Accusative case in Turkish

The noun that is affected by the action of a verb is changed to the accusative case. The accusative case is formed by adding the "-i, -ı, -u and -ü" suffixes to the noun depending on the last vowel of the noun.

When to use the accusative case?

The accusative case signs the definite object of a verb. The accusative case can be found as an answer to the questions ‘kimi?’ (who?) and ‘neyi?’ (what?)

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Examples with 'Neyi?' (what?)

• Neyi açtı? What did she open?

• Buzdolabını açtı.   She opened the fridge.

• Neyi özledi? What did he miss?

• Okulu özledi. He missed the school.

Example with 'Kimi?' (who?)

• Yarın kimi arayacağım? Who will I call tomorrow?

• Seni yarın arayacağım. I will call you tomorrow. 

Declension of the nouns in the accusative form

The noun's ending are changed to '-i', '-ı', '-u' or '-ü' according to the last vowel of the noun.

Examples

• Telefon (telephone) + ‘-i’ (accusative suffix): Telefonu (the phone) -> the last vowel was ‘-o’
• Çatal (fork) + ‘-ı’ (accusative suffix): Çatalı (the fork) -> the last vowel was ‘-a’

Adding ‘-y’ to the nouns

 When the noun is ending with a vowel, then "y" is added between the noun and the case suffix.

Examples

• Oda (Room)

          Oda + ı = Odayı  

• Meyve (Fruit) 

           Meyve + i =Meyveyi

Difference between the possessive and the accusative suffix

The Turkish language has two kinds of -i suffixes.These are the possessive suffix (iyelik eki) and the accusative suffix (belirtme hal eki). The accusative case should not be confused with the third person's possession. The suffixes which indicates the object that belong to a person or object are called possessive suffixes. It can be found as an answer to the question ‘kimin?’ (whose?)

Example with the accusative suffix

• Neyi gördüm? What did i see?

• Odayı gördüm. I saw the room. 

Example with the possessive suffix

• Kimin odası boştu? Whose room was empty?

• Onun odası boştu. Her room was empty.  

Pronouns in the accusative case

Personal pronouns in the accusative case are formed by adding the '-i' suffixes.

Example

• Kimi aramadın? Who didn't you call?
• Beni aramadın. You didn't call me.