Numerals, possessive pronouns, and the locative case in the Turkish language

Lesson vocabulary

The locative case in the Turkish language

The locative case is used to indicate the location of an object and answers the question Nerede? (where?). It is also used to indicate the possessor of an object (corresponding to the English verb ‘to have’ or saying someone has something ‘on’ them) and answers the question Kimde? (who has? / on whom?).

The locative case is formed by the affixes -da, -de, -ta, -te.

Kitap nerede? - Where is the book?
Kitap masada. - The book is on the table.

Kuş nerede? - Where is the bird?
Kuş ağaçta. - The bird is in the tree.

Kimde kalem var? - Who has a pen?
Bende kalem var. - I have a pen.

Exercise 4.1. Attach the locative case affix.

Anne mutfak da de ta te .
Baba garaj da de ta te .
Çocuklar oda da de ta te .
Öğretmen sınıf da de ta te .
Kitaplar raf da de ta te .
Tamirci fabrika da de ta te .

Öğrenciler kütüphane da de ta te .
Kedi bahçe da de ta te .
Ali okul da de ta te .
Abla ev da de ta te .
Kardeşim sinema da de ta te .
Murat da de ta te sözlük var.

Doktor hastane da de ta te .
Çocuklar park da de ta te .
Kuş kafes da de ta te .
Ayşe İstanbul da de ta te .
Müdür ofis da de ta te .
Onlar da de ta te telefon yok.

Exercise 4.2. Translate into Turkish.

The children are in the garden.

Ali is at school.

The car is in the garage.

The cat is in the room.

I don’t have a TV.

The sister is in the garden.

The workers are at the factory.

Dad is in America.

The secretary is in the office.

The books are in the library.

The pen is on the table.

The students are in the classroom.

The doctor is in the hospital.

The brother is at home.

The dictionary is in the bag.

The constructions discussed above indicate the location of a 3rd person subject (bird, cat, car, Ali, students, etc.). When we talk about a 1st person (I, we) or 2nd person (you), the locative case affixes are followed by personal affixes.

Sen neredesin? - Where are you?
Ben mutfaktayım. - I am in the kitchen.

Siz neredesiniz? - Where are you (pl.)?
Biz kütüphanedeyiz. - We are in the library.

Sen evde misin? - Are you at home?
Evet, evdeyim. - Yes, I am at home.

Siz fabrikada mısınız? - Are you at the factory?
Evet, fabrikadayız. - Yes, we are at the factory.

Exercise 4.3. Translate into Turkish.

Where are you? - I am in the office. Is he in the museum? Are you (pl.) in the hospital? Where is he? He is in the park. Mom is in the kitchen. Dad is in the office. Are the children in the room? Where is the doctor? The doctor is in the hospital. Ali is at home. Yes, at home. Where are the birds? The birds are in the garden. The sister is at school. Is the brother at the university? Where is the cat? The cat is in the room.

Cardinal, ordinal, fractional, and distributive numerals

Cardinal numerals denote the quantity of objects. Note that a noun following a cardinal numeral does not take a plural affix. (iki elma, but iki elmalar is incorrect)

Compound numerals are formed by adding tens to hundreds, and units to tens:

15 on beş
24 yirmi dört
137 yüz otuz yedi
248 iki yüz kırk sekiz
3579 üç bin beş yüz yetmiş dokuz

Exercise 4.4. Write the numbers in words (in Turkish! :)). If the text doesn’t fit in the input box, you can pull the bottom right corner. Just don’t pull too hard, or you’ll tear it...

4, 9, 16, 28, 56, 35, 87, 90, 11, 44, 71, 93, 578, 982, 375, 555, 411, 373, 1090, 2569, 6830, 104356

Exercise 4.5. Write the numbers in digits.

Yedi, otuz iki, kırk dört, seksen, altmış bir, iki yüz doksan altı, yedi yüz elli dokuz, sekiz yüz on, altı yüz yetmiş iki, iki bin beş yüz yirmi dört, dört bin sekiz yüz bir, kırk üç, bin dokuz yüz seksen bir, on iki bin sekiz yüz otuz üç, dokuz bin dört yüz elli beş, yedi yüz doksan iki.

