Turkish prepositions and postpositions

Unlike English, Turkish has no prepositions. Some English prepositions are provided by the case suffixes in Turkish and others are provided by the words named postpositions which stand after their complements. Turkish postpositions are divided into two groups:

1. Bare postpositions: have a fixed form and are divided into three groups
2. Possessive-marked postpositions : take both a possessive and a case suffix

Bare postpositions

They are divided into three groups according to which case marking they require on their complements.

1. Postpositions with non-case-marked complements
2. Postpositions with the dative case
3. Postpositions with the ablative case

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1. Postpositions with non-case-marked complements

There are 4 postpositions with non-case-marked complements: gibi (like), için (for), ile (with), kadar (as...as)

Examples:

• Onun için ne aldın? (What did you buy for her?)
• Senin ile gelebilirim. (I can come with you.)

​2. Postpositions with the dative case

There are 5 postpositions which are followed by dative-case-marked complements: doğru (towards), göre (according to/compared with), kadar (until), karşı (against/facing), rağmen (despite)

Examples:

• Evine doğru koşuyor. (She is running towards her house.)
• Sabaha kadar çalışacaklar. (They will work until the morning.)

3. Postpositions with the ablative case

The following postpositions are followed by ablative case complements: beri (since/for), bu yana (since), önce (before), sonra (after), başka (apart from), dolayı (because of)

Examples:

• Seni partiden önce görmedim. (I didn't see you before the party.)
• Bundan başka bir şeyin var mı? (Do you have something apart from this?)

Possessive-marked postpositions

The possessive-marked postpositions are formed by adding a possessive suffix and a dative, locative or ablative case suffix to the complemented noun. Some possessive-marked postpositions: önünde (in front of), içinde (inside), altında (under), arasında (between), karşısında (opposite)...

Examples:

• Sen önümde duruyordun. (You were standing in front of me.)
• Binanın içinde bekledik. (We waited inside the building.)
• Kalemimi yatağın altında buldum. (I found my pencil under the bed.)