pencere (window): pencereye, pencereden, penceresi

The idea

Pencere ends in the front vowel e, so every ending takes its front form: -ler, -de, -den, never -lar, -da, -dan. An ending that starts with a vowel needs a buffer after e: y in the dative and accusative (pencereye, pencereyi), s in the third-person possessive (penceresi) and n in the genitive (pencerenin). Endings that start with a consonant attach directly: pencereler, pencerem, pencerede, pencereden.

Examples

• Annem pencereyi açıyor.My mother is opening the window.A definite object takes the accusative. After the vowel e the ending is -yi: the buffer y comes first, and the front vowel gives i, not ı.
• Çocuk pencereden bakıyor.The child is looking out of the window.With bakmak, -den means looking out through the window. Pencereye bakıyor would mean that the child looks at the window itself.
• Kuş pencereye konuyor.A bird is landing on the window.Konmak (to land, to perch) takes the dative. The buffer y separates the two vowels: pencere + ye.
• Pencerede iki saksı var.There are two flowerpots on the windowsill.The locative -de needs no buffer. Pencerede means at the window, and here on its sill; the context decides.
• Pencerenin yanında oturuyorum.I am sitting next to the window.The genitive -nin names what yanında (next to it) belongs to. The subject ben is dropped because -um already says I.
• pencerelerimizour windowspencere·ler-ler / -lar: the plural suffix·imiz-imiz / -ımız / -umuz / -ümüz: our
• pencerenizdenfrom your windowpencere·niz-ınız / -iniz / -unuz / -ünüz: your (plural, polite)·den-den / -dan / -ten / -tan: from, out of
• penceresindeat his or her windowpencere·si-i / -si: his, her, its·nBuffer -n-: evinde, evinden, evine·de-de / -da / -te / -ta: in, at, on

Watch out

Do not borrow the back-vowel endings of masa or oda: pencereya and pencereyı are wrong, it is pencereye and pencereyi. Also choose the case by the meaning of the verb: pencereye bakıyorum means that I look at the window itself, pencereden bakıyorum that I look out through it. Pencerede says where something is, not where you look.

Try it yourself

1. Add the dative to pencere (window): to the window.

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   pencereye

   pencereye: pencere ends in a vowel, so the dative takes the buffer y, and the front vowel e gives -ye.

2. Add the suffix: I am opening the window.

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   pencereyi

   pencereyi: the window is a definite object here and takes the accusative; after the buffer y the front vowel gives i, not ı.

3. Add the suffix: His or her window is very big.

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   penceresi

   penceresi: the third-person possessive after a vowel is -si, with an s and not a y, and the front vowel gives i.

4. Add the suffix: A tree can be seen from the window.

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   pencereden

   pencereden: the sentence names the place the tree is seen from, a starting point, so the ablative fits; it has no buffer, and the front vowel gives -den.

Use it today

Write four short sentences about a window in your home: who opens it, what you see from it and what stands beside it. Check the buffer and the vowel in every ending.