Ablative case in Turkish
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Sign up for freeThe ablative is formed by adding the ‘-den’ suffix to the end of the noun. The sentence part that is the answer to the questions: "nereden? (from where?), kimden? (from whom?), neden? (from what?)'' combined with the main verb of the sentence should use the ablative case.
Lesson outline
Hide- 1.When to use the ablative case?
- 1.1.İndicating the point of a departure
- 1.1.1.Example dialogues
- 1.2.The causal form
- 1.2.1.Example
- 1.3.The partitive use
- 1.3.1.Example
- 1.4.İndicating a comparison
- 1.4.1.Example
- 1.5.Declension of noun suffixes in the ablative form
- 1.5.1.Examples
- 1.5.2.Example
- 2.Exercises
- 2.1.Multiple choice exercise on the ablative case
- 2.2.Fill in the blanks exercise about the ablative case
When to use the ablative case?
- Indicating the point of a departure
- The causal use
- The partitive use
- Indicating a comparison
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Tuğçe K. 
Dilara K.
Oğuzhan Ç.
Irada I. 
Gülseren A.
Dilara G.
Riddhi P. 
Idil K.
Cagla B.
Bahar C.
İndicating the point of a departure
The ablative form is used to indicate the 'place from which-' or 'place through' which an action happened. The word in the ablative case be found as an answer to the questions ‘nereden?’ (from where?)
Example dialogues
Answer on the question 'place from which'
Nereden geliyorum? Where am i coming from?
- Evden geliyorum. I am coming from home.
Answer on the question 'place through which'
- Köpek nereden girdi? Where the dog entered by?
- Köpek kapidan girdi. The dog entered by the door.
The causal form
The causal form can be found as an answer to the question 'neden?' (from what).
Example
- Bebek neden uyandı? Why did the baby wake up?
- Bebek gürültüden uyandı. The baby woke up because of the noise.
The partitive use
The partitive use describes a part of a whole.
Example
- Üyelerden biri akşam gelmeyecek. One of the members won't come tonight.
İndicating a comparison
The ablative case shows a comparison and the second member of the comparison gets the ablative '-den' suffix.
Example
- Babam annemden daha yaşli. My father is older than my mother.
Declension of noun suffixes in the ablative form
Change the suffix of the noun '-den' to '-dan' when the last vowel is one of the following ‘-a, -ı, -o, -u,’.
Examples
Elma (apple) + den (ablative suffix): elmadan (from apple) -> the last vowel is ‘-a’
- Okul (school) + den (ablative suffix): okuldan (from school) -> the last vowel is ‘-u’
When the nouns ending with the letters "p, ç, t, k, s, ş, h, f" take the ‘-den’ suffix, the letter ‘-d’ changes to ‘-t’ and becomes ‘-ten’ or ‘-tan’.
Example
- Kitap (book) + den = kitaptan (from book) The word is finished with ‘-p’ and the last vowel is an ‘-a’; thus ‘-den’ becomes ‘-tan’.