A2 · Nouns · about 7 minutes
The possessive construction
owner and possession
The owner takes the genitive, the possession the possessive ending — both sides are marked.
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 need4
They appear in this topic’s examples and exercises and are new at this point on the learning path.
- otelhotel
- ablaolder sister
- şirketcompany, firm
- müdürhead teacher; manager, director
Understand
RememberBoth sides carry an ending: Ali'nin evi — literally “Ali’s his-house”.
- Signal words
- -in
- -ın
- -nin
- -nın
- -i
- -sı
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.
| my mother’s car | annemin arabası |
| Ali’s house | Ali'nin evi |
| the door of the school | okulun kapısı |
| the name of the hotel | otelin adı |
| the children’s room | çocukların odası |
| in my mother’s car | annemin arabasında |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
The owner comes first and takes the genitive.
Elif'in çantası kırmızı.Elif’s bag is red.
The possession takes the third-person possessive ending.
Otelin adı ne?What is the name of the hotel?
After a vowel the genitive has an n: -nin, -nın, -nun, -nün.
Arabanın rengi güzel.The colour of the car is nice.
If a case follows, an n goes in after the possessive ending.
Annemin arabasında bir çanta var.There is a bag in my mother’s car.
Example sentences
Komşunun köpeği çok büyük.The neighbour’s dog is very big.
Ali'nin ablası doktor.Ali’s older sister is a doctor.
Evin kapısı açık.The front door is open.
5 more example sentences
Şirketin müdürü bugün yok.The head of the company is not here today.
Babamın arabası garajda.My father’s car is in the garage.
Bu şehrin havası çok temiz.The air in this city is very clean.
Öğretmenin adı Selin.The teacher’s name is Selin.
Çocukların odası üst katta.The children’s room is upstairs.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English speakers mark only one side, because English marks only one: “Ali’s house”. In Turkish Ali'nin ev is not enough — the possession needs its ending: Ali'nin evi.
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: 47 · Cannot with “-eme”Back to the learning path
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
“My mother’s car” is annemin arabası. The owner comes first, as with English ’s — but both words carry an ending. The owner takes the genitive (-in, -ın, -un, -ün, with n after a vowel: -nin …), the possession takes the third-person possessive ending (-i, after a vowel -si).
You can think of it as “my mother’s her car”. Turkish makes this the rule: Ali'nin evi “Ali’s house”, literally “Ali’s his-house”; okulun kapısı “the door of the school”, literally “the school’s its-door”.
If a case ending is added to the possession, an n goes in after the possessive ending: annemin arabasında“in my mother’s car”okulun kapısına“to the door of the school” The n is the same as in evinde “in his house”.
A closer look
Chains of genitives
A possessive construction can itself be an owner: Ali'nin annesinin arabası “Ali’s mother’s car”. Each level takes genitive and possessive: anne-si-nin.
More than two levels sound as heavy in Turkish as “Ali’s mother’s friend’s car” does in English; in conversation it usually stays at one.
Ali'nin annesinin arabası yeni.Ali’s mother’s car is new.
Exceptions and special cases1
Exception
When the owner is ben “I” or biz “we”
then the genitive is benim and bizim — with m instead of n.
Bizim evimiz küçük.Our house is small.
Why? The two first-person pronouns have a genitive form of their own. All the others take the normal ending: senin, onun, sizin, onların.
Worth knowing2
Worth knowing
The owner always comes first
English can put the owner last: “the door of the house”. Turkish always puts it first, like English ’s: evin kapısı, “the house’s door”.
Evin kapısı kırmızı.The door of the house is red.
Worth knowing
Possession without an owner word
If it is clear whose something is, the owner drops out and only the ending remains: Kapısı kırmızı. “Its door is red.” English needs a separate word for that.
Bu ev eski ama kapısı yeni.This house is old, but its door is new.
The verbs on this page, in every form: inmek