Personal Pronouns

All About Personal Pronouns - I, you, he, we, you, they

The Personal Pronouns are not used so widely as in English as the person is evident from the personal verb ending.

They are used for emphasis only in their simple form. However they are used in their extended forms when suffixes are added for all those important little words - "to, from, with, etc." - which are discussed below.

Personal Pronouns - The Simple Forms

The Personal Pronouns are usually only used for emphasis as the verb form itself already points to the person. It is similar to Spanish where a person will say - comprendo - I understand - instead of Yo comprendo - I understand

1.                             Singular

1. ben - I
2. sen - you - familiar
3. o - He, she, it
4. biz - we
5. siz -you - plural and polite singular
6. onlar -they
7. gidiyorum - I´m going - but emphasized - ben gidiyorum - I am going
8. kaldık - we stayed - but emphasized - biz kaldık - We stayed

1.                             Plural

Examples of Emphasis

The Extended Forms of Personal Pronouns

These extended forms are discussed in detail in the next section of this webpage.

The personal pronouns show some changes in spelling:

The first person singular - ben - I - takes the following irregular forms:
to me becomes bana - (NOT bene).
of me, my - becomes - benim - (NOT benin).
of us, our - becomes - bizim - (NOT bizin).

The Singular Forms

ben - I
bana - to me - (irregular)
benim - of me, my - (irregular)
beni - me (obj.)
bende - on me
benden - from me
benimle - with me

sen - you
sana - to you
senin - of you, your
seni - you (obj.)
sende - on you
senden - from you
seninle - with you

o - he, she, it
(all extended forms of - o - use buffer letter -n- as below)
ona - to him, her, it -
onun - of him, his, her, its
onu - him, her, it (obj.)
onda - on him, her,it
ondan - from him, her, it
onunla - with him, her, it

The Plural Forms

biz - we
bize - to us
bizim - our - (irregular)
bizi - us (obj.)
bizde - on us
bizden - from us
bizimle - with us

siz - you
size - to you
sizin - your
sizi - you (obj.)
sizde - on you
sizden - from you
sizinle - with you

onlar - they
(all forms add letter -n- to become onlar, see note below)
onlara - to them
onların - their
onları - them (obj.)
onlarda - on them
onlardan - from them
onlarla - with them

Third Person Spelling Changes

The Third Person ingular Ponoun - o - he, she, it - adds letter -n- to become - on- when adding further suffixes.
The Third Person Plural is also irregular becoming - onlar - they.

Extended Forms of the Personal Pronouns

The main use for the Personal Pronouns is to extend them with all the important little words - to, from, with etc. , which of course are suffixes in Turkish.

1.                             With the -a -e suffix - to, towards

2.                             Singular

1. bana - to me
2. sana - to you
3. ona - to him, to her , to it
4. bize - to us
5. size - to you
6. onlara - to them

1.                              

2.                             Plural

Notice that the first and second person singular forms are bana and sana - they are irregular - bene and sene - would have been expected. This is a shift that has happened historically but some of the Turkic Languages have not made this Vowel Shift so - bene and sene - are used in the Kahzhak and Uzbek tongues.

1.                             Some Examples With the -a -e suffix

1. Bana onu verin - Give that to me
2. Onlara bakınız - Look at them -   lit: towards them
3. Bize inanıyorlar - They believe us  -  lit: believe to us

Note that the word - inanmak - to believe - takes the Dative Case as its Object - hence Turkish says - bize inanin - believe to us. Whereas English uses the direct object for the verb - to believe - thus we say - Believe us.

We also have certain verbs in english that do not take the Direct object case - as in - "I am frightened OF the dark."

With the addition of -de -da suffix - in,on,at

All the pronouns retain their regular form when adding the -de/-da suffix.

1.                             Singular

1. bende - in, on,at me
2. sende - on you
3. onda - on him, on her , on it
4. bizde - on us
5. sizde - on you
6. onlarda - on them
7. Bende para yok - I´ve got no money  -  lit: on me
8. Sende para var mı? - Have you got any money?  -  lit: on you
9. Bizde para var mı? - Have we got any money?  -  lit: on us

1.                             Plural

Examples with the -de/-da suffix.

With the addition of -den -dan suffix - from, by

All the pronouns retain their regular form when adding the -den/-dan suffix

1.                             Singular

1. benden - from me
2. senden - from you
3. ondan - from him, her ,it
4. bizden - from us
5. sizden - from you
6. onlardan - from them
7. Benden bir şemsiye alabilirsiniz - You can have an umbrella off me.  -  lit: from me
8. Senden bir sigara alır mıyım? - Can I have a cigarette off you?  -  lit: take from you
9. Ondan korkuyorum - I am frightened of him  -  lit: frightened from him

1.                             Plural

Examples with the -den suffix

With the addition of -in suffix - belonging to

Note that the First Person Singular - benim - and First Person Plural - bizim - are both irregular as - benin - and - bizin - would have been expected.

