Ile in Turkish: arkadaşımla, otobüsle, Ali ile Ayşe
In Turkish, the word “ile” says who or what something is done with: Arkadaşımla sinemaya gittim. (I went to the cinema with my friend.) Otobüsle geldim. (I came by bus.) “İle” can be written as a separate word or added to the word as a suffix: arkadaşım ile = arkadaşımla. In this article I cover the three meanings of “ile”, its suffix forms, its use with pronouns, and the mistakes learners make most often.
1. Three meanings
| Meaning | Question | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Together with | Kimle? (With whom?) | Arkadaşımla sinemaya gittim. (I went to the cinema with my friend.) |
| By means of | Neyle? (With what?) | Okula otobüsle gidiyorum. (I go to school by bus.) Kalemle yaz. (Write with a pen.) |
| “and” | Ali ile Ayşe geldi. (Ali and Ayşe came.) |
Compare the last two sentences:
- Ali ile Ayşe geldi. (Both came; “Ali and Ayşe came”.)
- Ali Ayşe’yle geldi. (Ali came, and Ayşe was with him.)
2. Separate or suffix?
“İle” can be written in two ways; the meaning is the same:
- Separately: arkadaşım ile, otobüs ile
- As a suffix: arkadaşımla, otobüsle
In everyday speech and in writing, the suffix form is more common.
3. The forms of the suffix: -la, -le, -yla, -yle
As a suffix, “ile” follows major vowel harmony: if the last vowel is a, ı, o, u, it is -la; if it is e, i, ö, ü, it is -le.
- otobüs-le (by bus), kalem-le (with a pen), arkadaşım-la (with my friend), uçak-la (by plane)
If the word ends in a vowel, a y comes in:
- araba-y-la (by car), Ayşe-y-le (with Ayşe), kedi-y-le (with the cat)
Because the suffix begins with a consonant, the consonant at the end of the word does not change: kitapla, uçakla (not kitabla).
4. With pronouns: benimle, onunla
With pronouns, “ile” is added to the benim, senin form of the pronoun:
| Pronoun | Form |
|---|---|
| ben (I) | benimle (with me) |
| sen (you) | seninle (with you) |
| o (he/she) | onunla (with him/her) |
| biz (we) | bizimle (with us) |
| siz (you) | sizinle (with you) |
| onlar (they) | onlarla (with them) |
- Benimle gel. (Come with me.) Onunla konuştum. (I talked to him/her.) Sizinle tanıştığıma memnun oldum. (Nice to meet you.)
The question words take the same suffix: Kimle? Neyle? (kim ile, ne ile)
In everyday speech you will also hear benle, senle; in writing, use benimle, seninle.
5. Common mistakes
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| arabala | arabayla | After a vowel, a y comes in. |
| otobüsla | otobüsle | The suffix follows the last vowel: otobüs, -le. |
| kitabla | kitapla | The suffix begins with a consonant, so the consonant does not change. |
| benle (in writing) | benimle | With pronouns, the “benim” form is used. |
| Otobüste geldim. | Otobüsle geldim. | Means of transport are said with “ile”. |
Test yourself
5 questions
"Okula ___ gidiyorum." (metro)
Answer:metroyla. After a word ending in a vowel, a y comes in.
"Dün ___ konuştum." (o, him/her)
Answer:onunla. With pronouns, "ile" goes on forms like onun, benim.
What does "Ali ile Ayşe geldi." mean?
Answer:Ali and Ayşe came.. "İle" joining two nouns means "and".
"Mektubu ___ yazdım." (kalem, pen)
Answer:kalemle. The last vowel is e, so -le.
"___ sinemaya gittin?" (Who did you go to the cinema with?)
Answer:Kimle. Being together is asked with "Kimle?".
Next step
“İle” is sometimes taught together with the case suffixes; for the other suffixes, see the case suffixes article. For all A1 topics, see the grammar guide. If you have a question, ask me.
This article is part of the guide Turkish grammar for beginners
Have a question about this lesson? Ask it here
Read next
Comparison in Turkish: daha and en
How do you compare two things in Turkish? Sentences with -dan daha and en, other meanings of the word daha, common mistakes and a short five-question quiz.
The Turkish future tense (-acak): every form with one rule
How is the Turkish future tense formed? Positive, negative and question forms, k becoming ğ, the buffer y, short spoken forms, common mistakes and a quiz.
Bu, şu, o in Turkish: pointing to what is near and far
What is the difference between bu, şu and o in Turkish? Bu kitap and bu bir kitap, forms like bunlar, bunu, burası and burada, politeness and a short quiz.
Turkish cases: evi, eve, evde, evden
The four Turkish case suffixes: accusative, dative, locative and ablative. Finding the right one with a question word, vowel harmony, y and t, verbs and a quiz.