Turkish nouns
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Sign up for freeA noun is a word that expresses a person (erkek:boy), a thing (ev:home), an animal (köpek:dog), a place (İzmir), or an abstract concept (sevgi:love).
Lesson outline
HideOrder of adding suffixes
To express the plural of a noun, express a possession (me/her/yours/...), location, etc... suffixes are added to the noun.
If three suffixes are added to the same noun, they should be added in following order:
- Plural suffix
- Possessive suffix
- Other cases
| Noun | Plural | Possessive | Case | Final vercion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ev (house) | -ler | -imiz | -de | evlerimizde (in our houses) |
| amca (uncle) | -lar | -ın | -dan | amcalarından (from her uncles) |
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Umut K. 
GÜLFER O.
Begüm B.
Evrim K.
Elena A. 
Hande B.
MURAT C.
Hakan Y.
Mehtap N.
ALİ K.
Possessive marking
The forms of the six possessive suffixes are shown in the table below:
| Person | The suffix | Translation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | -(i)m, -ım, -um, -üm... | my | kalemim (my pencil) |
| 2nd singular | -(i)n, -ın, -un, -ün... | your | kalemin (your pencil) |
| 3rd singular | -i(n), -ı ,-u, -ü... | his/her/its | kalemi (her pencil) |
| 1st plural | -(i)miz, -iniz, -umuz, -unuz... | our | kalemimiz (our pencil) |
| 2nd plural | -(i)niz, -ınız, -unuz, -ünüz... | your | kaleminiz (your pencil) |
| 3rd plural | -leri(n), -ları(n) | their | kalemleri (their pencil) |
Case marking
The case of a noun indicates how that noun relates to other sentence parts. Turkish has 5 case suffixes, as shown in the table below. You can find more information about the Turkish cases on the page about the Turkish cases.
| Case marker | The suffix | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | - | meyve (fruit) |
| Accusative | -(y)i, -yı, -yu, yü... | meyveyi (the fruit) |
| Dative | -(y)e, -ya, -e, -a | meyveye (to the fruit) |
| Locative | -de, -da, -te, -ta | meyvede (on the fruit) |
| Ablative | -den, -dan, -ten, -tan | meyveden (from the fruit) |
Turkish singular nouns
The singular nouns represent a single person, thing, place or concept.
Examples:
- Çocuk (child), çiçek (flower), baba (father), okul (school), meyve (fruit), çanta (bag)...
- Çocuk oyun oynuyor. (The child is playing.)
- Şu çiçeğe bak! (Look at that flower!)
Turkish plural nouns
The plural nouns in Turkish are formed by adding the '-ler/-lar' suffixes to the noun according to the vowel harmony rules. When the last vowel of the noun is one of the following vowels ( -a ,- ı, -o, -u ), the '-lar' suffix is used and when the last vowel of the noun is one of the vowels (-e,- i, -ö, -ü ) the '-ler' suffix is used.
| Use (-ler/lar) | the last vowel |
|---|---|
| '-lar' | -a, -ı, -o, -u |
| '-ler' | -e, -i, -ö, -ü |
Examples
- Çocuklar (children), çiçekler (flowers), babalar (fathers), okullar (schools), meyveler (fruits), çantalar (bags)...
- Çocuklar oyun oynuyor. (The children are playing.)
- Şu çiçeklere bak! (Look at that flowers!)
Turkish common nouns
A common noun names any person, place or thing. Some common noun examples are:
- Organ and body part names: kafa (head), el (hand), akciğer (lungs)...
- Animal and plant names: köpek (dog), elma (apple), ceviz (nut)...
- Color names: yeşil (green), sarı (yellow), beyaz (white)...
- Relative names: hala (aunt), dede (grandfather), kız kardeş (sister)
Turkish proper nouns
A proper noun describes unique objects and people. All proper nouns begin with capital letters. Some proper noun examples are:
- Human names: Ali, Ayşe, John...
- Language names: İngilizce (English), Türkçe (Turkish), İspanyolca (Spanish)...
- Planets, countries, region names: Venüs (Venus), İtalya (Italy), Marmara bölgesi (Marmara region)...
- Institution and organization names: Boğaziçi Üniversitesi (Boğaziçi University), Türk Dil Kurumu (Turkish Language Society)