1.                             Singular

1. benim - my, of me
2. senin - your, of you
3. onun - his, hers, its, of him..
4. bizim - our, of us
5. sizin -your, of you
6. onların - their, of them
7. Benim şemsiyemi alabilirsiniz. - You can take my umbrella.
8. şemsiye-m-i - my umbrella - as a Direct Object (see below).
9. Senin araban yeni mi? - Is your car new?
10. Onların arabası eskidir. - Their car is old.

1.                             Plural

Examples with the -in suffix

With the addition of -i suffix - signifies the Direct Object

All the pronouns retain their regular form when adding the -i -ı -u -ü - Direct Object suffix

1.                             Singular

1. beni - me
2. seni - you
3. onu - him, her, it
4. bizi - us
5. sizi -you
6. onları - them
7. Mehmet, beni vurdu - Mehmet hit me.
8. ben-i - "me" - as a Direct Object
9. Ali, arabanı onardı mı mi? - Did Ali repair your car?
10. araba-n-ı - "your car" - as a Direct Object
11. Mustafa, onu yaptı - Mustafa did it..
12. on-u - "it" - as a Direct Object

1.                             Plural

Examples with the -i Direct Object Suffix

With the addition of -la/ -la (ile) suffix - with, and, together with

Adding the -le -la suffix can be considered as an exception.

It is added to the genitive -in form of the pronouns, not directly to the root pronoun - except for the third person plural - onlarla - with them

1.                             Singular

1. benimle - with me
2. seninle - with you
3. onunla - with him.. her.. it..
4. bizimle - with us
5. sizinle -with you
6. onlarla - with them -(exception see note below and above)
7. Mehmet, benimle geldi. - Mehmet came with me. Mehmet and I came.
8. ben-im-le - with me or and I
9. Ali, onlarla geldi mi? - Did Ali come with them?
10. onlar-la - with them - see exception note below
11. Mustafa,bizimle kalacak - Mustafa will stay with us..
12. biz-im-le - with us

1.                             Plural

Examples with the -le suffix

All about Possessive Adjectives - my, your, her, our, etc.

The Possessive Adjective my, your, his, her ,our, their is a suffix which obeys vowel harmony rules.
It is called an Possessive Adjective because it shows possession and describes a noun.

Which cat? - the answer - my cat. The word - my - is a Possessive Adjective describing the noun cat.

In Turkish the suffix -ım,-im,-um,-üm added to words ending in a consonant or just -m when added to words ending in a vowel means - my.

Some Examples of the suffixed Possessive Adjective

1.                           The E-Dotted Vowels Singular

1. el - hand
2. elim - my hand
3. diş - tooth
4. dişim - my tooth
5. göz - eye
6. gözüm - my eye
7. gül - rose
8. gülüm - my rose
9. eller - hands
10. ellerim - my hands
11. dişler - teeth
12. dişlerim - my teeth
13. gözler - eyes
14. gözlerim - my eyes
15. güller - roses
16. güllerim - my roses
17. ay - month, moon
18. ayım - my month
19. kız - girl, daughter
20. kızım - my daughter
21. tost - toast
22. tostum - my toast
23. sabun - soap
24. sabunum - my soap
25. aylar - months, moons
26. aylarım - my months
27. kızlar - girls, daughters
28. kızlarım - my daughters
29. tostlar - toasts (slices of)
30. tostlarım - my (slices of) toast(s)
31. sabunlar - (bars of) soap(s)
32. sabunlarım - my soap(s) (bars of..)

1.                           The E-Dotted Vowels Plural

1.                           The A-UnDotted Vowels Singular

1.               The A-Dotted Vowels Plural

The Plural is always the First Suffix Added - The Possessive Suffix follows the Plural Suffix:

1. ellerim - el-ler-im - my hands
2. odalarımız - oda-lar-ımız - our rooms

Adding the Possessive Adjective to Words that end in a Vowel

When the word ends in a vowel then the Possessive Suffix drops its own initial vowel.

1. kedi - cat
2. kedim - kedi-m - my cat

But the Possessive Suffix does not lose a vowel when attatched to the Plural of a Noun as it follows the final consonant of -lar

1. kediler - cats
2. kedilerim - kediler-im - my cats

The Third Person Singular Possessive Suffix -i becomes -si (uses Buffer Letter -s-) when added to a noun ending in a vowel.

1. oda - room
2. odası - oda-s-ı - his room

This example shows the addition of the buffer letter -s- in order to keep two vowels apart.

Possessive Adjective Reference Summary

The suffixes for all the persons viz: my, your, his, our, your, their, are as follows.

Note that they all obey Vowel Harmony Rules.

Suffix Added to Words
ending in Consonants

1. -ım -im -um -üm - my
2. -ın -in -un -ün - your
3. -ı -i -u -ü - his/her/its
4. -ımız -imiz -umuz -ümüz - our
5. -ınız -iniz -unuz -ünüz - your
6. -ları -leri - their

Suffix added to Words
ending in Vowels

1. -m
2. -n
3. -sı -si -su- -sü
4. -mız- miz -muz -müz
5. -nız -niz -nuz -nüz
6. -ları -leri
7. palto - overcoat
8. paltom - my overcoat
9. paltolarım - my overcoats
10. sokak - street
11. sokağım - my street
12. sokaklarım - my streets
13. göz - eye
14. gözün - your eye
15. gözleriniz - your eyes
16. armut - pear
17. armudu - his pear
18. armutları - his pears or their pear(s)

Some Examples of the use of the Possessive Suffix

The last example above can be construed three ways, the context of the conversation at the time is usually enough for the correct interpretation to be understood and is explained below:

1. armutlar -ı - his pears
2. armut -ları - their pear - and their pears

Of course it seems that their pears should be - armutlar -ları - but suffixes ending in -lar are never doubled, therefore the context should make the singularity or plurality of the noun in question clear.

