şehir (city): şehre, şehri, şehrimiz

The idea

Şehir loses its second vowel when a suffix that starts with a vowel follows: şehir → şehri, şehre, şehrin, şehrim, şehrimiz. Before a suffix that starts with a consonant the vowel stays: şehirde, şehirden, şehirler, şehirlerimiz. The plural comes first, so the i survives in şehirlerimizden.

Examples

• Yarın şehre gidiyoruz.We are going to the city tomorrow.The dative ending starts with a vowel, so the i of şehir drops: şehre, never şehire. The verb ending already means 'we', so biz is not needed.
• Babam şehirde çalışıyor.My father works in the city.
• Bu şehri çok seviyorum.I like this city very much.
• Nehir şehirden geçiyor.The river runs through the city.The verb geçmek (to pass, go through) takes the ablative: şehirden. Before the consonant d the i of şehir stays.
• Şehrin ışıkları gece çok güzel.The city's lights are very beautiful at night.
• Annemin şehri çok sakin.My mother's city is very quiet.Here şehri means 'her city', the possessive -i after the genitive annemin. It looks exactly like the accusative in Bu şehri çok seviyorum; the sentence shows which one it is.
• şehrimizdein our cityşehr·imiz-imiz / -ımız / -umuz / -ümüz: our·de-de / -da / -te / -ta: in, at, onThe stem shown as şehr is şehir without its i: the ending -imiz starts with a vowel, so the i drops before it, and -de follows.
• şehirlerimizdenfrom our citiesşehir·ler-ler / -lar: the plural suffix·imiz-imiz / -ımız / -umuz / -ümüz: our·den-den / -dan / -ten / -tan: from, out of

Watch out

Do not put the vowel back: şehiri, şehire and şehirim are wrong; write şehri, şehre and şehrim. Note also that şehri can mean 'the city' as an object or 'his/her city'; the sentence decides.

Try it yourself

1. Add the dative to şehir (city): to the city.

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   şehre

   şehre: the dative -e starts with a vowel, so the i of şehir drops; e matches the front vowel.

2. Add -im to şehir (city): my city.

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   şehrim

   şehrim: the possessive -im starts with a vowel, so the i drops; -im matches the front vowel.

3. Add -de to şehir (city): in the city.

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   şehirde

   şehirde: -de starts with a consonant, so nothing drops; it is d because r is voiced, and e because the vowel is front.

4. Add -ler, -imiz and -den in this order to şehir (city): from our cities.

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   şehirlerimizden

   şehirlerimizden: the plural -ler comes first and starts with a consonant, so the i stays; then -imiz and -den follow.

Use it today

Write three sentences about a city you know: one with şehre, one with şehirde and one with şehrimiz or şehrim. Underline the first letter of each ending.