sokak (street): sokağa, sokakta, sokaklar

The idea

A word of two syllables that ends in k usually softens it to ğ before an ending that begins with a vowel: sokağı, sokağa, sokağım, sokağın. Before a consonant the k stays: sokaklar, sokakta, sokaktan. All its vowels are back vowels, so the endings are -lar, -ta, -tan, with t because k is voiceless.

Examples

• Çocuklar sokakta oynuyor.The children are playing in the street.
• Bu sokağı çok seviyorum.I like this street a lot.Here the k has become ğ because the object ending -ı starts with a vowel.
• Sokağın sonunda küçük bir fırın var.There is a small bakery at the end of the street.Sokağın (of the street) goes with sonunda (at its end): the owner takes -ın, the thing owned takes its own ending.
• Gül Sokağı'nda oturuyorum.I live on Gül Street.A street name is usually said with the possessive: Gül Sokağı. The locative then takes an n (-nda), and the apostrophe marks the proper name.
• Okula bu sokaktan gidiyoruz.We take this street to school.With a road or street the ablative -tan can mean 'by way of', not only 'from'.
• sokaklarstreetssokak·lar-ler / -lar: the plural suffix
• sokağımızour streetsokağ·ımız-imiz / -ımız / -umuz / -ümüz: ourThe k became ğ because -ımız starts with a vowel.
• sokaklarımızdanfrom our streetssokak·lar-ler / -lar: the plural suffix·ımız-imiz / -ımız / -umuz / -ümüz: our·dan-den / -dan / -ten / -tan: from, out of

Watch out

A street name is usually said with the possessive, Gül Sokağı, and the locative that follows takes an extra n: Gül Sokağı'nda, not Gül Sokakta. And do not carry the ğ to the consonant endings: sokağta and sokağlar do not exist.

Try it yourself

1. Add 'my' (-ım) to sokak (street): my street.

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   sokağım

   sokağım: -ım begins with a vowel, so the k becomes ğ, and ı follows the back vowel a.

2. Add the locative (-ta) to sokak (street): in the street.

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   sokakta

   sokakta: -ta begins with a consonant, so the k stays; the ending starts with t because k is voiceless.

3. Add the dative (-a) to sokak (street): to the street.

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   sokağa

   sokağa: the dative -a begins with a vowel, so k becomes ğ, and a matches the back vowels of the word.

4. Add the plural (-lar) to sokak (street): streets.

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   sokaklar

   sokaklar: -lar begins with a consonant, so nothing softens, and back vowels give -lar.

Use it today

Write three sentences about the street you live on: one with sokağımız, one with sokakta and one with sokaktan. Circle the first letter of each ending.