Four main cases

What you will practice

• Mark a specific object with the accusative, and leave a nonspecific object bare.
• Use the dative for a destination and the locative for a place.
• Use the ablative for “from,” with t after a voiceless consonant.

Explanation

The specific object

A specific direct object takes the accusative. Kitabı okudum means “I read the book,” one particular book. The ending begins with a vowel, so the final p of kitap becomes b: kitabı. Kitap okudum has no ending. The object is nonspecific, “I read a book.” After a vowel, add the buffer y: arabayı, “the car.” The dative begins with a vowel too, so kitap softens there as well: kitaba, “to the book.”

To and at

The dative marks a destination. Okula gittim means “I went to school.” okul ends in a consonant and has a back vowel, so the ending is -a, with no buffer. A vowel-final word does need y: sinemaya, “to the cinema.” The locative is “in” or “at.” After a voiceless consonant it starts with t: parkta, “in the park,” and kitapta, “in the book.” kitapta keeps p, because this ending begins with a consonant.

From

The ablative means “from,” and it also starts with t after a voiceless consonant. Evden geldim means “I came from home.” ev ends in a voiced consonant and has a front vowel, so the ending keeps d. parktan means “from the park,” and kitaptan means “from the book.” The locative and the ablative never take a buffer y. A vowel-final noun still adds the ending directly: masada, “on the table.”

Examples

1. Kitabı okudum.I read the book.
2. Kitap okudum.I read a book.
3. Okula gittim.I went to school.
4. Çocuk parkta.The child is in the park.
5. Evden geldim.I came from home.

Common mistakes

• sokak softens k to ğ in the dative sokağa. The locative keeps k and uses t: sokakta.
• Do not put y on the locative or the ablative. masada and evden have no buffer.