You will attach endings to names such as Ankara'dan and Ali'nin and know where the apostrophe goes and which letters of the name stay.
The idea
Case endings on personal and place names take an apostrophe; the spelling of the name stays unchanged: Ankara'da, Ali'nin, Mehmet'ten. The ending is chosen as for any word, by the last vowel and the last sound of the name, and a y or n appears after a vowel where the suffix needs one: Ayşe'ye, Ayşe'nin. The apostrophe is written once, before the first suffix: Ankara'dayım. Plural and derivational suffixes, and endings after them, take no apostrophe: Mehmetlerde, Ayşelerden, Ankaralı. The plural examples here refer to a person and their family.
| Basic form | After a vowel | After a consonant | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| -de | -de / -da | -de / -da / -te / -ta | Ankara'da, Mehmet'te |
| -den | -den / -dan | -den / -dan / -ten / -tan | Ali'den, Mehmet'ten |
| -e | -ye / -ya | -e / -a | Ayşe'ye, Murat'a |
| -i | -yi / -yı / -yu / -yü | -i / -ı / -u / -ü | Ali'yi, Murat'ı |
| -in | -nin / -nın / -nun / -nün | -in / -ın / -un / -ün | Ayşe'nin, Zeynep'in |
Examples
- Ayşe Ankara'dan geliyor.Ayşe is coming from Ankara.
- Ali'nin kedisi bahçede.Ali's cat is in the garden.The owner takes the genitive after an apostrophe: Ali'nin. The cat takes the possessive -si with no apostrophe, because kedisi is not a name.
- Murat bugün Zeynep'i arıyor.Murat is calling Zeynep today.
- Ankara'dayımI am in AnkaraAnkara'da-de / -da / -te / -ta: in, at, onyım-im / -sin / -iz / -siniz: I am, you are, we are
- Mehmetlerdeat Mehmet and his family's placeMehmetler-ler / -lar: the plural suffixde-de / -da / -te / -ta: in, at, on
- Türkiye'deyizwe are in TurkeyTürkiye'de-de / -da / -te / -ta: in, at, onyiz-im / -sin / -iz / -siniz: I am, you are, we are
- Ayşelerdenfrom Ayşe and her familyAyşeler-ler / -lar: the plural suffixden-den / -dan / -ten / -tan: from, out of
- Annem Paris'te, babam evde.My mother is in Paris, my father is at home.Paris is a name, so -te follows an apostrophe; ev is a common noun, so evde has none.
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Watch out
Two opposite slips. Common nouns get no apostrophe: evde, not ev'de. And names do not change their last consonant the way common nouns do: kitap becomes kitabı, but the name stays Ahmet'in, not Ahmed'in, and Zeynep'e, not Zeyneb'e.
Try it yourself
Add the genitive to the name Ali: Ali's cat.
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Ali'nin
Ali'nin: the name ends in the vowel i, so the genitive needs the buffer n, and the front vowel gives -nin; the apostrophe comes before it.
Add the ablative to the name Mehmet: from Mehmet.
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Mehmet'ten
Mehmet'ten: t is voiceless, so the ablative starts with t, and the front vowel e gives -ten; the name keeps its t.
Add the dative to the name Zeynep: to Zeynep.
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Zeynep'e
Zeynep'e: the name ends in a consonant, so the dative is plain -e (last vowel e), and the p stays unchanged although kitap becomes kitabı.
Add the locative to the common noun ev (house): at home.
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evde
evde: ev is a common noun, so there is no apostrophe; the vowel e and the voiced v give -de.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Add the genitive to the name Ali: Ali's cat.
Add the ablative to the name Mehmet: from Mehmet.
Add the dative to the name Zeynep: to Zeynep.
Add the locative to the common noun ev (house): at home.
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: I am in Ankara
Tap the parts in order to build this word: at Mehmet and his family's place
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Write four sentences with personal or place names and case endings. Check the apostrophes, then contrast Mehmet'te with Mehmetlerde: the family plural takes none.