The Turkish word kendi covers what English splits across myself / yourself / themselves, my own, and by myself. On its own, kendi means “self”. It almost always carries a possessive suffix that tells you whose self, and then it can take case endings like any noun. Once you see it as “self + my / your / his”, the forms fall into place.
The six person forms
| Person | Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ben | kendim | myself |
| sen | kendin | yourself (informal) |
| o | kendisi | himself / herself / itself |
| biz | kendimiz | ourselves |
| siz | kendiniz | yourselves; yourself (polite) |
| onlar | kendileri | themselves |
The suffixes are exactly the possessive endings after a vowel: -m, -n, -si, -miz, -niz, -leri. They are the same as on arabam, araban, arabası.
Adding case endings
Most of the time kendi is an object, so you will add the accusative or dative. After a possessive suffix, the buffer n appears for the third person.
| Person | Accusative (object) | Dative (to/for) | Ablative (from) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ben | kendimi | kendime | kendimden |
| sen | kendini | kendine | kendinden |
| o | kendini / kendisini | kendine / kendisine | kendinden / kendisinden |
| biz | kendimizi | kendimize | kendimizden |
| siz | kendinizi | kendinize | kendinizden |
| onlar | kendilerini | kendilerine | kendilerinden |
Notice that kendini and kendine serve both sen and o. The verb ending removes the ambiguity:
- Kendini çok yoruyorsun. (You tire yourself out too much.)
- Ali kendini aynada gördü. (Ali saw himself in the mirror.)
1. Reflexive objects: “myself, yourself”
When the subject acts on itself, kendi + person + accusative is the object.
- Kendimi iyi hissediyorum. (I feel good.)
- Kendini tanıt, lütfen. (Introduce yourself, please.)
- Kendinizi tanıtır mısınız? (Could you introduce yourself?)
- Öğrenciler kendilerini çok iyi ifade etti. (The students expressed themselves very well.)
The person on kendi must match the subject: Ben kendimi, sen kendini, biz kendimizi. Use the accusative because kendi is always specific.
2. Indirect objects: “for myself, to yourself”
With the dative, kendi means “to/for oneself”.
- Kendime yeni bir telefon aldım. (I bought myself a new phone.)
- Kendine iyi bak. (Take care of yourself.) / Kendinize iyi bakın. (polite or plural)
- Kendine güveniyor. (She is self-confident; literally “she trusts herself”.)
- Bunu kendimize sakladık. (We kept this to ourselves.)
3. Emphasis: “I did it myself”
Kendi + person in subject position stresses that nobody else was involved, or that it was this very person.
- Yemeği kendim yaptım. (I made the meal myself.)
- Bu kararı kendiniz verdiniz. (You made this decision yourselves.)
- Müdürün kendisi aradı. (The manager himself called.)
With a noun, the pattern is noun + genitive + kendisi: müdürün kendisi (the manager himself), şehrin kendisi (the city itself).
4. “My own”: kendi + possessed noun
Bare kendi before a noun means “own”. The noun keeps its possessive suffix.
- Kendi arabam var. (I have my own car.)
- Herkes kendi işine baksın. (Everyone should mind their own business.)
- Kendi evinde çok rahat. (He’s very relaxed in his own home.)
- Kendi dilimizi seviyoruz. (We love our own language.)
Do not attach a suffix to kendi here: say kendi arabam, not kendim arabam.
5. Kendisi as a polite “he/she”
In polite or formal speech, kendisi (and the plural kendileri) can simply refer to a third person, often instead of o:
- Kendisi şu an toplantıda. (She is in a meeting at the moment.)
- Kendisiyle görüşmek istiyorum. (I’d like to speak with him.)
You will hear this on the phone and in offices; it sounds more respectful than o.
