It is one of the most commonly used suffixes in Turkish and confusing for foreigners. As in many courses, you need to have a good command of 2 grammar subjects before starting this course. First of all, it is useful to know the big vowel harmony in Turkish, then the consonant harmaony. Only after knowing these rules can you know which suffix (-dan, -ten, -tan) you can use at the end of each word. First of all, we will briefly touch on these issues, and then we will show you in what sense you can use the Turkish ablative case suffixes (-den, -dan, -ten, -tan) with example sentences and explanations in detail.
- If the last vowel of the word that the suffix will come to the end of it is a back vowel (a, ı, o, u) and the last letter of the word is a hard consonant (f, s, t, k, ç, ş, h, p) –tan should be used.
-Parktan, Kitaptan, Ağaçtan, Uzaktan
- If the last vowel of the word that the suffix will come to the end of it a back vowel (a, i, o, u) and the last letter of the word is not a hard consonant (consonant except f, s, t, k, ç, ş, h, p) –dan should be used.
-Okuldan, Masadan, Televizyondan, İstanbul’dan
- If the last vowel of the word with the suffix will come to the end of it is a front vowel (e, i, ö, ü) and the last letter of the word is a hard consonant (f, s, t, k, ç, ş, h, p)-ten should be used.
-İnternetten, Yemekten, Kulüpten, Tuvaletten
- If the last vowel of the word that the suffix will come to the end of it is a front vowel (e, i, ö, ü) and the last letter of the word is not a hard consonant (consonant except f, s, t, k, ç, ş, h, p) –den should be used.
-Evde, Kafede, Tatilde, Çanakkale’de
If you want to learn more about vowel harmony and consonant harmony, you can access lectures and lecture videos from these links. If you already know these rules, let’s get started.
What does ablative case suffix (-den, -dan, -ten, -tan) do?
BRIEFLY…
Its most general task; It gives the meaning of move away, leaving somewhere or something. It can have a reason meaning. It can bu used ta say from (someone, something, somewhere). It’s using in the same place –than suffix in English. Sometimes, the ablative suffix is used instead of the genitive case suffix. Apart from all these duties, it comes to the end of some nouns and gives them a new mean.
IN DETAIL…
1. MEANING IN TURKISH ABLATIVE CASE SUFFIX:
We can say that this is the most common function of this suffix in Turkish. By coming to the end of the word, it adds the meaning of leaving, getting away from that place. The word with the ablative suffix gives the answer to the question “Where … from? Where … of?”
SAMPLE SENTENCE 1: Okuldan eve her gün yürüyorum. (I walk home from school every day.)
QUESTION: Nereden eve yürüyorum? (Where do i walk home from ?)
ANSWER: Okuldan (from school)
SAMPLE SENTENCE 2: Annem hastaneden çıktı. (My mother got out of the hospital.)
QUESTION: Annem nereden çıktı? (Where did my mother get out of?)
ANSWER: Hastaneden (From hospital)
SAMPLE SENTENCE 3: Yataktan şimdi çıktım. (I just got out of bed)
QUESTION: Nereden çıktım? (Where did i get out of now?)
ANSWER: Yataktan (From bed)
SAMPLE SENTENCE 4: Çarşıdan geliyorum. (I’m coming from the bazaar.)
QUESTION: Nereden geliyorum? (Where am i coming from?)
ANSWER: Çarşıdan (from the bazaar)
SAMPLE SENTENCE 5: Kardeşim okuldan akşam dönüyor. (My brother returns from school in the evening.)
QUESTION: Kardeşim nereden akşam dönüyor? (Where does my brother return from every evening?)
ANSWER: Okuldan (from school)
2. MEANING:
Another task of the ablative suffix is to give a reason meaning to the word to which it is added. It means “because, because of…”. Explains why the verb happened. The word which this suffix is added give answer the question “Why?”
SAMPLE SENTENCE 1: Heyecandan uyuyamadım. (I couldn’t sleep with excitement.)
QUESTION: Neden uyuyamadım? (Why couldn’t I sleep?)
ANSWER: Heyecandan (with excitement)
SAMPLE SENTENCE 2: Yüzüm stresten sivilcelerle doldu. (My face is full of acnes from stress.)
