bıçak: knife and tool use

The idea

Bıçak means knife. The specific object is bıçağı; bıçakla means “with a knife” and bıçağım means my knife. Before a vowel, final k softens to ğ, but it stays k before -la.

Examples

• Bıçağı sabah çekmeceye koydum.I put the knife in the drawer in the morning.
• Küçük bıçak mutfakta masanın üzerinde.The small knife is on the table in the kitchen.
• Ekmeği bugün bıçakla dikkatle kestik.Today we carefully cut the bread with a knife.
• Bu bıçak çok keskin.This knife is very sharp.
• Bıçağım ahşap saplı.My knife has a wooden handle.
• İki bıçak kutunun içinde.Two knives are in the box.

Watch out

Do not soften k in bıçakla: the suffix starts with a consonant. The vowel-initial forms bıçağı and bıçağım do soften it.

Try it yourself

1. Use the definite object: I put the knife in the drawer in the morning. Sabah ___ çekmeceye koydum.

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   bıçağı

   bıçağı: final k becomes ğ before the accusative -ı.

2. Use the tool form: Today we carefully cut the bread with a knife. Ekmeği bugün ___ dikkatle kestik.

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   bıçakla / bıçak ile

   bıçakla: -la means “with” and follows unchanged k.

3. Use the possessive: My knife has a wooden handle. Benim ___ ahşap saplı.

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   bıçağım

   bıçağım: -ım marks my knife and final k becomes ğ.

Use it today

Describe a knife and write a sentence about cutting bread.