6. Set phrases with kendi
| Phrase | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| kendi kendine | by oneself; to oneself | Kapı kendi kendine kapandı. (The door closed by itself.) |
| kendi başına | on one’s own, alone, without help | Kendi başıma yaşıyorum. (I live on my own.) |
| kendiliğinden | spontaneously, by itself | Ağrı kendiliğinden geçti. (The pain went away by itself.) |
| kendine gelmek | to come round; to pull oneself together | Biraz su iç, kendine gel. (Drink some water, pull yourself together.) |
The person ending changes with the subject: kendi kendime konuşuyorum (I’m talking to myself), kendi başımıza hallettik (we sorted it out on our own).
Kendi or a reflexive verb?
Turkish also has reflexive verbs formed with -(I)n, such as yıkanmak (to wash oneself), giyinmek (to get dressed) and hazırlanmak (to get ready). For everyday routines these verbs are the natural choice:
- Sabah giyindim. (I got dressed in the morning.) Natural.
- Sabah kendimi giydirdim. Grammatical, but it sounds like you needed help dressing.
Use kendi when the action is not a routine self-care verb or when you want emphasis. The reflexive and reciprocal voice page covers -(I)n in detail.
Kendi in a real conversation
A short job-interview exchange shows several uses of kendi together:
Görüşmeci: Kendinizi biraz tanıtır mısınız? (Could you introduce yourself a little?)
Sarah: Tabii. Adım Sarah, İngilizim. İki yıldır İzmir’de kendi başıma yaşıyorum. (Of course. My name is Sarah, I’m English. I’ve lived on my own in İzmir for two years.)
Görüşmeci: Türkçeyi nerede öğrendiniz? (Where did you learn Turkish?)
Sarah: Biraz kursta, ama çoğunu kendi kendime öğrendim. (Partly on a course, but mostly I taught myself.)
Görüşmeci: Kendinize güveniyorsunuz, bu çok iyi. (You’re self-confident, that’s very good.)
- kendinizi tanıtmak: reflexive object, polite siz form.
- kendi başıma: “on my own”, with the “I” ending on baş.
- kendi kendime: “by myself”, here meaning self-taught.
- kendinize güvenmek: “to trust yourself”, with the dative because güvenmek takes -e.
More everyday phrases: Kendin ol (Be yourself), Kendimi tanıtayım (Let me introduce myself), Kendinden emin (sure of himself).
Kendi or birbiri?
English learners sometimes use kendi where Turkish needs birbiri (“each other”). Kendi means the subject acts on itself; birbiri means members of a group act on one another. Birbiri takes the same “of us / of you / of them” endings.
- Kendimizi seviyoruz. (We love ourselves.)
- Birbirimizi seviyoruz. (We love each other.)
- Çocuklar kendilerini yıkadı. (The children washed themselves.)
- Çocuklar birbirlerine yardım etti. (The children helped each other.)
- Birbirinizi tanıyor musunuz? (Do you know each other?)
The reciprocal verb suffix -(I)ş often does the same job: görüşmek (to see each other), tanışmak (to get to know each other).
Common mistakes
- Mismatching person. Ben kendini gördüm is wrong; the subject ben requires kendimi.
- Using bare kendi as an object. Kendi seviyorum is wrong; say Kendimi seviyorum (I love myself).
- Putting a suffix on “own”. Kendim evim is wrong; say kendi evim (my own house).
- Forgetting the polite form. To a stranger or an official, say Kendinize iyi bakın, not Kendine iyi bak.
- Overusing kendi with routine verbs. Prefer yıkandım, giyindim, hazırlandım.
Mini-exercise
Fill in the correct form of kendi.
- Ben ________ bir kahve yaptım. (I made myself a coffee.)
- Sen ________ çok eleştiriyorsun. (You criticise yourself too much.)
- Biz bu evi ________ boyadık. (We painted this house ourselves.)
- Her öğrenci ________ kitabını getirsin. (Every student should bring their own book.)
- ________ tanıtır mısınız? (Could you introduce yourself? polite)
- Çocuk ________ kendine oynuyor. (The child is playing by himself.)
Answers: 1. kendime · 2. kendini · 3. kendimiz · 4. kendi · 5. Kendinizi · 6. kendi (kendi kendine)
Next steps
Review the endings kendi borrows on the personal pronouns page, then continue with indefinite pronouns like biri, herkes and hiç kimse.