Ordinal numerals

Ordinal numerals denote the position of an object in a series. They answer the question Kaçıncı? (which one in order?) and are formed by attaching the affixes ıncı (inci uncu üncü) to the cardinal numeral if it ends in a consonant, and ncı (nci ncu ncü) if the numeral ends in a vowel.

Altı + ncı = altıncı
Bir + inci = birinci
Dokuz + uncu = dokuzuncu
Dört + üncü = dördüncü

Fractional numerals

The formation of fractional numerals happens as follows: first, the whole is stated with the locative case affix, and then the part of this whole is added:

1 / 3 üçte bir (literally: in three, one)
2 / 8 sekizde iki (literally: in eight, two)

Pay attention to the formation of these common terms:

½ yarım - half
¼ çeyrek - quarter
5/5 tam - whole (number)

Exercise 4.6. Write the fractions in words.

6/9, 7/8, 1/3, 3/4, 5/6, 1/2, 3/3, 6/9, 2/4, 4/5, 1/10, 8/8, 1/4, 2/8, 7/10.

Exercise 4.7. Write the fractions in digits.

Altıda üç, sekizde bir, dörtte beş, dokuzda beş, dörtte üç, altıda dört, üçte bir, beşte bir, yarım.

Distributive numerals

In the Turkish language, the so-called distributive numerals correspond to English phrases like ‘one by one’, ‘two each’, etc. They are formed using the affix -ar, -er after consonants and -şar, -şer after vowels. If used without nouns, distributive numerals are repeated.

The numeral bir functioning as an indefinite article

The numeral bir can act as an indefinite article (like ‘a’ or ‘an’ in English) if the object in question is previously unknown and mentioned for the first time.

bir masa - a table, one table, some table.

Bir masaya oturdum. - I sat at a (some) table.

The indefinite article bir is usually placed between an adjective (modifier) and the noun (modified).

güzel bir kız - a beautiful girl

If the word bir precedes the adjective, the meaning of the statement changes (it emphasizes the number one):

bir güzel kız - one beautiful girl

Possessive pronouns in the Turkish language (Possessive affixes)

The English possessive pronouns (my, your, his, her, our, your, their) correspond to the Turkish benim - my, senin - your, onun - his, her, its, bizim - our, sizin - your (pl./formal), onların - their. A noun used together with a possessive pronoun takes a possessive affix according to the law of vowel harmony.

Benim ım, im, um, üm defterim - my notebook
Senin ın, in, un, ün defterin - your notebook
Onun ı, i, u, ü defteri - his, her notebook
Bizim ımız, imiz, umuz, ümüz defterimiz - our notebook
Sizin ınız, iniz, unuz, ünüz defteriniz - your notebook
Onların ları, leri defterleri - their notebooks

If a noun ends in a vowel, the affixes look like this:

Benim m çantam - my bag
Senin n çantan - your bag
Onun sı, si, su, sü çantası - his, her bag
Bizim mız, miz, muz, müz çantamız - our bag
Sizin nız, niz, nuz, nüz çantanız - your bag
Onların ları, leri çantaları - their bags

In Turkish, words denoting specific objects and persons (especially family members) are almost always marked with a possessive affix. For example, to answer the question Where is the daughter? The daughter is at school, you should say Kızım okulda (My daughter is at school); saying Kız okulda is incorrect.

Exercise 4.8. Attach the possessive affixes.

Exercise 4.9. Translate into Turkish.

My school, your (sg.) pencil, our children, their lessons, my car, your (pl.) hat, his notebook, their table, my sister, our house, their garden, his house, your (sg.) student, our street, her desk, my dictionary, your (sg.) cupboard, his son, my mom, our city, your (sg.) flower.

Interrogative and negative forms

When forming a general yes/no question (Is this your house?) in the Turkish language, the corresponding possessive pronoun (benim, senin, onun, bizim, sizin, onların) is placed first, followed by the noun with the necessary possessive affix and the interrogative particle mı (mi, mu, mü), chosen according to the law of vowel harmony and written separately from the noun.

Bu, benim arabam mı? - Is this my car?
Bu, senin kalemin mi? - Is this your pen?
Bu, onun şapkası mı? - Is this his(her) hat?
Bu, bizim doktorumuz mu? - Is this our doctor?
Bu, sizin müdürünüz mü? - Is this your manager?
Bu, onların defterleri mi? - Are these their notebooks?

