I can say where I am and where things are — evdeyim, İstanbul'dayım, Banka şurada — and ask “Where are you?” — Neredesin?
Where? The locative: -da
Where? The locative: -da
Why: to say where you are and where things are — still without a verb.
The question Nerede? “where?” is answered by the locative: the ending -da after the word. English “in”, “at” and “on” before the word become this one ending after it: ev → evde “in the house, at home”, çanta → çantada “in the bag”.
The ending has four forms (see the table):
• after a vowel or a voiced consonant, by vowel harmony: kapıda, çantada, but defterde, kalemde;
• after a voiceless consonant (p, ç, t, k, f, h, s, ş) d becomes t: kitapta, markette.
After a proper name the ending takes an apostrophe: İstanbul'da, Türkiye'de. Ordinary words have none: kapıda, kitapta. The ending -lı “from a city” never takes an apostrophe: Ankaralı “from Ankara”.
“I'm at home” is one word: the personal ending follows -de: evdeyim, evdesin, evdeyiz, evdesiniz; for he or she, just evde. Likewise Berlin'deyim. Questions and “not” work as before: Evde misin? — Hayır, evde değilim. “Where are you?” — Neredesin?
The familiar burada is bura + da. To name the place itself, say burası, şurası, orası: Burası okul. “This place is a school.”
Common mistakes:
• NOT “Ben evde” → Ben evdeyim
• NOT “kitapda” → kitapta
• NOT “İstanbulda” → İstanbul'da
The locative: four forms of the ending
The last vowel of the word picks the ending's vowel, and the last letter picks d or t: after a voiceless consonant, write t.
| The last vowel | After a vowel or a voiced consonant | After a voiceless consonant (p ç t k f h s ş) |
|---|---|---|
| a ı o u | kapıda · çantada | kitapta |
| e i ö ü | kalemde · şehirde | markette |
I'm at home, you're at the store: the personal ending after -da / -de
After -da — yım, sın, yız, sınız; after -de — yim, sin, yiz, siniz.
| Who | okul | market |
|---|---|---|
| ben | okuldayım | marketteyim |
| sen | okuldasın | markettesin |
| o | okulda | markette |
| biz | okuldayız | marketteyiz |
| siz | okuldasınız | markettesiniz |
| onlar | okulda(lar) | markette(ler) |
Where? and What place is this?
Burada is bura + da; to name the place itself, say burası.
| Where? | What place is this? |
|---|---|
| burada | burası |
| şurada | şurası |
| orada | orası |
Lesson notes
Where? The locative: -da
Why: to say where you are and where things are — still without a verb.
The question Nerede? “where?” is answered by the locative: the ending -da after the word. English “in”, “at” and “on” before the word become this one ending after it: ev → evde “in the house, at home”, çanta → çantada “in the bag”.
The ending has four forms (see the table):
• after a vowel or a voiced consonant, by vowel harmony: kapıda, çantada, but defterde, kalemde;
• after a voiceless consonant (p, ç, t, k, f, h, s, ş) d becomes t: kitapta, markette.
After a proper name the ending takes an apostrophe: İstanbul'da, Türkiye'de. Ordinary words have none: kapıda, kitapta. The ending -lı “from a city” never takes an apostrophe: Ankaralı “from Ankara”.
“I'm at home” is one word: the personal ending follows -de: evdeyim, evdesin, evdeyiz, evdesiniz; for he or she, just evde. Likewise Berlin'deyim. Questions and “not” work as before: Evde misin? — Hayır, evde değilim. “Where are you?” — Neredesin?
The familiar burada is bura + da. To name the place itself, say burası, şurası, orası: Burası okul. “This place is a school.”
Common mistakes:
• NOT “Ben evde” → Ben evdeyim
• NOT “kitapda” → kitapta
• NOT “İstanbulda” → İstanbul'da