I can say and ask where things are: bankın yanında, stolun üstündə, muzeyin arxasında — and find the entrance and the exit on a sign.
Harada? — bankın yanında
Harada? — bankın yanında
Why: to say where something is relative to something else — “on the table”, “next to the bank”, “behind the museum”. The question is the familiar Harada?
It is built from parts you know: “whose?” (the genitive, module 2) + a place word + the “his / her” ending (-ı / -sı) + a linking n + “where?” (-da): bankın yanında — “the bank's side” → “next to the bank”. These words are postpositions: they come AFTER the word, not before it like English prepositions. The first word must have the “whose?” ending.
The seven place words are in the table: üst, alt, yan, iç, arxa, qarşı; ara — “between” (recognition only). On signs: Giriş — “entrance”, Çıxış — “exit”.
The “whose?” ending follows the last vowel of the word: bankın, kəndin, avtobusun, körpünün; after a vowel, a linking n: metronun, binanın. The checker can't tell ı from i or u from ü in writing, so a choice exercise checks the form of the ending.
With a pronoun, the place word takes a possessive ending, as in module 2: mənim yanımda — “next to me”, bizim yanımızda, sizin yanınızda (see the table).
What is where: “Parkın qarşısında kafe var”. As the predicate: “Muzey parkın yanındadır” — “The museum is next to the park”.
Common mistakes:
• ×yanında bank (as in English “next to the bank”) → bankın yanında.
• ×bankda yanında → bankın yanında.
• ×stolda üstündə → stolun üstündə.
Place words
The place word goes after the word in the “whose?” form; ° — recognition only for now.
| Stem | Where? | In English |
|---|---|---|
| üst | üstündə | on, above |
| alt | altında | under |
| yan | yanında | next to, near |
| iç | içində | inside |
| arxa | arxasında | behind |
| qarşı | qarşısında | opposite, in front of |
| ara° | arasında° | between |
How to build it
“Whose?” + place word + the “his / her / its” ending + the linking n + “where?”.
| Whose? | Place word | Where? |
|---|---|---|
| bankın | yanı | bankın yanında |
| evin | içi | evin içində |
| metronun | arxası | metronun arxasında |
Next to me
With a pronoun the place word takes a possessive ending, like “my, your” in module 2.
| Who | Next to … |
|---|---|
| mən (I) | mənim yanımda |
| sən (you, informal) | sənin yanında |
| o (he, she) | onun yanında |
| biz (we) | bizim yanımızda |
| siz (you, formal or plural) | sizin yanınızda |
| onlar (they) | onların yanında |
Lesson notes
Harada? — bankın yanında
Why: to say where something is relative to something else — “on the table”, “next to the bank”, “behind the museum”. The question is the familiar Harada?
It is built from parts you know: “whose?” (the genitive, module 2) + a place word + the “his / her” ending (-ı / -sı) + a linking n + “where?” (-da): bankın yanında — “the bank's side” → “next to the bank”. These words are postpositions: they come AFTER the word, not before it like English prepositions. The first word must have the “whose?” ending.
The seven place words are in the table: üst, alt, yan, iç, arxa, qarşı; ara — “between” (recognition only). On signs: Giriş — “entrance”, Çıxış — “exit”.
The “whose?” ending follows the last vowel of the word: bankın, kəndin, avtobusun, körpünün; after a vowel, a linking n: metronun, binanın. The checker can't tell ı from i or u from ü in writing, so a choice exercise checks the form of the ending.
With a pronoun, the place word takes a possessive ending, as in module 2: mənim yanımda — “next to me”, bizim yanımızda, sizin yanınızda (see the table).
What is where: “Parkın qarşısında kafe var”. As the predicate: “Muzey parkın yanındadır” — “The museum is next to the park”.
Common mistakes:
• ×yanında bank (as in English “next to the bank”) → bankın yanında.
• ×bankda yanında → bankın yanında.
• ×stolda üstündə → stolun üstündə.