother's mother. Dede is a grandfather.
• Erkek kardeşim yedi yaşında.My brother is seven years old.Kardeş does not say the sex: erkek kardeş is a brother, kız kardeş a sister. Age is the number plus yaşında.
• Çocuğunuz var mı?Do you have children?The k of çocuk softens to ğ before a vowel. -unuz is the polite 'your'; to a friend say Çocuğun var mı?
• ablalarımmy older sistersabla·lar-ler / -lar: the plural suffix·ım-im / -ım / -um / -üm / -m: my
• kardeşlerimmy siblingskardeş·ler-ler / -lar: the plural suffix·im-im / -ım / -um / -üm / -m: my

Watch out

After a number the noun stays singular: İki kardeşim var, not İki kardeşlerim var. And keep the ending on the family word: Kardeş var only says that a sibling exists somewhere, so say Kardeşim var.

Try it yourself

1. Add 'my' to anne (mother).

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   annem

   annem: anne ends in a vowel, so the ending is only -m.

2. Add 'my' to kardeş (sibling).

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   kardeşim

   kardeşim: kardeş ends in the consonant ş and its last vowel e is front, so the ending is -im.

3. Make 'my siblings' from kardeş: the plural comes before 'my'.

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   kardeşlerim

   kardeşlerim: the plural -ler comes first and the possessive -im last, so the order is stem, plural, owner.

4. Add the polite 'your' (sizin) to çocuk (child).

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   çocuğunuz

   çocuğunuz: the k of çocuk softens to ğ before a vowel, and the last vowel u gives -unuz.

Use it today

Write four sentences about your family: how many siblings you have, what your mother and father do, and one question for a friend.