← Back

Cases: The Six-Case System

Nominative, accusative, dative, locative, ablative, genitive cases and their uses
Genitive + possessive: izafet construction
showing possession with two nouns
ee-zah-fet
Öğrencinin kitabı = the student's book; genitive on possessor + possessive on possessed
Case stacking: evimden
multiple suffixes on one noun
ev-eem-den
Ev + im + den = from my house; case follows possessive suffix
Dative for purpose: -e/-a
dative expressing purpose or goal
varies
Okula gidiyorum = I am going to school (purpose/destination)
Ablative for reason: -den dolayı
because of / due to
-den doh-lah-yuh
Yorgunluktan uyudum = I slept because of tiredness; ablative of cause
Locative for time: -da/-de
at a time (temporal locative)
varies
Sabahleyin = in the morning; Pazartesi'de = on Monday (locative)
Accusative with specific objects
accusative marks identifiable/definite objects
varies
Kitabı okudum (the book) vs. kitap okudum (a book / reading books)
Case with postpositions
some postpositions require specific cases
varies
İçin (for) follows genitive; göre (according to) follows dative
Multiple case suffixes in sentence
practicing all cases in context
varies
Ahmet'in evinden okula gittim = I went from Ahmet's house to school
Instrumental: ile / -la/-le
with / by means of
ee-leh / -lah/-leh
Arabayla geldim = I came by car; tren ile = by train
Comitative: ile for accompaniment
together with (a person)
ee-leh
Arkadaşımla gittim = I went with my friend; -la on person noun