The Possessive Adjective

 

All about Possessive Adjectives - my, your, her, our, etc.

The Possessive Adjective - my, your, his, her ,our, their - is a suffix which obeys vowel harmony rules.
It is called an Possessive Adjective because it shows possession and describes a noun.

Which cat? - the answer - my cat. The word - my - is a Possessive Adjective describing the noun - cat.

In Turkish the suffix -ım,-im,-um,-üm added to words ending in a consonant or just -m when added to words ending in a vowel means - my.

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Some Examples of the Suffixed Possessive Adjective

The E-Dotted Vowels - Singular	The E-Dotted Vowels - Plural
el - hand elim - my hand diş - tooth dişim - my tooth göz - eye gözüm - my eye gül - rose gülüm - my rose	eller - hands ellerim - my hands dişler - teeth dişlerim - my teeth gözler - eyes gözlerim - my eyes güller - roses güllerim - my roses
Thanks J. R. for correction - Oct 2005

The A-UnDotted Vowels - Singular	The A-UnDotted Vowels - Plural
ay - month, moon ayım - my month kız - girl, daughter kızım - my daughter tost - toast tostum - my toast sabun - soap sabunum - my soap	aylar - months, moons aylarım - my months kızlar - girls, daughters kızlarım - my daughters tostlar - toasts (slices of) tostlarım - my (slices of) toast(s) sabunlar - (bars of) soap(s) sabunlarım - my soap(s) (bars of..)
The Plural is always the First Suffix Added. The Possessive Suffix follows the Plural Suffix.

Some Examples of tbe Plural and Additional Suffixes

1. ellerim - el-ler-im - my hands
2. odalarımız - oda-lar-ımız - our rooms

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Adding the Possessive Adjective to Words that end in a Vowel

When the word ends in a vowel then the Possessive Suffix drops its own initial vowel.

1. kedi - cat
2. kedim - kedi-m - my cat

But the Possessive Suffix does not lose a vowel when attatched to the Plural of a Noun as it follows the final consonant of -lar

1. kediler - cats
2. kedilerim - kediler-im - my cats

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The Third Person Singular Possessive Suffix -i becomes -si (uses Buffer Letter -s-) when added to a noun ending in a vowel.

1. oda - room
2. odası - oda-s-ı - his room

This example shows the addition of the buffer letter -s- in order to keep two vowels apart.

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Possessive Adjective Reference Summary

The suffixes for all the persons viz: my, your, his, our, your, their - are as follows.

Note that they all obey Vowel Harmony Rules.

Suffix Added to Words ending in Consonants	Suffix added to Words ending in Vowels
-ım -im -um -üm - my -ın -in -un -ün - your -ı -i -u -ü - his/her/its -ımız -imiz -umuz -ümüz - our -ınız -iniz -unuz -ünüz - your -ları -leri - their	-m -n -sı -si -su- -sü -mız- miz -muz -müz -nız -niz -nuz -nüz -ları -leri

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Some Examples of the use of the Possessive Suffix

Some Examples showing Consonant Mutation when adding Suffixes
palto - overcoat paltom - my overcoat paltolarım - my overcoats sokak - street sokağım - my street sokaklarım - my streets	göz - eye gözün - your eye gözleriniz - your eyes armut - pear armudu - his pear armutları - his pears or their pear(s)

The last example above can be construed three ways, the context of the conversation at the time is usually enough for the correct interpretation to be understood and is explained below:

1. armutlar -ı - his pears
2. armut -ları - their pear - and their pears

Of course it seems that their pears should be - armutlar -ları - but suffixes ending in -lar are never doubled, therefore the context should make the singularity or plurality of the noun in question clear.

However to be explicit then - onun - his - or - onların - their can be used:

1. onun armudu - his pear - (he has singular pear)
2. onun armutları - his pears - (he has plural pears)

1. onların armudu - their pear - (they have a singular pear)
2. onların armutları - their pears - (they have plural pears)

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Some further examples of the Possessive Adjectives

Examples showing difference of Singular and Plural Nouns
araba - car arabamız - our car arabalarımız - our cars oda - room odası - his room odaları - his rooms aile - family ailesi - his family aileleri - their families otobüs - bus otobüsümüz - our bus otobüslerimiz - our buses	şemsiye - umbrella şemsiyeniz - your umbrella şemsiyeleriniz - your umbrellas kulak - ear kulağınız - your ear kulaklarınız - your ears domuz - pig domuzu - his pig domuzları - his pigs/their pig kapı - door kapım - my door kapılarım - my doors

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The Addition of Further Suffixes to the Possessed Noun

A noun with the possessive suffix - being a noun in its own right - can be subject to further suffixes.

