what is it?
Turkish uses two postpositions to make comparisons. gibi means «like» or «similar to» and expresses similarity — one thing resembles another. kadar means «as … as» and expresses equality of degree, or — with numbers and time expressions — an approximate quantity. Both words are postpositions: they follow the noun or pronoun they relate to, never precede it.
when to use it
Similarity (gibi). Use gibi when you want to say that someone or something is like, or behaves like, something else. The comparison is qualitative, not a precise measurement of degree.
Equality of degree (kadar). Use kadar when you want to say that two things share the same degree of a quality — equivalent to English «as tall as», «as fast as», etc.
Approximate quantity (kadar). kadar also follows a number or time expression to mean «about» or «approximately»: bir saat kadar (about an hour).
formation
Both postpositions are invariable — they do not change for vowel harmony or any other reason. The noun before them takes no case suffix. The only morphological rule concerns pronouns: the personal pronouns ben, sen, biz, siz and the demonstrative/third-person pronouns bu, şu, o must take the genitive suffix before both gibi and kadar. Plural pronouns such as onlar do not take the genitive and appear bare.
| pronoun | genitive form | with gibi | with kadar |
|---|---|---|---|
| ben | benim | benim gibi | benim kadar |
| sen | senin | senin gibi | senin kadar |
| o | onun | onun gibi | onun kadar |
| biz | bizim | bizim gibi | bizim kadar |
| siz | sizin | sizin gibi | sizin kadar |
| onlar | onlar (no change) | onlar gibi | onlar kadar |
For ordinary nouns the pattern is simply: noun + gibi or noun + kadar, with no suffix on the noun: aslan gibi, aslan kadar.
examples in context
common pitfalls
Bare pronoun before gibi. Learners often write ben gibi by analogy with nouns, but pronouns require the genitive: the correct form is benim gibi.
Mixing up gibi and kadar. These are not interchangeable. Aslan gibi güçlü means «strong like a lion» (similarity — he has a lion-like quality). Aslan kadar güçlü means «as strong as a lion» (equal degree). Choose gibi for resemblance, kadar for equal measure.
Forgetting the genitive before kadar. The genitive rule is not limited to gibi. kadar triggers it equally. Ben kadar çalışmıyor is wrong; the correct form is Benim kadar çalışmıyor.
Adding genitive to plural pronouns. Plural pronouns such as onlar do not take the genitive before gibi or kadar. Say onlar gibi and onlar kadar, not onların gibi or onların kadar.
Three sentences, graded here. Nothing is saved and no account is needed.
Uçuş o ___ uzundu ki havalimanına indiğimizde ayaklarım uyuşmuştu.
Fill in the blank with the correct word to complete the sentence.