-imiz / -ımız / -umuz / -ümüz: our

The idea

Put -imiz on a noun to say our: evimiz, okulumuz. The vowel follows the last vowel of the noun in four ways: e/i gives -imiz, a/ı gives -ımız, o/u gives -umuz, ö/ü gives -ümüz. After a word that ends in a vowel the first vowel of the ending drops: bahçemiz, arabamız, kutumuz.

Examples

• Bahçemizde büyük bir ağaç var.There is a big tree in our garden.
• Öğretmenimiz bugün burada.Our teacher is here today.
• Kızımız her gün okula yürüyor.Our daughter walks to school every day.
• arabalarımızour carsaraba·lar-ler / -lar: the plural suffix·ımız-imiz / -ımız / -umuz / -ümüz: our
• okulumuzdanfrom our schoolokul·umuz-imiz / -ımız / -umuz / -ümüz: our·dan-den / -dan / -ten / -tan: from, out ofThe ending -umuz finishes in z, a voiced sound, so the ablative is -dan, not -tan.
• kitabımızıour book (as the object)kitab·ımız-imiz / -ımız / -umuz / -ümüz: our·ı-i / -ı / -u / -ü: marking the definite objectThe p of kitap softens to b before the vowel of -ımız; the accusative -ı comes after it.
• evlerimizdein our housesev·ler-ler / -lar: the plural suffix·imiz-imiz / -ımız / -umuz / -ümüz: our·de-de / -da / -te / -ta: in, at, on
• ağacımızour treeağac·ımız-imiz / -ımız / -umuz / -ümüz: ourThe ç of ağaç softens to c before an ending that starts with a vowel: ağacımız.

Watch out

Do not stack two vowels: arabaımız is wrong, the word is arabamız. A final p, ç, t or k softens before the vowel ending, so kitap becomes kitabımız and ağaç becomes ağacımız. And the plural goes first: evlerimiz, never evimizler.

Try it yourself

1. Add our to kitap (book): our book.

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   kitabımız

   kitabımız: the p softens to b before the vowel, and the last vowel a gives -ımız.

2. Add our to oda (room): our room.

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   odamız

   odamız: oda already ends in a vowel, so the ı of the ending drops and only -mız is added; the back vowel a gives ı.

3. Add our to göz (eye): our eye.

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   gözümüz

   gözümüz: the last vowel ö is front and rounded, so the ending is -ümüz, and göz ends in a consonant, so the vowel stays.

4. Make our houses from ev (house): plural first, then our.

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   evlerimiz

   evlerimiz: the plural -ler comes before the possessive, and its vowel e gives -imiz.

Use it today

Pick four things in your home or classroom and write our plus the word for each. Mark whether the noun ends in a vowel, find its last vowel, and check for a final p, ç, t or k.