Turkish pronouns

Pronouns are words that are used to replace a noun or name. Suffixes (-ki and -si) are used to form the pronouns. Turkish pronouns are divided into five types:

1. Personal pronouns
2. Reflexive pronouns
3. Demonstrative pronouns
4. Indefinite pronouns
5. Interrogative pronouns

1. Personal pronouns

Personal pronouns are used as a subject in a sentence to refer to a person or group of people.  They are often ommited since the verb or adjective already includes the subject in their declension and conjugation.

Examples

• Ben kahve istiyorum. = Kahve istiyorum. (I want a coffee.)
• Onlar Oslo'da birlikte yaşıyorlar. = Oslo'da birlikte yaşıyorlar. (They live together in Oslo.)

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2. Reflexive pronouns

The Turkish reflexive pronoun 'Kendi' (self/own) is used to emphasize who has done the action and used instead of the regular Turkish personal pronouns.

Examples

• Kendisi için çok mutlu. (She is very happy for herself.)
• Evi kendim temizledim. (I cleaned the house myself.)

3. Demonstrative pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are the words that take the place of all object and concept names except the person names. They are used to show something defined within a sentence.

Examples

• Bu çok pahalı. (This is very expensive.)
• Şunlar güzel gözüküyor. (These are looking nice.)

4. Indefinite pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are the words that  represent objects in a vague way. They do not show any definite person, place, amount or thing.

Examples

• Biri aradı ve seni sordu. (Someone called and asked for you.)
• Kitabım için her yere baktım. (I looked everywhere for my book.)

​5. Interrogative pronouns

The interrogative pronouns are the words that represent the nouns in the form of questions and express them as questions.

Examples

• Öğle yemeği için ne istiyorsun? (What do you want for lunch?)
• Kitabı kim okuyordu? (Who was reading the book?)

Usage of the suffixes '-si' and '-ki' to form the pronouns

The suffixes '-si' and '-ki' are used to form the pronouns from adjectives.

The suffix -si

Examples:

• Yeni elbise şık değil. (The new dress is not chic.) ---> adjective
• Yenisi şık değil. (The new one is not chic.) --->pronoun

The suffix -ki

Examples

• Bu senin kitabın. (This is your book.) ---> adjective
• Bu seninki. (This is yours.) ---> pronoun

• Benim yemeğim geliyor. (My food is coming.)
• Benimki geliyor. (Mine is coming.)