-i / -si: his, her, its

The idea

The third-person possessive says his, her or its. After a consonant it is -i, -ı, -u or -ü (evi, okulu); after a vowel an s comes first: -si, -sı, -su, -sü (kedisi, arabası). The vowel follows the last vowel of the word: e i → i, a ı → ı, o u → u, ö ü → ü.

Examples

• Ayşe'nin kedisi şimdi bahçede.Ayşe's cat is in the garden now.The owner takes the genitive (Ayşe'nin) and the owned noun takes the possessive (kedisi); they come as a pair. Because kedi ends in a vowel, the ending is -si.
• Mehmet'in evi bu sokakta.Mehmet's house is on this street.
• Nilay'ın arabası çok yeni.Nilay's car is very new.Turkish does not tell his from her: arabası is both. The owner's name, or the context, decides.
• arabasındain his cararaba·sı-i / -si: his, her, its·nBuffer -n-: evinde, evinden, evine·da-de / -da / -te / -ta: in, at, on
• çocuğunato his childçocuğ·u-i / -si: his, her, its·nBuffer -n-: evinde, evinden, evine·a-e / -a / -ye / -ya: to, towards
• kedisiniher catkedi·si-i / -si: his, her, its·nBuffer -n-: evinde, evinden, evine·i-i / -ı / -u / -ü: marking the definite objectA case ending after the possessive needs the buffer n: kedisi + n + i, not kedisii. The accusative -i has its own lesson.
• kitabıhis bookThe final p of kitap softens to b before a vowel ending: kitabı. The same happens to ç → c (ağaç, ağacı) and k → ğ (çocuk, çocuğu) in many longer words.

Watch out

Keep the two environments apart: a word ending in a vowel needs the s, so arabası, never arabai; a word ending in a consonant does not, so evi, never evsi. Before the ending, a final p, ç or k often softens: kitap becomes kitabı.

Try it yourself

1. Add the possessive to okul (school): his school.

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   okulu

   okulu: the word ends in the consonant l, so no s; the last vowel u is back and rounded, so the ending is -u.

2. Add the possessive to araba (car): her car.

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   arabası

   arabası: the word ends in a vowel, so an s comes first; the last vowel a is back and unrounded, so -sı.

3. Add the possessive to kitap (book): his book.

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   kitabı

   kitabı: kitap ends in p, which softens to b before a vowel; the last vowel a gives -ı.

4. Add the possessive to kedi (cat): her cat.

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   kedisi

   kedisi: the word ends in the vowel i, so the ending is -si, with front i.

Use it today

Look round a room and name five things together with their owner, as in Ayşe'nin kedisi. For each word first check whether it ends in a vowel or a consonant, then choose -i or -si.