Understanding Ablative and Genitive Cases in Turkish

What are the Ablative and Genitive Cases?

In Turkish, as in many other languages, cases are used to indicate the grammatical functions of nouns. The ablative and genitive cases are two important examples of this.

The Ablative Case in Turkish

The ablative case is used to indicate direction from, away from the noun. It is also used to show the cause.

In Turkish, the ablative case is formed by adding specific suffixes like dan or den to the noun, depending on vowel harmony.

Using the Ablative Case

When expressing a meaning similar to from, since, or because of, you should use the ablative case.

• Evden gidiyorum (I am going from home)
• Derslerden sonra (After the lessons)
• Babamızdan para aldık (We received money from our father)

The Genitive Case in Turkish

The genitive case is used to express possession, much like the English 's or the preposition of.

In Turkish, it is formed by adding suffixes -in or -un, again following vowel harmony rules.

Using the Genitive Case

The genitive case links two nouns in a possessive relationship, where the first noun is the possessor and the second is the possessed.

• Kedinin the cat's tüyleri (fur)
• Arabanın the car's rengi (color)
• Ahmet'in Ahmet's defteri (notebook)