Turkish possessive suffixes: evim, evin, evi

In Turkish, who something belongs to is shown by a possessive suffix at the end of the word: ev-im (my house), ev-in (your house). The form of the suffix depends on two things: whether the word ends in a vowel or a consonant, and what its last vowel is. In this article I cover the possessive suffixes for every person, the consonant change, and negative sentences and questions with possessive forms.

1. Possessive suffixes for every person

Person	Suffix	Word ending in a consonant	Word ending in a vowel
(benim) my	-(ı)m	evim, okulum	arabam, kedim
(senin) your	-(ı)n	evin, okulun	araban, kedin
(onun) his/her	-(s)ı	evi, okulu	arabası, kedisi
(bizim) our	-(ı)mız	evimiz, okulumuz	arabamız, kedimiz
(sizin) your	-(ı)nız	eviniz, okulunuz	arabanız, kediniz
(onların) their	-ları / -leri	evleri, okulları	arabaları, kedileri

(ev house, okul school, araba car, kedi cat)

The letter in brackets appears only when it is needed:

• If the word ends in a consonant, a vowel comes at the start of the suffix: ev-im, okul-um.
• If the word ends in a vowel, this vowel is not needed: araba-m, kedi-m.
• In the “his/her” suffix, an s comes after a word ending in a vowel: araba-sı, kedi-si.

2. The vowel of the suffix: four forms

The vowel of the suffix follows the last vowel of the word (minor vowel harmony):

Last vowel of the word	Vowel of the suffix	Example
a, ı	ı	kızım (my daughter), arabası
e, i	i	evim, kedisi
o, u	u	okulum, okulu
ö, ü	ü	gözüm (my eye), sözü (his/her word)

The “their” suffix has two forms and follows major vowel harmony: arabaları, evleri.

3. The consonant change: kitap, kitabım

If a word ends in k, t, ç, p, these consonants become softer when a possessive suffix starting with a vowel is added:

Final consonant	Change	Example
p	b	kitap, kitabım (book, my book)
ç	c	ağaç, ağacı (tree, its tree)
t	d	yurt, yurdum (homeland, my homeland)
k	ğ	çocuk, çocuğum (child, my child)
k (after n)	g	renk, rengim (colour, my colour)

In most one-syllable words this change does not happen: top, topum (ball, my ball); saç, saçım (hair, my hair). These words are easiest to learn by hearing them.

4. Words that do not follow the rule

The exception words you met in the plural suffix article also take the possessive suffix with a front vowel: saat, saatim (my watch); rol, rolüm (my role); kalp, kalbim (my heart).

5. Do you need to say “benim”?

Because the possessive suffix already shows the person, words like benim (my) and senin (your) are usually left out: Evim büyük. (My house is big.) They are used mainly for contrast or emphasis: Benim evim büyük, senin evin küçük. (My house is big, yours is small.)

6. Negatives and questions

In sentences with a possessive form, the negative is made with değil and the question with mı / mi / mu / mü:

• Bu benim arabam değil. (This is not my car.)
• Bu senin araban mı? (Is this your car?)
• Bu onun kedisi değil mi? (Isn’t this his/her cat?)

Possessive suffixes are also used to say what someone has: Arabam var. (I have a car.) Kardeşin var mı? (Do you have a brother or sister?) More in the var and yok article.

7. Common mistakes

Wrong	Right	Why
benim ev	benim evim	The thing owned takes a possessive suffix.
arabaım	arabam	A word ending in a vowel takes the suffix without a vowel.
onun arabaı	onun arabası	In the “his/her” suffix, s comes after a vowel.
kitapım	kitabım	p becomes b before a vowel.
evimler	evlerim	The plural suffix comes before the possessive suffix.

Test yourself

5 questions

1. 01Add the "my" suffix to "okul" (school).

   okulımokulumokulüm

   Answer:okulum. The last vowel is u, so the suffix is -um.

2. 02Which is the "his/her" form of "kedi" (cat)?

   kediikedikedisi

   Answer:kedisi. After a word ending in a vowel, the "his/her" suffix is -sı / -si.

3. 03Which is the "my" form of "çocuk" (child)?

   çocukumçocuğumçocukım

   Answer:çocuğum. k becomes ğ before a suffix starting with a vowel.

4. 04Which order means "my houses"?

   evimlerevlerimevlerım

   Answer:evlerim. First the plural suffix, then the possessive suffix.

5. 05"Bu senin kalemin ___?" (Is this your pen?)

   mimudeğil

   Answer:mi. The question particle follows the last vowel of the word before it: kalemin, mi.

Next step

Possessive suffixes are the basis of possession sentences with var and yok and of noun compounds. For all A1 topics, see the grammar guide. If you have a question, ask me.