Buffer letter -n- is used when adding second suffixes to Possessed Items for Third Person Singular his, her, its and Third Person Plural their :

1. araba-sı-n-a - to his/her car
2. elma-ları-n-dan - from their apples

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Examples for Study

1. kedi - cat - Singular

2. * kedi ends in a vowel so only suffix -m is added

1. kedim - my cat - kedi -m
2. kedimden - from my cat - kedi -m -den
3. kedime - to my cat - kedi -m -e

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1. kediler - cats - Plural

2. * kediler ends in a consonant so suffix -im is added

1. kedilerim - my cats - kedi -ler -im
2. kedilerimden - from my cats - kedi -ler -im -den
3. kedilerime - to my cats - kedi -ler -im -e

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1. araba - car

2. * araba ends in a vowel so only suffix -n is added

1. araban - your car - araba -n
2. arabana - to your car - araba -n -a
3. arabanda - in your car - araba -n -da

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1. arabalar - cars

2. * arabalar ends in a consonant so total suffix -ım is added

1. arabaların - your cars - araba -lar -ın
2. arabalarına - to your cars - araba -lar -ın -a
3. arabalarında - in your cars - araba -lar -ın -da

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1. elma - apple

2. * elma ends in a vowel so third person suffix - using buffer letter -sı is added

1. onun elması - his apple - elma -s -ı
2. onun elmasında - in his apple - elma -s -ı -n -da
3. onun elmasından - from his apple - elma -s -ı -n -dan

Note: onun - his is used to show that this apple belongs to one person

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Remind me about buffer letter -n-

A noun with the possessive suffix can be subject to further suffixes.
Buffer letter -n- is used when adding second suffixes to Possessed Items for Third Person Singular his, her, its and Third Person Plural their

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1. elmalar - apples

1. onun elmaları - his apples - elma -lar -ı
2. onun elmalarında - in his apples - elma -lar -ı -n -da
3. onların elmasında - in their apple - elma -s -ı -n -da
4. onların elmasından - from their apple - elma -s -ı -n -da
5. onların elmaları - their apples - elma -ları
6. onların elmalarında - in their apples - elma -ları -n -da
7. onların elmalarından - from their apples - elma -ları -n -dan

Note: onların - their is used to show that this/these apple(s) belongs to more than one person

See explanation above in - Use of Possessive Suffix

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1. köy - village

1. köyümüz - our village - köy -ümüz
2. köyümüzde - in our village - köy -ümüz -de
3. köyümüzden - from our village - köy -ümüz -den

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1. köyler - villages

1. köylerimiz - our villages - köy -ler -imiz
2. köylerimizde - in our villages - köy -ler -imiz -de
3. köylerimizden - from our villages - köy -ler -imiz -den

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1. köpek - dog

1. köpeğiniz - your dog - köpeğ -iniz
2. köpeğinizde - on your dog - köpeğ -iniz -de
3. köpeğinize - to your dog - köpeğ -iniz -e

Note: The Rule of Consonant Mutation - k changes to ğ - is operating here when a vowel suffix is being added to a hard consonant.

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1. köpekler - dogs

1. köpekleri - their dogs - köpek -leri
2. köpeklerine - to his dogs - köpek -ler -i -n -e OR to their dog(s) - köpek -leri -n -e
3. köpeklerinden - from their dogs - köpek -leri -n -den

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1. ev - house

1. onların evi - their house - ev -i
2. onların evine - to their house - ev -i -ne
3. onların evlerinde - in their houses - ev -leri -n -de
4. onların evlerinden - from their houses - ev -leri -n -den

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1. evler - houses

1. onun evleri - his houses - ev -ler -i
2. onun evlerinde - in his houses - ev -ler -i -n -de
3. onun evlerinden - from his houses - ev -ler -i -n -den

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Remind me about buffer letter -n-

A noun with the possessive suffix can be subject to further suffixes.
Buffer letter -n- is used when adding second suffixes to Possessed Items and also for Third Person Singular his, her, its and Third Person Plural their suffixes.