You will say where you are going and who you give something to, using the right shape of the ending.
The idea
The dative suffix marks the goal of a movement and the person who receives something: okula gidiyorum (I am going to school), babama çay veriyorum (I am giving my father tea). It is -e after a front vowel and -a after a back vowel; after a word that ends in a vowel a y comes first: -ye, -ya. The goal stands right before the verb and answers nereye? (where to); the receiver answers kime? (to whom).
| Last vowel | After a consonant | After a vowel | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| a ı o u | -a | -ya | okula, masaya |
| e i ö ü | -e | -ye | eve, kediye |
Examples
- Ben yarın Ankara'ya gidiyorum.I am going to Ankara tomorrow.Ankara ends in the vowel a, so a y comes between the two vowels: Ankara'ya. The apostrophe sets the suffix off the name. The pronoun ben may be dropped.
- Annem babama çay veriyor.My mother is giving my father tea.The word babam already ends in the consonant m, so the plain -a follows. The person receiving takes the suffix; the thing given, çay, takes none.
- Çocuklar parka koşuyor.The children are running to the park.
- Nereye gidiyorsun?Where are you going?
- okulato schoolokula-e / -a / -ye / -ya: to, towards
- arabayato the cararabayBuffer -y-: the y that joins vowelsa-e / -a / -ye / -ya: to, towards
- evlerimizeto our housesevler-ler / -lar: the plural suffiximiz-imiz / -ımız / -umuz / -ümüz: oure-e / -a / -ye / -ya: to, towards
- kitabato the bookThe final p of kitap becomes b before a vowel suffix: kitaba, not kitapa.
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Watch out
English can say "go home" with no word for "to", and learners carry that over: ev gidiyorum is wrong, because the goal always carries the suffix: eve gidiyorum. After a vowel, leaving out the y puts two vowels side by side: arabae instead of arabaya.
Try it yourself
Add the dative to ev (house, home): I am going home.
Show answer or example answer
eve
eve: ev ends in a consonant and its last vowel e is front, so the plain -e is enough; without it the goal would be unmarked.
Add the dative to the name Ayşe: My mother is writing a letter to Ayşe.
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Ayşe'ye
Ayşe'ye: the name ends in the vowel e, so a y separates the two vowels, and the apostrophe sets the suffix off the name.
Add the dative to bahçe (garden): The children are running to the garden.
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bahçeye
bahçeye: bahçe ends in a vowel, so y comes first; the last vowel is front, which gives -ye.
Add the dative to kitap (book): Ali is looking at the book.
Show answer or example answer
kitaba
kitaba: before a vowel suffix the final p of kitap turns into b, and the back vowel a gives -a.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Add the dative to ev (house, home): I am going home.
Add the dative to the name Ayşe: My mother is writing a letter to Ayşe.
Add the dative to bahçe (garden): The children are running to the garden.
Add the dative to kitap (book): Ali is looking at the book.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the parts in order to build this word: to school
Tap the parts in order to build this word: to the car
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Write four sentences about your day: two with a place you go to and two with a person you give or tell something to. Underline each dative and check whether it needs a y.