Grammar in brief: My, whose and what kind

1At a glance

Look at the pair’s first word. Is it an owner, “whose?” Both words take an ending: Ali’nin evi. Is it a kind, “what kind?” Only the second does: köy evi. Is it what the thing’s made of, or male or female? Neither does: taş ev, kız kardeş.

My, your evim

It answers: whose? mine, yours, ours
The endings: one, on the thing: -⁠(ı)m, -⁠(ı)n, -⁠(s)ı…
Another example: kitabım — my book
Before a case: evimde — at my place
Its quirk: benim, senin in front add weight; they’re usually dropped

Whose? Ali’nin evi

It answers: whose? Ali’s, the neighbour’s, mum’s
The endings: two: the owner -⁠(n)ın, the thing -⁠(s)ı
Another example: Ayşe’nin çantası — Ayşe’s bag
Before a case: an n slips in: Ali’nin evinde
Its quirk: ben and biz: benim, bizim, never benin

What kind? köy evi

It answers: what kind? a kind, not an owner
The endings: one, on the second word: -⁠(s)ı
Another example: Türk kahvesi — Turkish coffee
Before a case: an n slips in: köy evinde
Its quirk: “my” takes the place of -⁠(s)ı: doğum günüm

Made of what? taş ev

It answers: made of what? male or female?
The endings: none
Another example: altın saat — a gold watch
Before a case: just the case: taş evde
Its quirk: kız kardeş, a sister, is one too

whose	odaroom	evhouse	evdeat … place
benimmy	odam	evim	evimde
seninyour	odan	evin	evinde
onunhis, her	odası	evi	evinde
bizimour	odamız	evimiz	evimizde
sizinyour (pl.)	odanız	eviniz	evinizde
onlarıntheir	odası	evi	evinde

2The key points

“My”, “your” and “whose” aren’t words but endings, and they queue up in order: the word, how many, whose, where. Çocuk-lar-ım, my children; ev-im-de, at my place.
Harmony picks the ending’s vowel, the four teams, as with mı: adım, evim, okulum, gözüm, and just the same Can’ın, Deniz’in, okulun, Kadıköy’ün.
Two vowels never sit together. After a vowel, “his” takes an s and the genitive an n: odası, odanın. After a consonant they bring their own vowel: evi, evin.
After the “his” ending, -⁠ı or -⁠sı, an n slips in before a case, in a pair too: onun evine, çay bahçesinden.
The ending starts with a vowel, so p ç t k at the end of a longer word go soft: kitabım, çocuğu. And a handful of words drop a vowel: burnum, oğlu.
The main word always comes last; everything before it pins it down. Ali’nin evi, köy evi, taş ev: all three are houses. Lost in a chain? Read it from the end.

3How it works

“Whose?” or “what kind?” changes the meaning, though the words are the same. With an owner it’s one particular thing; without, it’s a kind:

Evin anahtarı nerede?— Where’s the key to the house? — this one, ours

Bu bir ev anahtarı.— That’s a house key — not a car key

A pair with no owner doesn’t come apart: anything describing it goes in front of the whole pair, even bir:

Küçük bir köy evinde oturuyorlar.— They live in a little village house.

Something that already belongs to someone can be an owner itself: add the genitive and the pair becomes a chain. Read it from the end: the last word is what it is, the rest says whose:

babamın abisinin evi— my dad’s big brother’s house — my uncle’s, that is

In a pair with an owner, a describing word can also go in the middle, between the owner and the thing:

Ayşe’nin yeni arabası çok güzel.— Ayşe’s new car is lovely.

When there’s more than one pair, -⁠lar goes on the second word, before the -⁠ı: the same order, how many and then whose:

İstanbul’da çok çay bahçesi var. Çay bahçeleri her zaman kalabalık.— Istanbul has lots of tea gardens. They’re always busy.

And in conversation the thing sometimes loses its ending when bizim or sizin comes first. Written and careful speech keep it, bizim evimiz, but you’ll often hear:

Bizim ev küçük, ama bahçesi çok büyük.— Our house is small, but the garden’s huge.

4In real life

— Bu terlikler kimin? — Efe’nin.— Whose slippers are these? — Efe’s.

Telefonum nerede? Çantamda yok!Where’s my phone? It’s not in my bag!

— Evin anahtarı sende mi? — Hayır, annemde.— Have you got the house key? — No, mum has.

Annemin doğum günü yarın, pasta alıyorum.It’s mum’s birthday tomorrow; I’m getting a cake.

— İki Türk kahvesi, lütfen. — Hemen!— Two Turkish coffees, please. — Coming right up!

Komşunun köpeği yine bahçemizde!The neighbour’s dog is in our garden again!

Bu altın yüzük babaannemin.This gold ring is my grandmother’s.

Çay bahçesindeyim, seni bekliyorum.I’m at the tea garden, waiting for you.

5Where it’s easy to slip

Not like this	Like this	Why
Ayşe arabası	Ayşe’nin arabası	A named owner needs the genitive.
Ali’nin evide	Ali’nin evinde	After the “his” -⁠i, an n comes before a case.
doğum günüüm	doğum günüm	“My” takes the -⁠ü’s place; it doesn’t join it.
kitapım	kitabım	Before a vowel, a longer word’s p goes soft.
küçük çay bir bahçesi	küçük bir çay bahçesi	Nothing gets inside an ownerless pair, not even bir.
altının yüzüğü	altın yüzük	What it’s made of takes no endings.

Evinde is both “at your place” (ev-in-de) and “at his place” (ev-i-n-de), and you can’t hear the difference. If it matters whose, put senin or onun in front.
Erkek arkadaşım and kız arkadaşım usually mean “my boyfriend” and “my girlfriend”, not just a friend. For a friend, arkadaşım is plenty.

6Check yourself

Four questions, and each brings two or three rules together. Each wrong answer slips on just one thing, so read every one to the last letter.

1A friend rings and asks: Neredesin? You’re at Can’s place. What do you say?

2You’re looking for your Turkish coursebook. Fill in the gap: “Where’s my Turkish book?”

Benim ? nerede?

3You’ve forgotten the name of the neighbours’ daughter. Ask your mum: “What’s our neighbour’s daughter called?”

4A guest admires a ring on the table. Say: “This gold ring is my sister’s.”