I can say where I'm going and whom I'm helping — işe gidiyorum, İstanbul'a gidiyoruz, sana yardım ediyorum — and ask “Where are you going?” — Nereye gidiyorsun?
Where to? The dative: -a
Where to? The dative: -a
Why: to say where you're going, whom you give something to, and whom you ask.
The question Nereye? “where to?” is answered by the dative: the ending -a or -e by vowel harmony: telefon → telefona, ofis → ofise. After a vowel a y is added: kapı → kapıya, kafe → kafeye. A name takes an apostrophe: İstanbul'a, Berlin'e.
English “where” is one word for nerede and nereye, and “go home” has no “to”. Turkish always marks the direction: İstanbul'dayım “I'm in Istanbul”, but İstanbul'a gidiyorum “I'm going to Istanbul”; eve gidiyorum “I'm going home”.
“To me, to you…” (see the table): learn bana, sana, ona (not oya); the rest follow the rule: bize, size, onlara. “Here” and “there” after a verb of motion are buraya and oraya.
The dative goes with verbs of motion (gitmek, gelmek, girmek, dönmek, yürümek) and a few more, even where English has no “to”:
• bakmak — “to look at”: Kediye bakıyorum;
• sormak — “to ask (someone)”: Arkadaşa soruyorum;
• vermek, yardım etmek — “to give to, to help”: Sana yardım ediyorum.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “İstanbul'da gidiyorum” → İstanbul'a gidiyorum
• NOT “çantaa” → çantaya
• NOT “bene”, “sene” → bana, sana
The dative: -a, -e, -ya, -ye
After a consonant, -a / -e by the last vowel; after a vowel, -ya / -ye.
| The last vowel | After a consonant | After a vowel |
|---|---|---|
| a ı o u | telefona | kapıya · çantaya |
| e i ö ü | ofise | kafeye · kediye |
To me, to you, to us: the dative of pronouns
Bana, sana, and ona: learn these three by heart; the rest follow the rule. Below are the place words.
| Who | To whom |
|---|---|
| ben | bana |
| sen | sana |
| o | ona |
| biz | bize |
| siz | size |
| onlar | onlara |
| burada | buraya “here (to this place)” |
| orada | oraya “there (to that place)” |
| nerede | nereye “where to” |
Lesson notes
Where to? The dative: -a
Why: to say where you're going, whom you give something to, and whom you ask.
The question Nereye? “where to?” is answered by the dative: the ending -a or -e by vowel harmony: telefon → telefona, ofis → ofise. After a vowel a y is added: kapı → kapıya, kafe → kafeye. A name takes an apostrophe: İstanbul'a, Berlin'e.
English “where” is one word for nerede and nereye, and “go home” has no “to”. Turkish always marks the direction: İstanbul'dayım “I'm in Istanbul”, but İstanbul'a gidiyorum “I'm going to Istanbul”; eve gidiyorum “I'm going home”.
“To me, to you…” (see the table): learn bana, sana, ona (not oya); the rest follow the rule: bize, size, onlara. “Here” and “there” after a verb of motion are buraya and oraya.
The dative goes with verbs of motion (gitmek, gelmek, girmek, dönmek, yürümek) and a few more, even where English has no “to”:
• bakmak — “to look at”: Kediye bakıyorum;
• sormak — “to ask (someone)”: Arkadaşa soruyorum;
• vermek, yardım etmek — “to give to, to help”: Sana yardım ediyorum.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “İstanbul'da gidiyorum” → İstanbul'a gidiyorum
• NOT “çantaa” → çantaya
• NOT “bene”, “sene” → bana, sana