gibi, kadar, için: like, as much as, for

The idea

gibi means “like”, kadar means “as much as” or “as … as”, and için means “for”. All three are separate words that follow the noun and add no ending to it: Ali gibi, Ali kadar, Ali için. With pronouns the form before them is usually the genitive: benim, senin, onun, bizim, sizin, but onlar stays as it is: benim için, onlar gibi. After a word with the dative ending, kadar means “until”: akşama kadar.

Examples

• Dedem için çay yapıyorum.I am making tea for my grandfather.için is a separate word after the noun, and the noun takes no ending of its own: dedem için. The pronoun ben is dropped.
• Annem benim gibi sabah erken kalkıyor.My mother gets up early in the morning, like me.Before gibi, ben becomes benim: benim gibi, never ben gibi.
• Akşama kadar evde çalışıyorum.I am working at home until the evening.After a word with the dative ending (akşama), kadar means “until”. After a plain noun it means “as much as”, as in the next examples.
• Ayşe Ali kadar hızlı koşuyor.Ayşe runs as fast as Ali.Ali kadar followed by the adjective hızlı is the whole “as fast as” pattern; Turkish has no extra word for the first “as”.
• Bu kitap benim için çok zor.This book is very hard for me.için also takes the genitive pronoun: benim için, not ben için.
• Onlar gibi sabah koşmak istemiyorum.I do not want to run in the morning like them.onlar is the exception: it stays unchanged before gibi, unlike benim, senin and onun.
• Bu hediye sizin için.This gift is for you.siz becomes sizin before için, the same pattern as benim and bizim. It covers “you” in the plural and the polite singular.
• Bugün dün kadar sıcak değil.Today is not as hot as yesterday.The comparison stays the same and only the end changes: değil negates the whole sentence.

Watch out

Copying English “like me” and “for me” word for word gives ben gibi and ben için. Turkish needs benim gibi and benim için. Do not attach these words to the noun either (Ali kadar, not Alikadar), and do not give the noun an ending of its own (Ali için, not Ali'yi için).

Try it yourself

1. Write the form of ben that goes before gibi: like me.

   Show answer or example answer

   benim

   benim: with ben these words take the genitive, as in benim evim, which is why ben turns into benim.

2. Write the form of o that goes before kadar: as much as him or her.

   Show answer or example answer

   onun

   onun: o also goes into the genitive, with the buffer n as in onun evi, and the same form serves before kadar and için.

3. Add the ending that makes kadar mean “until”: until the evening.

   Show answer or example answer

   akşama

   akşama: only the dative ending makes kadar mean “until”; akşam ends in m and has the back vowel a, so the ending is -a. akşam kadar would mean “as much as an evening”.

4. Write the form of onlar that goes before gibi: like them.

   Show answer or example answer

   onlar

   onlar: the plural pronoun is the exception and stays unchanged in onlar gibi, because it does not take the genitive here.

Use it today

Write three sentences: one about something you do for a person, one comparing yourself with someone using gibi or kadar, and one saying until when you are busy. Check the form of every pronoun.