B1 · The cases · about 7 minutes
Which case after which verb
verbs and their case
Many verbs take a case you would not expect from English.
Do you know this already?
“New to me”: the explanation first, then practice. “Test myself”: 3 short questions – get at least two right and you go straight to the harder exercises.
Words you will need8
They appear in this topic’s examples and exercises and are new at this point on the learning path.
- karanlıkdark; darkness
- özlemekto miss, to long for
- karardecision
- bırakmakto leave, to put down; to give up
- inanmakto believe
- resimpicture, painting; drawing
- vazgeçmekto give up, to drop (a plan)
- güvenmekto trust, to rely on
Understand
RememberLearn the verb with its case: -e bakmak, -den korkmak, -i beklemek.
- Signal words
- binmek
- inmek
- korkmak
- bakmak
- beklemek
- özlemek
- benzemek
- hoşlanmak
The form
The patterns at a glance
Each row first says when or what the pattern is used for, then gives an example in Turkish.
| get on | otobüse binmek |
| get off | trenden inmek |
| be afraid of | köpekten korkmak |
| look at | resme bakmak |
| wait for | otobüsü beklemek |
| miss | annemi özlemek |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
Some verbs take the dative where English has a direct object or “at”.
Şu fotoğrafa bak!Look at this photo!
Fear and liking often go with the ablative.
Kızım karanlıktan korkuyor.My daughter is afraid of the dark.
“Wait for” and “miss” take the accusative.
Seni çok özledim.I missed you very much.
Getting on takes the dative, getting off the ablative.
Otobüsten indim, metroya bindim.I got off the bus and onto the underground.
“Resemble” takes the dative.
Elif annesine çok benziyor.Elif looks very like her mother.
Example sentences
Doktora sordun mu?Did you ask the doctor?
Can futboldan hiç hoşlanmıyor.Can does not like football at all.
Durakta otobüsü bekliyoruz.We are waiting for the bus at the stop.
7 more example sentences
Derse geç kaldım.I was late for the lesson.
Bu kararı sana bırakıyorum.I am leaving this decision to you.
Herkes bu habere inandı.Everyone believed this news.
Lütfen bana inan.Please believe me.
Çocuklar ağaca tırmanıyor.The children are climbing the tree.
Babam sonunda sigaradan vazgeçti.My father has finally given up smoking.
Bu habere çok şaşırdım.I was very surprised at this news.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
“I am looking at the picture” — the English “at” is easy to lose, and with it the case: resmi bakıyorum. bakmak needs the dative: the gaze goes towards something. With the accusative the sentence is not Turkish.
Quick check
A warm-up: 2 questions, answered straight away. They do not count towards your progress.
Practise
10 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
Now write it yourself10 sentences on this topic, typed and checked instantly.
Well done
How well do you know this topic?
This is filled in automatically after you practise. You can change it here at any time.
Next on the path: 80 · Adverbs: “-ce”, doubling and intensifyingBack to the learning path
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
In English you learn “be afraid of”, “wait for”, “rely on” — the verb with its preposition. In Turkish you learn the verb with its case: -den korkmak“to be afraid of”-i beklemek“to wait for”-e güvenmek“to rely on” The English preposition hardly ever helps.
Most mistakes come from verbs that have a direct object in English and none in Turkish: -e sormak“to ask someone”-e bakmak“to look at something”-e benzemek“to resemble someone”-den hoşlanmak“to like something” The other way round, -i beklemek “to wait for” and -i özlemek “to miss” take the accusative where English has a preposition or a plain object.
So learn every new verb with a short example that shows the case: otobüse binmek, köpekten korkmak, seni özlemek. In the word lists the ending is given before the verb.
A closer look
One verb, two cases
Some verbs change their meaning with the case. Ali'ye sordummeans “I asked Ali”Ali'yi sordum“I asked about Ali”
And the same case can carry two meanings with one verb: resme bakmakmeans “to look at the picture”çocuğa bakmak“to look after the child” — as in English Here the context decides.
Ali'ye sordum, o da Ayşe'yi sordu.I asked Ali, and he asked about Ayşe.
Exceptions and special cases1
Exception
When the object of beklemek is indefinite
then it has no ending, like any indefinite object: misafir bekliyoruz “we are expecting guests”.
Akşam misafir bekliyoruz.We are expecting guests this evening.
Why? The accusative of these verbs is the ordinary accusative — it only applies to a definite object.
Worth knowing2
Worth knowing
The preposition does not help
“Wait for”, “look out for”, “rely on” — and three different Turkish cases: -i beklemek, -e dikkat etmek, -e güvenmek. Do not translate the English preposition; learn the case with the verb.
Sana güveniyorum, ama yola dikkat et.I am relying on you, but watch the road.
Worth knowing
Liking with the ablative
“I like this music” can be bu müziği seviyorum (accusative) or bu müzikten hoşlanıyorum (ablative). hoşlanmak is a little more careful, roughly “to be fond of”.
Bu müzikten çok hoşlanıyorum.I really like this music.
The verbs on this page, in every form: sormak · beklemek · yemek · bakmak · inmek · bırakmak · binmek · korkmak