English shows the role of a noun with word order and prepositions: to the house, in the house, from the house. Turkish does the same job with case endings (hal ekleri) attached to the end of the noun: eve, evde, evden. Learning the cases is the single biggest step from A1 to A2 Turkish, because nearly every sentence contains at least one. This hub page gives you an overview of every case, a comparison table, the shared rules (harmony, buffer letters, consonant changes, apostrophes), and links to a detailed guide for each case.
How many cases are there?
Traditional Turkish grammar lists six cases: the bare nominative plus five case endings (-ı, -a, -da, -dan, -ın). The ending -(y)la / -(y)le (“with, by means of”) grew out of the postposition ile. Because it behaves like a case ending, harmonising and attaching to nouns, many grammars for learners count it as a seventh case, the instrumental or comitative (vasıta hali). Both counts are correct descriptions; what matters is that you know all seven forms.
The cases at a glance
| Case | Turkish name | Question | Suffix | ev (house) | araba (car) | Guide |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | yalın hal | kim? ne? | – | ev | araba | nominative |
| Accusative | belirtme hali | kimi? neyi? | -(y)ı / -(y)i / -(y)u / -(y)ü | evi | arabayı | accusative |
| Dative | yönelme hali | kime? nereye? | -(y)a / -(y)e | eve | arabaya | dative |
| Locative | bulunma hali | kimde? nerede? | -da / -de / -ta / -te | evde | arabada | locative |
| Ablative | ayrılma hali | kimden? nereden? | -dan / -den / -tan / -ten | evden | arabadan | ablative |
| Genitive | ilgi (tamlayan) hali | kimin? neyin? | -(n)ın / -(n)in / -(n)un / -(n)ün | evin | arabanın | genitive |
| Instrumental | vasıta hali | kiminle? neyle? | -(y)la / -(y)le | evle | arabayla | instrumental |
What each case does
- Nominative (no ending): the subject, and indefinite objects. Kedi uyuyor. (The cat is sleeping.) Kitap okuyorum. (I’m reading a book.)
- Accusative: a definite direct object. Kitabı okudum. (I read the book.)
- Dative: direction “to, towards”, the recipient “to someone”, and the price “for”. Okula gidiyorum. (I’m going to school.) Ayşe’ye verdim. (I gave it to Ayşe.)
- Locative: location “in, on, at”, and time “at, in”. Ofisteyim. (I’m at the office.) Saat beşte. (At five o’clock.)
- Ablative: origin “from”, movement “out of, through”, cause, and comparison “than”. Londra’dan geliyorum. (I come from London.) Çaydan daha çok kahve severim. (I like coffee more than tea.)
- Genitive: the possessor, “of, ’s”. Ali’nin arabası (Ali’s car).
- Instrumental: “with, by, and”. Otobüsle geldim. (I came by bus.) Arkadaşımla konuştum. (I talked with my friend.)
One noun, seven roles
| Sentence | Case | English |
|---|---|---|
| Ev çok büyük. | nominative | The house is very big. |
| Ali evi temizliyor. | accusative | Ali is cleaning the house. |
| Ali eve gidiyor. | dative | Ali is going home. |
| Ali evde. | locative | Ali is at home. |
| Ali evden çıkıyor. | ablative | Ali is leaving the house. |
| Evin kapısı açık. | genitive | The door of the house is open. |
| Evle iş arası on dakika. | instrumental (“and”) | It’s ten minutes between home and work. |
Shared rules for all cases
1. Vowel harmony
The accusative and genitive follow 4-way vowel harmony (ı, i, u, ü); the dative, locative, ablative and instrumental follow 2-way harmony (a, e). Only the last vowel of the word matters.
2. Buffer letters
When a word ends in a vowel and the ending begins with one, a buffer letter is inserted:
- y for the accusative, dative and instrumental: araba-y-ı, araba-y-a, araba-y-la
- n for the genitive: araba-n-ın
3. Consonant softening and hardening
- Before a vowel-initial ending (accusative, dative, genitive), final p, ç, t, k usually soften: kitap → kitabı, kitaba, kitabın. See consonant mutation.
- After a voiceless consonant (f, s, t, k, ç, ş, h, p), the locative and ablative start with t: kitapta, kitaptan.
4. Apostrophes with proper names
Case endings on names of people, places and countries are separated by an apostrophe: Ali’yi, İstanbul’a, Türkiye’de, Ankara’dan, Ayşe’nin, Mehmet’le. Common nouns never take one.