To express a negative answer to a general question (No, this is not my table), the negative word ‘no’ (Hayır) is placed first, followed by the possessive pronoun, then the noun with the necessary possessive affix, and finally the negative particle değil, corresponding to the English ‘not’, which is placed at the end of the statement and written separately.

Hayır, benim kalemim değil. No, this is not my pen.

Exercise 4.10. Translate into Turkish.

Is this your (sg.) pen? No, this is not our bus. Is this his book? Yes, this is my teacher. Is this your (pl.) dictionary? No, these are not their children. Yes, this is my daughter. Is this your (sg.) book? No, not my bag. Is this her city? Yes, this is my father. No, not his cupboard. Are these your (pl.) friends? Yes, her bag.

Exercise 4.11. Do the exercise following the example, using the following words.

Kedi, sözlük, abla, bahçe, köpek, dolap, baba, öğretmen, araba, masa, şehir

Dialogue: meeting and personal data

Sekreter: Hoş geldiniz. - Welcome.
Zeynep: Hoş bulduk. - Glad to be here (Thank you for welcoming me).
Sekreter: Adın ve soyadın. - Your name and surname.
Zeynep: Adım Zeynep. Soyadım Koç. - My name is Zeynep, my surname is Koç.
Sekreter: Kaç yaşındasın? - How old are you?
Zeynep: On üç yaşındayım. - I am 13 years old.
Sekreter: Kaç kardeşin var? - How many siblings do you have?
Zeynep: Dört kardeşim var. - I have 4 siblings.
Sekreter: Kaçıncı sınıftasın? - What grade are you in?
Zeynep: Yedinci sınıftayım. - I am in the seventh grade.
Sekreter: Doğum tarihin kaç? - What is your date of birth?
Zeynep: 7 Nisan 2013. - April 7, 2013.
Sekreter: Telefon numaranız kaç? - What is your phone number?
Zeynep: 247-15-19
Sekreter: Teşekkür ederim. - Thank you.

Commentary. The phrase Hoş bulduk is a polite response to the greeting Hoş geldiniz and literally means ‘We found it pleasant (here)’.

The Turkish word kardeş is a gender-neutral term corresponding perfectly to the English word ‘sibling’. Dört kardeşim var - I have four siblings. The words kız kardeş (sister) and erkek kardeş (brother) are used if it is necessary to specify the gender. Also: Abi - older brother, abla - older sister. The word ‘abi’ is a shortened version of ‘ağabey’. Ağabey is a very formal word and is used less frequently than abi.

Exercise 4.12. Create a dialogue based on the personal data.

Kayıt formu (Registration form)

Adı (Name): Ali
Soyadı (Surname): Yıldız
Doğum tarihi (Date of birth): 18 Ocak 2014 (January 18, 2014)
Yaş (Age): 12 yaşında (12 years old)
Sınıf (Grade): altıncı sınıf (sixth grade)
Telefon numarası (Phone number): 456-47-89

Exercise 4.13. Ask a question.

1. ?
   16 yaşında.
2. ?
   Yedinci sınıftayım.
3. ?
   Hayır, dördüncü ev bizim değil.
4. ?
   İş telefonum 302 08 43.
5. ?
   Evet, ikinci ders İngilizce.

Topic: My family and I

Exercise 4.14. Read the text and tell about your family.

Ailem ve ben

Merhaba! Benim adım Gül. Soyadım Gönültaş. Ben 15 yaşındayım. Doğum tarihim 14 Şubat 2011. Ben öğrenciyim. Dokuzuncu sınıftayım. Benim küçük bir ailem var – annem, babam ve iki kardeşim. Ben ailenin en küçük çocuğuyum. Benim annem hemşire, babam ise işadamı. Annem şimdi evde, babam şirkette. Benim ablam 19 yaşında. O bir üniversitede öğrencidir. Benim ağabeyim bir fabrikada mühendistir. O 25 yaşında. O evli. Ben ailemi çok seviyorum.

Exercise 4.15. Read the joke.

Sözümden dönmem

Nasrettin Hoca’ya kaç yaşındasın diye sorduklarında «kırk» der. Bir yıl sonra yine sorarlar aynı cevabı verir. O zaman «Hocam geçen yıl da kırk demiştin. Bu nasıl oluyor?» dediklerinde:

Ben sözümden dönmem, der.