You will choose between the locative and the ablative by looking at the verb, and use both on people and pronouns.
The idea
Two questions, two suffixes. Nerede? (where?) is answered with -de/-da/-te/-ta: Bankada çalışıyorum. Nereden? (from where?) is answered with -den/-dan/-ten/-tan: Evden çıkıyorum. The verb decides: verbs of staying (kalmak, oturmak, çalışmak, yaşamak) take the first, verbs of leaving and origin (çıkmak, ayrılmak, gelmek when you name the source) take the second. A person or a pronoun can be the place: Ali'de kalıyorum, Ali'den geliyorum, bende, senden.
| Question | Suffix | Typical verbs | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| nerede? | -de/-da/-te/-ta | kalmak, oturmak, çalışmak, yaşamak | Ali'de kalıyorum. |
| nereden? | -den/-dan/-ten/-tan | çıkmak, ayrılmak, gelmek | Ali'den geliyorum. |
| nereye? | -e/-a | gitmek, varmak | Ali'ye gidiyorum. |
Examples
- Sabah evden çıkıyorum.I leave the house in the morning.
- Ayşe şimdi bankada çalışıyor.Ayşe is working at the bank now.
- Ali'den bir mesaj geliyor.A message from Ali is coming in.A person can be the starting point too: Ali'den means 'from Ali'. The suffix sits on the name after an apostrophe; Turkish has no separate word for 'from'.
- Anahtar bende.I have the key.Pronouns take the same suffixes: ben becomes bende. On a person the locative means 'with them, in their hands', so Anahtar bende says I have the key.
- Kalem sende mi?Do you have the pen?
- Ben Ankara'dan geliyorum ama şimdi Bursa'da yaşıyorum.I come from Ankara, but now I live in Bursa.One sentence, two cases: -dan says where you come from and -da says where you are now. Both follow the proper name after an apostrophe.
- arkadaşımdanfrom my friendarkadaşım-im / -ım / -um / -üm / -m: mydan-den / -dan / -ten / -tan: from, out of
- bankalardanfrom the banksbankalar-ler / -lar: the plural suffixdan-den / -dan / -ten / -tan: from, out of
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Watch out
English says 'at Ali's' and 'from Ali's' with a preposition and a possessive, so learners drop the case or add a word that does not belong: Ali kalıyorum and Anahtar ben are wrong. The person itself takes the suffix: Ali'de kalıyorum, Anahtar bende. And do not let 'in' tempt you into the locative with gelmek: Ankara'da geliyorum only says you are in Ankara while you are coming; 'I come from Ankara' is Ankara'dan geliyorum.
Try it yourself
Add the right suffix: I am staying at Ali's place.
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Ali'de
Ali'de: kalmak names where you stay, so the locative; the person takes the suffix after an apostrophe, and i is a front vowel, so -de.
Add the right suffix: I am coming from Ali's place.
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Ali'den
Ali'den: here geliyorum names where the movement starts, so the ablative; Ali ends in a vowel, and the front vowel i gives -den.
Add the right suffix: I am leaving school.
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okuldan
okuldan: you leave the school, so the starting point takes the ablative; the last vowel u is back and l is voiced, so -dan.
Add the right suffix: The key is with me.
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bende
bende: the key is with the speaker, and the pronoun ben takes the locative; the vowel e is front and n is voiced, so -de.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Add the right suffix: I am staying at Ali's place.
Add the right suffix: I am coming from Ali's place.
Add the right suffix: I am leaving school.
Add the right suffix: The key is with me.
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: from my friend
Tap the parts in order to build this word: from the banks
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Write four sentences about your day: where you stay, where you work or study, where you leave in the morning, and who you get a message from. Check every suffix against its verb.