Turkish Possessive Suffixes (İyelik Ekleri) & Noun Compounds
How Turkish Expresses Ownership
In English, you indicate possession with separate words (my, your, his, our) or apostrophe-s (John’s book). In Turkish, possession is expressed primarily through suffixes attached directly to the end of nouns (İyelik Ekleri), governed strictly by 4-way vowel harmony.
1. Possessive Suffixes Breakdown
| Pronoun | Suffix (After Consonant) | Suffix (After Vowel) | Example: Ev (House) | Example: Araba (Car) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benim (My) | -im / -ım / -um / -üm |
-m |
evim | arabam |
| Senin (Your) | -in / -ın / -un / -ün |
-n |
evin | araban |
| Onun (His/Her/Its) | -i / -ı / -u / -ü |
-si / -sı / -su / -sü |
evi | arabası |
| Bizim (Our) | -imiz / -ımız / -umuz / -ümüz |
-miz / -mız / -muz / -müz |
evimiz | arabamız |
| Sizin (Your - pl) | -iniz / -ınız / -unuz / -ünüz |
-niz / -nız / -nuz / -nüz |
eviniz | arabanız |
| Onların (Their) | -leri / -ları |
-leri / -ları |
evleri | arabaları |
2. Turkish Noun Compounds (İsim Tamlamaları)
Turkish has two primary types of noun-noun compounds:
A. Definite Compound (Specific Ownership)
Both words take a suffix: [Noun 1 + Genitive] + [Noun 2 + Possessive]
Ahmet'in evi= Ahmet’s houseöğretmenin kitabı= the teacher’s bookarabanın kapısı= the door of the car
B. Indefinite Compound (Type / Classification)
Only the second word takes a 3rd person possessive suffix: [Noun 1 (no suffix)] + [Noun 2 + -(s)i]
otobüs bilet-i= bus ticketTürk kahve-si= Turkish coffeeçocuk park-ı= children’s parkgüneş gözlüğ-ü= sunglasses (gözlük + ü, k → ğ mutation)