However to be explicit then - onun - his - or - onların - their can be used:

1. onun armudu - his pear - (he has singular pear)
2. onun armutları - his pears - (he has plural pears)
3. onların armudu - their pear - (they have a singular pear)
4. onların armutları - their pears - (they have plural pears)
   1. araba - car
   2. arabamız - our car
   3. arabalarımız - our cars
   4. oda - room
   5. odası - his room
   6. odaları - his rooms
   7. aile - family
   8. ailesi - his family
   9. aileleri - their families
   10. otobüs - bus
   11. otobüsümüz - our bus
   12. otobüslerimiz - our buses
   13. şemsiye - umbrella
   14. şemsiyeniz - your umbrella
   15. şemsiyeleriniz - your umbrellas
   16. kulak - ear
   17. kulağınız - your ear
   18. kulaklarınız - your ears
   19. domuz - pig
   20. domuzu - his pig
   21. domuzları - his pigs/their pig
   22. kapı - door
   23. kapım - my door
   24. kapılarım - my doors

Some further examples of the Possessive Adjectives

The Addition of Further Suffixes to the Possessed Noun

A noun with the possessive suffix - being a noun in its own right - can be subject to further suffices.

Buffer letter -n- is used when adding second suffices to Possessed Items for Third Person Singular his, her, its and Third Person Plural their :

1. araba-sı-n-a - to his/her car
2. elma-ları-n-dan - from their apples
3. kedi - cat - Singular
4. * kedi ends in a vowel so only suffix -m is added
5. kedim - my cat - kedi -m
6. kedimden - from my cat - kedi -m -den
7. kedime - to my cat - kedi -m -e
8. kediler - cats - Plural
9. * kediler ends in a consonant so suffix -im is added
10. kedilerim - my cats - kedi -ler -im
11. kedilerimden - from my cats - kedi -ler -im -den
12. kedilerime - to my cats - kedi -ler -im -e
13. araba - car
14. * araba ends in a vowel so only suffix -n is added
15. araban - your car - araba -n
16. arabana - to your car - araba -n -a
17. arabanda - in your car - araba -n -da
18. arabalar - cars
19. * arabalar ends in a consonant so total suffix -ım is added
20. arabaların - your cars - araba -lar -ın
21. arabalarına - to your cars - araba -lar -ın -a
22. arabalarında - in your cars - araba -lar -ın -da
23. elma - apple
24. * elma ends in a vowel so third person suffix - using buffer letter -sı is added
25. onun elması - his apple - elma -s -ı
26. onun elmasında - in his apple - elma -s -ı -n -da
27. onun elmasından - from his apple - elma -s -ı -n -dan

Examples for Study

Note: onun - his is used to show that this apple belongs to one person

Remind me about buffer letter -n-

A noun with the possessive suffix can be subject to further suffices.
Buffer letter -n- is used when adding second suffices to Possessed Items for Third Person Singular his, her, its and Third Person Plural their

1. elmalar - apples
2. onların elmaları - their apples - elma -ları
3. onların elmalarında - in their apples - elma -ları -n -da
4. onların elmalarından - from their apples - elma -ları -n -dan

Note: onların - their is used to show that this/these apple(s) belongs to more than one person

See explanation above in - Use of Possessive Suffix

1. köy - village
2. köyümüz - our village - köy -ümüz
3. köyümüzde - in our village - köy -ümüz -de
4. köyümüzden - from our village - köy -ümüz -den
5. köyler - villages
6. köylerimiz - our villages - köy -ler -imiz
7. köylerimizde - in our villages - köy -ler -imiz -de
8. köylerimizden - from our villages - köy -ler -imiz -den
9. köpek - dog
10. köpeğiniz - your dog - köpeğ -iniz
11. köpeğinizde - on your dog - köpeğ -iniz -de
12. köpeğinize - to your dog - köpeğ -iniz -e

Note: The Rule of Consonant Mutation - k changes to ğ - is operating here when a vowel suffix is being added to a hard consonant.

1. köpekler - dogs
2. köpekleri - their dogs - köpek -leri
3. köpeklerine - to his dogs/to their dog(s) - köpek -leri -n -e
4. köpeklerinden - from their dogs - köpek -leri -n -den
5. ev - house
6. onların evleri - their house(s) - ev -leri
7. onların evlerinde - in their house(s) - ev -leri -n -de
8. onların evlerinden - from their house(s) - ev -leri -n -den
9. evler - houses
10. onun evleri - his houses - ev -ler -i
11. onun evlerinde - in his houses - ev -ler -i -n -de
12. onun evlerinden - from his houses - ev -ler -i -n -den