Locative case in Turkish

The word that should be in the locative case can be found as an answer to the question ‘Nerede?’ (‘Where?’). The English prepositions of place "in, on, at, from, to,..." do not exist in Turkish and are indicated by using the locative case. The locative case is formed by adding the suffix -de to a noun.

When to use the locative case?

The locative (Turkish: -de hali) is used in the following 3 cases:

1. indicating the place of an action
2. indicating the time
3. indicating the abstract concept

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1. Indicating the place of an action

The noun in the locative case can be found as an answer to the question 'nerede?' (where?)

Example dialogue

• Dün gece nerede kaldım? Where did i stay last night?
• ​Dün gece evde kaldım. I stayed at home last night. 

2. Indicating the time

The noun in the locative case can be found as an answer to the question 'ne zaman?' (when?)

Example dialogue

• Okullar ne zaman açılacak? When the schools are going to open?
• Okullar 2 Eylül'de açılacak. The schools are going to open on 2 September.

3. Indicating the abstract concept

The noun in the locative case can be found as an answer to the question 'ne?' (what?)

Example dialogue

• Televizyonda ne var? What is on the television?
• Televizyonda ünlü bir film var. There is a famous film on the television.

Declension of nouns in the locative form

The locative form is formed while adding the suffix -de or -da to the noun.  The suffix '-da' is used when the last vowel is one of the following: '-a, -ı, -o, -u'

Examples

• Okul (school) + ‘-de’: okulda (at school) -> the last vowel is ‘-u’
• Saha (field) + '-de': sahada (at field) -> the last vowel is '-a'

 When the noun is ending with the letters "p, ç, t, k, s, ş, h, f", -de/-da becomes -te/-ta.

Examples of the -de/-da change to -te/-ta

• Sepet (basket) + ‘-de’: sepette (in the basket) -> the noun ends with ‘-t’.

• Ağaç (tree) + ‘-de’: ağaçta (in the tree) -> the noun ends with '-ç'

Personal pronouns in the Locative Case

Personal pronouns in the locative case are formed by adding the '-de, -da' suffixes to pronouns.

Example

• Kalemim nerede kalmış? Where did i leave my pencil?
• Kalemim onda kalmış. I left my pencil on her.​