A2 · Postpositions · about 7 minutes
For, like, until: “için”, “gibi”, “kadar”
for, like, as … as, until
Three postpositions you need every day — a noun before them has no ending, a pronoun does.
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 need2
They appear in this topic’s examples and exercises and are new at this point on the learning path.
- kurscourse
- teşekkür ederimthank you
Understand
RememberNouns stay as they are; pronouns go into the genitive: annem için, but benim için.
- Signal words
- için
- gibi
- kadar
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.
| for my mother | annem için |
| for you | senin için |
| for them | onlar için |
| like a child | çocuk gibi |
| like you | senin gibi |
| as big as Mehmet | Mehmet kadar büyük |
| until the evening | akşama kadar |
| in order to learn Turkish | Türkçe öğrenmek için |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
A noun has no ending before these words.
Bu hediye annem için.This present is for my mother.
A pronoun before them is in the genitive.
Bu kahve senin için.This coffee is for you.
onlar has no ending.
Bu oda onlar için.This room is for them.
With the dative before it, kadar means “until”.
Akşama kadar çalışıyorum.I work until the evening.
After an infinitive için means “in order to”.
Türkçe öğrenmek için kursa gidiyorum.I go to a course to learn Turkish.
Example sentences
Kardeşim de benim gibi öğretmen.My sister is a teacher too, like me.
Ayşe çocuk gibi gülüyor.Ayşe laughs like a child.
Bunun için teşekkür ederim.Thank you for this.
6 more example sentences
Saat beşe kadar evdeyim.I am at home until five o’clock.
Sen de onun kadar hızlısın.You are just as fast as him.
Kimin için çiçek alıyorsun?Who are you buying flowers for?
Eve kadar yürüyoruz.We are walking all the way home.
Biz sizin için geliyoruz.We are coming for your sake.
Bu şehir gibi güzel bir yer yok.There is no place as beautiful as this city.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
“For you” uses the object form in English, but “you” looks the same either way, so sen için seems natural — the pronoun with no ending, like a noun. Before için, gibi and kadar a pronoun goes into the genitive: senin için.
Quick check
A warm-up: 2 questions, answered straight away. They do not count towards your progress.
Practise
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Next on the path: 45 · The optative: “gideyim” and “gidelim”Back to the learning path
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
için means “for”, gibi “like” and kadar “as … as”. They come after the word they refer to: annem için“for my mother”çocuk gibi“like a child”Mehmet kadar uzun“as tall as Mehmet”
A noun before them has no ending. The pronouns ben, sen, o, biz, siz and also bu, şu and kim, however, go into the genitive: benim için“for me”senin gibi“like you”onun kadar“as … as him”bunun için“for this”kimin için“for whom” Only onlar stays as it is: onlar için.
With the dative before it, kadar means “until, as far as”: akşama kadar“until the evening”saat beşe kadar“until five o’clock”eve kadar“as far as home”
After an infinitive için means “in order to”: Türkçe öğrenmek için “(in order) to learn Turkish”. The verb is in its basic form in -mek.
A closer look
“kadar” has three jobs
After a noun or pronoun it compares: onun kadar “as … as him”. After the dative it sets a limit: akşama kadar “until the evening”. After an amount it estimates: bir saat kadar “about an hour”.
“bunun için” means “for this”
bunun için and onun için mean “for this, for that” and sometimes “that is why”. For “that is why”, though, people more often say bu yüzden: Hastayım, bu yüzden gelmiyorum. “I am ill, so I am not coming.”
Worth knowing2
Worth knowing
Compared with English
“For”, “like” and “until” come first in English. Turkish puts them after, and the case rule is simple: a noun has no ending, only pronouns go into the genitive.
Bu çay senin için, bu kahve Ayşe için.This tea is for you, this coffee for Ayşe.
Worth knowing
“gibi” or “kadar”?
gibicompares the kind (“like a child”)kadarthe degree (“as tall as”)
Ali babası gibi konuşuyor ama babası kadar uzun değil.Ali talks like his father, but he is not as tall as him.
The verbs on this page, in every form: gitmek · çalışmak · öğrenmek · gülmek