havlu: towel and its buffer consonants

The idea

The noun havlu means towel and ends in a vowel. The definite object uses buffer y: havluyu. The ending for my attaches as -m, giving havlum, while the ending for his or her includes buffer s: havlusu. The plural is havlular; after a number use the singular, as in iki havlu.

Examples

• Havlum banyoda kuruyor.My towel is drying in the bathroom.
• Bu havluyu ben yıkadım.I washed this towel.
• Temiz havluları rafa koyduk.We put the clean towels on the shelf.
• İki havlu satın aldık.We bought two towels.
• Havlular dolapta duruyor.The towels are in the cupboard.
• Onun havlusu mavi.His or her towel is blue.

Watch out

Do not use the same buffer in every form: havluyu needs y, but his or her towel is havlusu, not havluyu. The context and ending show whether the word is an object or a possession.

Try it yourself

1. Bu ___ yıkadım. (havlu)

   Show answer or example answer

   havluyu

   havluyu: the definite object adds accusative -yu after the vowel-final stem, with buffer y.

2. Benim ___ mavi. (havlu)

   Show answer or example answer

   havlum

   havlum: after the final vowel, possessive -m expresses my without an extra buffer.

3. Onun ___ temiz. (havlu)

   Show answer or example answer

   havlusu

   havlusu: the third-person possessive adds -su, with buffer s after the vowel.

Use it today

Describe your towel and someone else's towel. Write where you put the towels after washing them.