masa (table): masaya, masayı, masası

The idea

Masa ends in a vowel, so endings that start with a vowel need a buffer: y before the dative and accusative (masaya, masayı), s before the third-person possessive (masası) and n before the genitive (masanın). Endings that start with a consonant need none: masam, masalar, masada, masadan. Once -sı is on, case endings take n again: masasında.

Examples

• Kitabı masaya koyuyorum.I am putting the book on the table.
• Kedi masanın altında uyuyor.The cat is sleeping under the table.
• Annem masayı siliyor.My mother is wiping the table.Masa is a definite object here, so it takes the accusative. After a vowel the ending starts with the buffer y: masayı.
• Babam yemek masasında çalışıyor.My father is working at the dining table.In the compound yemek masası (dining table) the -sı belongs to the word itself, not to a person. A case ending after it takes n: masasında.
• masalarımızour tablesmasa·lar-ler / -lar: the plural suffix·ımız-imiz / -ımız / -umuz / -ümüz: our
• masasındanfrom his/her tablemasa·sı-i / -si: his, her, its·nBuffer -n-: evinde, evinden, evine·dan-den / -dan / -ten / -tan: from, out of
• Masada üç bardak var.There are three glasses on the table.The locative -da covers both on and at: masada can mean on the table or at the table, and the context decides.

Watch out

Do not write the vowel straight onto masa: masaa and masaı are wrong, it is masaya and masayı. And do not mix up masayı (the table as the object) with masası (his or her table, or the compound yemek masası).

Try it yourself

1. Add the dative to masa (table): to the table.

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   masaya

   masaya: masa ends in the vowel a, so the dative takes the buffer y and becomes -ya.

2. Add the suffix: I am wiping the table.

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   masayı

   masayı: a definite object takes the accusative; after a vowel it is y plus a vowel, and because the last vowel a is back, it is ı.

3. Add the suffix: His/her table is new.

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   masası

   masası: the third-person possessive after a vowel is -sı, with an s and not a y.

4. Add the suffix: The cat is under the table.

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   masanın

   masanın: the genitive after a vowel is -nın, with an n before the vowel, and it names the owner of altında, the space under it.

Use it today

Write four short sentences about a table in your home: what is on it, what is under it and who sits at it. Check the buffer in every ending.