ayakkabı: shoes, my shoes, in the shoe

The idea

Ayakkabı ends in the back vowel ı, so its endings use a and ı: plural ayakkabılar. Because it ends in a vowel, the accusative and the dative take a joining y (ayakkabıyı, ayakkabıya) and the genitive takes n (ayakkabının). The locative and the ablative need none: ayakkabıda, ayakkabıdan. The possessives are ayakkabım, ayakkabın, ayakkabısı, and after -sı every case takes n: ayakkabısına. The word never softens, and the double kk stays in every form.

Examples

• Yeni ayakkabılarımı bugün giydim.I wore my new shoes today.Three endings in a fixed order: ayakkabı·lar·ım·ı, meaning plural, my, accusative. The adjective yeni does not change.
• Ayakkabıyı kapının önüne bıraktım.I left the shoes in front of the door.The definite object takes the accusative, with a joining y: ayakkabıyı. The singular can stand for the whole pair; the context shows it.
• Annem bana yeni ayakkabı aldı.My mother bought me new shoes.An unspecified object takes no accusative: yeni ayakkabı, not yeni ayakkabıyı. The dative bana says for whom.
• Üç çift ayakkabım var.I have three pairs of shoes.The number counts pairs, so çift and ayakkabı both stay singular; the ending -m (my) closes the phrase: ayakkabım.
• Ayakkabıda bir delik var.There is a hole in the shoe.The locative -da: ayakkabı ends in a vowel, so no joining letter is needed, and the back vowel ı gives -da, not -de.
• Bu ayakkabının tabanı çok kalın.The sole of this shoe is very thick.The genitive ayakkabının adds a joining n, and the thing owned takes the possessive ending: taban becomes tabanı. The two endings belong together.
• ayakkabılarımızdanfrom our shoesayakkabı·lar-ler / -lar: the plural suffix·ımız-imiz / -ımız / -umuz / -ümüz: our·dan-den / -dan / -ten / -tan: from, out ofThe order is fixed: plural -lar, then the possessive -ımız, then the case -dan. After the voiced z the case ending begins with d.
• ayakkabısınato his or her shoesayakkabı·sı-i / -si: his, her, its·na-e / -a / -ye / -ya: to, towardsAfter the possessive -sı, the dative adds a joining n: ayakkabısına, never ayakkabısıya. The form can mean his or her; Turkish has one form for both.

Watch out

After a number or after çift (pair) the noun stays singular: iki çift ayakkabı, not iki çift ayakkabılar. And the word is written as one word with kk, never ayak kabı.

Try it yourself

1. Add the accusative to ayakkabı (shoe): I liked these shoes very much.

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   ayakkabıyı

   ayakkabıyı: the word ends in a vowel, so the accusative inserts a y, and the back vowel ı gives the ending -ı.

2. Say "my shoes" in the ablative: I cleaned the mud off my shoes.

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   ayakkabımdan

   ayakkabımdan: ayakkabım ends in the voiced consonant m, so the ending starts with d, and the back vowel ı gives -dan.

3. Say "his or her shoes" with the plural: His or her shoes are next to the door.

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   ayakkabıları

   ayakkabıları: first the plural -lar, then the possessive -ı after the consonant r, with no joining letter; the same form also means "their shoes".

4. Do not add the plural: I bought two pairs of shoes.

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   ayakkabı

   ayakkabı: çift already counts the pairs, so after a number the noun stays singular.

Use it today

Write four sentences about your own shoes: one with the accusative, one with the dative, one with the locative and one with a number and çift. Circle each joining letter.