Full declension tables
| Case | ev (house) | okul (school) | araba (car) | kitap (book) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | ev | okul | araba | kitap |
| accusative | evi | okulu | arabayı | kitabı |
| dative | eve | okula | arabaya | kitaba |
| locative | evde | okulda | arabada | kitapta |
| ablative | evden | okuldan | arabadan | kitaptan |
| genitive | evin | okulun | arabanın | kitabın |
| instrumental | evle | okulla | arabayla | kitapla |
A full interactive table for individual nouns will be available at /declension/ev/. Personal pronouns have a few irregular forms (bana, sana, benim, bizim); see personal pronouns.
Cases with plurals and possessives
The case ending always comes last: noun + plural + possessive + case.
- ev-ler-im-de → evlerimde (in my houses)
- arkadaş-lar-ımız-la → arkadaşlarımızla (with our friends)
After a 3rd person possessive, an extra n appears: arabası → arabasında (in his/her car), evleri → evlerinden (from their house). See possessive suffixes. The suffix deconstructor will split any chain like this for you.
Verbs that require a particular case
Many verbs take a case that English speakers don’t expect. Learn them with their case:
| Verb + case | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -a binmek | get on, ride | Otobüse bindim. — I got on the bus. |
| -a bakmak | look at | Bana bak! — Look at me! |
| -a başlamak | start | İşe başladım. — I started work. |
| -a yardım etmek | help | Annene yardım et. — Help your mother. |
| -a benzemek | resemble | Babana benziyorsun. — You look like your father. |
| -dan korkmak | be afraid of | Köpeklerden korkuyorum. — I’m afraid of dogs. |
| -dan hoşlanmak | like | Bu şarkıdan hoşlandım. — I liked this song. |
| -dan bahsetmek | talk about | Bize işinden bahset. — Tell us about your job. |
| -ı beklemek | wait for | Seni bekliyorum. — I’m waiting for you. |
| -ı sevmek | love, like | Seni seviyorum. — I love you. |
Example sentences
- Kahvaltıda peynir yerim. — I eat cheese at breakfast. (indefinite object: nominative)
- Peyniri buzdolabına koy. — Put the cheese in the fridge.
- Hafta sonu İzmir’e gidiyoruz. — We’re going to İzmir at the weekend.
- Anahtarlar çantamda. — The keys are in my bag.
- Kaçta işten çıkıyorsun? — What time do you leave work?
- Komşumun kedisi çok tatlı. — My neighbour’s cat is very sweet.
- Metroyla işe gidiyorum. — I go to work by metro.
- Bu elbiseyi kaça aldın? — How much did you buy this dress for?
- Ankara İstanbul’dan daha sakin. — Ankara is calmer than Istanbul.
- Bende bir kalem var. — I have a pen (on me).
- Doktora gitmen lazım. — You need to go to the doctor.
- Arkadaşlarımla sinemadaydım. — I was at the cinema with my friends.
- Pencereden deniz görünüyor. — The sea can be seen from the window.
- Öğretmenin sorusunu anlamadım. — I didn’t understand the teacher’s question.
- Türkiye’de üç yıldır yaşıyorum. — I’ve been living in Türkiye for three years.
- Kalemle yaz, lütfen. — Please write with a pen.
Common mistakes
- Accusative on indefinite objects: ❌ Bir kitabı okuyorum (for “I’m reading a book”) / ✅ Bir kitap okuyorum.
- Locative with motion verbs: ❌ Okulda gidiyorum / ✅ Okula gidiyorum.
- Dative for location: ❌ Evime kalıyorum / ✅ Evimde kalıyorum.
- Missing buffer letters: ❌ arabaı, arabaa, arabaın / ✅ arabayı, arabaya, arabanın.
- No apostrophe on names: ❌ Ankarada, Aliyi / ✅ Ankara’da, Ali’yi.
- English-style verb cases: ❌ Otobüsü bindim / ✅ Otobüse bindim.
- Forgetting the pronominal n: ❌ arabasıda / ✅ arabasında.
Mini-exercise
Add the right case ending.
- Market___ gidiyorum. (to the supermarket)
- Ofis___ çalışıyorum. (at the office)
- Okul___ geliyorum. (from school)
- Bu çay___ çok seviyorum. (this tea, definite)
- Ayşe___ telefonu. (Ayşe’s phone)
- Tren___ geldim. (by train)
- Kitap___ okudum. (the book)
- Köpek___ korkuyor musun? (afraid of dogs)
Answers: 1. Markete 2. Ofiste 3. Okuldan 4. çayı 5. Ayşe’nin 6. Trenle 7. Kitabı 8. Köpekten (or köpeklerden)
Next steps
Work through the case guides in order: nominative, accusative, dative, locative, ablative, genitive and instrumental. Test yourself on real words with the suffix deconstructor.
