what is it?
A possessive suffix is a short ending attached to a noun to show who owns or is associated with it. Turkish has one suffix for each grammatical person: -(I)m (my), -(I)n (your, singular), -(s)I (his/her/its), -(I)mIz (our), -(I)nIz (your, plural/formal), and -lArI (their). All vowels in these suffixes obey four-way vowel harmony, so the actual vowel used depends on the last vowel of the stem. The suffix is added to the possessed noun, not to the possessor.
when to use it
Expressing ownership or belonging. Use a possessive suffix whenever you want to say that something belongs to a person: evim (my house), kitabın (your book).
Referring to body parts and personal items. Turkish regularly uses possessive suffixes where English might omit the possessive: gözüm (my eye).
Possessive constructions with a named possessor. When the possessor is a noun or pronoun (not just implied), it takes the genitive suffix -(n)In, and the possessed noun still carries the possessive suffix: Ahmet'in arabası (Ahmet's car).
formation
The buffer vowel (I) in the suffixes below stands for whichever of ı, i, u, ü matches the last vowel of the stem. It appears only when the stem ends in a consonant. When the stem ends in a vowel, the buffer vowel is dropped entirely for 1sg, 2sg, 1pl, and 2pl. For 3sg/3pl, a buffer consonant -s- is inserted instead.
| person | suffix (after consonant) | suffix (after vowel) | example stem: ev (house) | example stem: araba (car) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg (my) | -(I)m | -m | evim | arabam |
| 2sg (your) | -(I)n | -n | evin | araban |
| 3sg (his/her/its) | -(s)I | -sI | evi | arabası |
| 1pl (our) | -(I)mIz | -mIz | evimiz | arabamız |
| 2pl (your, pl.) | -(I)nIz | -nIz | eviniz | arabanız |
| 3pl (their) | -lArI | -lArI | evleri | arabaları |
Vowel harmony reminder. The I in each suffix follows the last vowel of the stem: back-unrounded (a, ı) → ı; front-unrounded (e, i) → i; back-rounded (o, u) → u; front-rounded (ö, ü) → ü. So göz (eye) → gözüm (my eye).
examples in context
common pitfalls
Confusing 1sg -(I)m with 3sg -(s)I. Evim means «my house»; evi means «his/her house». The 3sg suffix on a consonant-final stem is just -I (no leading consonant), so it is shorter than the 1sg form. Keep the two distinct.
Dropping the -s- buffer in 3sg after a vowel-final stem. The 3sg suffix after a vowel is -sI, not -I. Writing *arabaı is incorrect; the correct form is arabası. The buffer consonant -s- prevents two vowels from colliding.
Putting the possessive suffix on the possessor instead of the possessed noun. In Turkish, the possessor takes the genitive suffix and the possessed noun takes the possessive suffix. Ahmet'in arabası is correct (genitive on Ahmet, possessive on araba), not *Ahmet'im araba.
Inserting a buffer vowel after a vowel-final stem. The buffer vowel (I) only appears after consonant-final stems. After a vowel-final stem, it is dropped. *Arabaım and *kapıım are both wrong; the correct forms are arabam and kapım.
Three sentences, graded here. Nothing is saved and no account is needed.
Senin ___ çok kalın. (kitap)
Fill in the blank with the correct possessive form of the word in parentheses.