1At a glance
First ask the verb which case it wants: bakmak takes “to”, korkmak takes “from”. If it takes a “what?”, ask: do you both know exactly which one? Yes: kitabı. No, it’s any one, or things in general: kitap.
Any, some kitap
- When
- it’s any one, a new one, or things in general
- Example
- Çay içtim — I had some tea
- Tell-tale words
- bir, biraz, or nothing at all
- Word order
- right up against the verb: kitap okumak
- Its quirk
- never with sevmek, which wants -ı even for things in general
The one kitabı
- When
- you both know exactly which
- Example
- Çayı içtim — I drank the tea
- Tell-tale words
- bu, şu, o, hangi; “my”; a name; a pronoun
- Word order
- it can move away: Çayı sabah içtim
- Its quirk
- kitabı is both “the book” and “his book”
Another case denize
- When
- the verb asks for “to” or “from”
- Example
- Saate bakıyorum — I’m looking at the clock
- Tell-tale words
- -a: bakmak, binmek, başlamak, karar vermek; -dan: korkmak, sıkılmak
- Word order
- as free as any place: Denize her akşam bakıyoruz
- Its quirk
- an action takes the same case: beklemekten, beklemeye
2The key points
- -ı comes in four teams, like mı: çayı, evi, okulu, sütü. After a vowel a y steps in: kapıyı, Ayşe’yi.
- Before it, a final p ç t k on a longer word goes soft: kitabı, ağacı, çocuğu. Short words usually hold firm: topu.
- After “his” or “her” it’s an n that steps in, not a y: arabasını. The izafet counts too: Türk kahvesini.
- Pronouns are always definite: beni, seni, onu, bizi, sizi, onları, bunu. “Who?” as an object is kimi?
- The verb picks the case, not the translation. Görmek takes -ı, bakmak takes -a, though both are about your eyes. And gelmek or uyumak have no “what?” at all. Learn each verb together with its case.
- An action gets its verb’s case like any other word: yürümekten sıkıldım, beklemeye başladık. Before -dan the k stays; before -a it goes, and a y comes in.
3How it works
| what? | my … | his … | |
|---|---|---|---|
| çayback vowel | çayı | çayımı | çayını |
| evfront vowel | evi | evimi | evini |
| okulrounded | okulu | okulumu | okulunu |
| kitapsoftening | kitabı | kitabımı | kitabını |
| ağaçsoftening | ağacı | ağacımı | ağacını |
| odaends in a vowel | odayı | odamı | odasını |
For words ending in a consonant, “his book” and “the book” as an object sound the same: kitabı. The sentence tells them apart. Words ending in a vowel keep them separate:
Some verbs need two: the thing in -ı, and who it goes to, or where, in -a. Vermek and koymak work like that:
And “my” beats bir: with it, the -ı comes all the same. Bir arkadaşımı is “one of my friends”:
4In real life
5Where it’s easy to slip
| Not like this | Like this | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Bu kitap okudum. | Bu kitabı okudum. | With bu the thing is definite: -ı. |
| kitapı | kitabı | Before a vowel the p goes soft. |
| arabasıyı | arabasını | After “his” it’s n, not y. |
| Onı tanıyorum. | Onu tanıyorum. | After o comes u: four teams. |
| Kediler seviyorum. | Kedileri seviyorum. | Sevmek wants -ı even for things in general. |
| Çay sabah içtim. | Sabah çay içtim. | A bare object sits right up against its verb. |
| Saati bakıyorum. | Saate bakıyorum. | Bakmak looks “to”: -a. |
- Knowing a person is tanımak, knowing a fact is bilmek. Ayşe’yi tanıyorum: I know Ayşe; Ayşe’nin evini biliyorum: I know where she lives.
6Check yourself
Four questions, each with two or three rules at once, and every wrong answer slips on exactly one. Check the ending and the case.
1How do you say “I forgot my mum’s birthday!”? Fill the gap.
Annemin doğum ? unuttum!
2“Efe’s scared of the cat, but he loves gulls.” Which is right throughout?
3Mum’s looking for the cake she left on the table. How do you answer “I ate the cake this morning”?
4Deniz doesn’t waste a minute. How do you say “Deniz gets on the bus and starts reading straight away”?