Use memur for a civil servant and recognise posta memuru as a postal clerk. You will name the person, address a question to them and describe a group of staff. The Turkish noun itself does not specify gender.
The idea
The stem stays memur: memuru, memura, memurda, memurdan, memurun. Its last vowel is u, despite the earlier e. Compare memurumuz (our civil servant) with memurlarımız (our civil servants): after -lar, the next vowel follows a. The table gives possessive forms; in a sentence, Ben memurum instead means “I am a civil servant”.
| Function or meaning | Form |
|---|---|
| Nominative / bare noun | memur |
| Accusative: specific direct object | memuru |
| Dative: to the person | memura |
| Locative: with the person | memurda |
| Ablative: from the person | memurdan |
| Genitive: of the person | memurun |
| With the person (accompaniment) | memurla |
| Plural | memurlar |
| My civil servant | memurum |
| Your civil servant (singular) | memurun |
| His/her civil servant | memuru |
| Our civil servant | memurumuz |
| Your civil servant (plural/polite) | memurunuz |
| Their civil servants | memurları |
| Our civil servants | memurlarımız |
| Postal clerk (compound) | posta memuru |
| To the postal clerk | posta memuruna |
Examples
- Memur dosyayı dikkatle inceliyor.The civil servant is examining the file carefully.
- Soruyu memura tekrar soruyorum.I am asking the civil servant the question again.
- Bu memuru dün gördük.We saw this civil servant yesterday.
- Memurlar öğle arasında dışarı çıktı.The civil servants went outside during the lunch break.
- Posta memuruna bir zarf veriyoruz.We are giving an envelope to the postal clerk.
- Dosya hâlâ memurda.The file is still with the civil servant.
- Memurun masasında iki kalem var.There are two pens on the civil servant’s desk.
- memurlarımızdanfrom our civil servantsmemurlar-ler / -lar: the plural suffixımız-imiz / -ımız / -umuz / -ümüz: ourdan-den / -dan / -ten / -tan: from, out of
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Watch out
Keep the compound ending in posta memuru. “To the postal clerk” is posta memuruna, with n between the compound ending -u and the dative -a. With the simple noun, “to the civil servant” is just memura. Do not turn the compound into posta memura.
Try it yourself
Write the plural of memur (civil servant).
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memurlar
memurlar: several people are meant, with no numeral before the noun. The last vowel of the stem is back, so the plural takes -lar despite the initial e.
Write the complete missing word: We saw this civil servant yesterday.
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memuru
memuru: bu identifies the person we saw. That specific direct object takes -u; this is not a possessive meaning “his or her civil servant”.
Write the complete missing word: We are giving an envelope to the postal clerk.
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memuruna
memuruna: the recipient is the postal clerk. Keep the -u already present in posta memuru, then add linking n and directional -a.
Write the complete missing word: Our civil servants are in a meeting today. Use a plural possessive form.
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memurlarımız
memurlarımız: bizim identifies us as the possessors, while the prompt asks for several staff members. Build memur + lar + ımız; the vowel in -lar makes the next vowels dotless ı.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Write the plural of memur (civil servant).
Write the complete missing word: We saw this civil servant yesterday.
Write the complete missing word: We are giving an envelope to the postal clerk.
Write the complete missing word: Our civil servants are in a meeting today. Use a plural possessive form.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the parts in order to build this word: from our civil servants
Keep your progress
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Write a short exchange at a post office using posta memuru and posta memuruna. Then write one sentence about a group using memurlarımız, checking the dotless ı.