Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

Here are the Turkish translations of the personal pronouns. However, these pronouns are generally omitted in sentences since person is implied in the adjectives or the verbs in sentences. They are often used to stress the person.

i	ben	i am adjective	ben adjective-im
you	sen	you are adjective	sen adjective-sin
he she it	o	he  \ she  |  is adjective it    /	o adjective
we	biz	we are adjective	biz adjective-iz
you	siz	you are adjective	siz adjective-siniz
they	onlar	they are adjective	onlar adjective-ler

güzel --> beautiful

I am beautiful. --> Ben güzel-im. --> Güzelim. (Personal pronoun is implied)

You are beautiful. --> Sen güzel-sin. --> Güzelsin.

He/she/it is beautiful. --> O güzel. --> Güzel.

We are beautiful. --> Biz güzel-iz. --> Güzeliz.

You are beautiful. --> Siz güzel-siniz. --> Güzelsiniz.

They are beautiful. --> Onlar güzel-ler. --> Güzeller.

 

kötü --> bad

I am bad. --> Ben kötü-y-üm. --> Kötüyüm. (Note how kötü and -üm are connected with the fusion consonant 'y'.)

You are bad. --> Sen kötü-sün. --> Kötüsün.

He/she/it is bad. --> O kötü. --> Kötü.

We are bad. --> Biz kötü-y-üz. --> Kötüyüz.

You are bad. --> Siz kötü-siniz. --> Kötüsünüz.

They are bad. --> Onlar kötü-ler. --> Kötüler.

 

geliyor --> coming (present continuous tense)

I am coming. --> Ben geliyor-um. --> Geliyorum.

You are coming. --> Sen geliyor-sun. --> Geliyorsun.

He/she/it is coming. --> O geliyor. --> Geliyor.

We are coming. --> Biz geliyor-uz. --> Geliyoruz.

You are coming. --> Siz geliyor-sunuz. --> Geliyorsunuz.

They are coming. --> Onlar geliyor-lar. --> Geliyorlar.

 

For nouns other than these pronouns, you must use the third person case.

Marzena is beautiful. --> Marzena güzel.

Marzena is very beautiful. --> Marzena çok güzel.

Joe is bad. --> Joe kötü.

Joe is coming. --> Joe geliyor.

Demonstrative pronouns

These are the pronouns used for obects instead of people.

this	bu
that (between this and that)	şu
that	o
these	bunlar
those (between these and those)	şunlar
those	onlar

kitap --> book

Bu bir kitap. --> This is a book.

Şu bir kitap. --> That is a book.

O bir kitap. --> That is a book.

Bunlar kitaplar. --> These are books.

Şunlar kitaplar. --> Those are books.

Onlar kitaplar. --> Those are books.

 

Possessive Pronouns

Personal posessive pronouns:

my	ben-im	my noun	ben-im noun-im
your	sen-in	your noun	sen-in noun-in
his her its	o-n-un	his \ her | noun its  /	o-n-un noun-i
our	biz-im	our noun	biz-im noun-imiz
your	siz-in	your noun	siz-in noun-iniz
their	onlar-ın	their noun	onlar-ın noun-leri

Notice his/her/its is o-n-un instead of o-un. Since two vowels don't come together in Turkish, one fusion consonant is added in between. It is 'n' in this case. Either a fusion consonant is added in between, or one of the vowels is dropped whenever a vowel is followed by another vowel. Which technique must be used changes among different rules, but it is consistent in a single rule. This will be mentioned in different lessons when necessary.

 

ev --> house

my house --> ben-im ev-im --> evim (personal pronoun is implied)

your house --> sen-in ev-in --> evin

his/her/its house --> o-n-in ev-i --> onun evi --> evi

our house --> biz-im ev-imiz --> evimiz

your house --> siz-in ev-iniz --> eviniz

their house --> onlar-ın ev-leri --> evleri

 

araba --> car

my car --> ben-im araba-m --> arabam (the suffix -im becomes -m when added after a vowel, since two vowels don't come together in Turkish)

your car --> sen-in araba-n --> araban

his/her/its car --> o-n-in araba-s-ı --> onun arabası --> arabası (Instead of dropping one vowel, here the fusion consonant 's' is added between vowels since the suffix is only a single vowel.)

our car --> biz-im araba-mız --> arabamız

your car --> siz-in araba-nız --> arabanız

their car --> onlar-ın araba-ları --> arabaları

 

For nouns other than these pronouns, always the third person form is used.

Gizem's house --> Gizem'in evi

Gizem's car --> Gizem'in arabası

My mother's house --> Annemin evi

Demonstartive posessive pronouns:

of this	bu-n-un
of that (between this and that)	şu-n-un
of that	o-n-un
of these	bunlar-ın
of those (between these and those)	şunlar-ın
of those	onlar-ın

Bunun evi --> The house of this

Şunun evi --> The house of that

Onun evi --> The house of that

Bunların evleri --> The house of these.

Şunların evleri --> The house of those.

Onların evleri --> The house of those.

 

For nouns other than these pronouns, always the third person form is used.

The room of the house --> Evin odası

Cat's food --> Kedinin yemeği

 

Reflexive Pronouns

The way reflexive pronouns are constructed in Turkish is very similar to the way we do it in English. The Turkish word for self is kendi. The reflexive pronouns hence are as follows:

myself	kendi-im	kendim
yourself	kendi-in	kendin
himself herself itself	kendi-si	kendisi
ourselves	kendi-imiz	kendimiz
yourselves	kendi-iniz	kendiniz
themselves	kendi-leri	kendileri

 

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