QUESTION: Yüzüm neden sivilcelerle doldu? (Why is my face full of acne?)
ANSWER: Stresten (from stress)
SAMPLE SENTENCE 3: Trafiğe takılmaktan sınavı kaçırdım. (I missed the exam because of being stuck in traffic.)
QUESTION: Sınavı neden kaçırdım? (Why did I miss the exam?)
ANSWER: Trafiğe takılmaktan (because of being stuck in traffic.)
SAMPLE SENTENCE 4: Sana olan sevgimden tüm olanlara katlanıyorum. (I endure all that happened because of my love for you.)
QUESTION: Neden tüm olanlara katlanıyorum? (Why do I endure all this?)
ANSWER: Sana olan sevgimden (because of my love for you)
SAMPLE SENTENCE 5: Adam sıcaktan beyin kanaması geçirdi. The man had a cerebral hemorrhage from the heat.
QUESTION: Neden beyin kanaması geçirdi? (Why did he have a brain hemorrhage?)
ANSWER: Sıcaktan (from the heat)
3. MEANING:
Other mean of this suffix is “from (someone / something / somewhere)” This mean can make confused cause it’s near the first mean. But if you look at sample sentences you’ll understand better.
SAMPLE SENTENCE 1: Türkçeyi Emine’den öğrendim. (I learned Turkish from Emine.)
QUESTION: Türkçeyi kimden öğrendim? (From whom did I learn Turkish?)
ANSWER: Emine’den (from Emine)
SAMPLE SENTENCE 2: En güzel hediyemi sevgilimden aldım. (I got the best gift from my girlfriend.)
QUESTION: En güzel hediyemi kimden aldım? (From whom did I receive my best gift?)
ANSWER: Sevgilimden (from my girlfriend)
SAMPLE SENTENCE 3: Senden bir şey isteyebilir miyim? (Can I want something from you?)
QUESTION: Kimden? (From whom?)
ANSWER: Senden (from you)
SAMPLE SENTENCE 4: Hiç kimseden yardım beklemiyorum. (I don’t expect help from anybody.)
QUESTION: Kimden yardım beklemiyorum? (Who am I expect help from?)
ANSWER: Hiç kimseden (from anybody)
SAMPLE SENTENCE 5: Bu yıl Türkiye’den 5000 mühendis alımı olacak. (5000 engineers will be recruited from Turkey this year.)
QUESTION: Bu yıl nereden 5000 mühendis alımı olacak? (Where will 5000 engineers be recruited from this year?)
ANSWER: Türkiye’den (from Turkey)
4. MEANING:
Comparisons are made between two things to show which is superior. When comparing two things, it’s added to the end of the word being compared. It’s used instead of the suffix “than” in English.
SAMPLE SENTENCE 1: Ben senden daha uzun boyluyum. (I am taller than you.)
QUESTION: Ben kimden daha uzun boyluyum? (Who am I taller than?)
ANSWER: Senden (than you)
SAMPLE SENTENCE 2: Sanırım sen benden daha kilolusun. (I think you’re heavier than me.)
QUESTION: Sen kimden daha kilolusun? (Who are you heavier than?)
ANSWER: benden (than me)
SAMPLE SENTENCE 3: Senden daha güzel birini tanımıyorum. (I don’t know anyone prettier than you.)
QUESTION: Kimden daha güzel birini tanımıyorum? (I don’t know anyone prettier than who?)
ANSWER: Senden (than you)
SAMPLE SENTENCE 4: Baldan daha tatlı bir yeğenim var. (I have a nephew sweeter than honey.)
QUESTION: Neden daha tatlı bir yeğenim var? (I have a sweeter niece than what?)
ANSWER: Baldan (than honey)
SAMPLE SENTENCE 5: Benden iyisini bulamazsın. (You can’t find better than me.)
QUESTION: Kimden iyisini bulamazsın? Who can’t you find better than?
ANSWER: Benden (than me)
5. MEANING:
It is sometimes used as a genitive suffix. If you do not know the genitive suffix; It is used with the possessive suffix indicating ownership. Let’s examine the phrase “senin kalemin (your pen)”. We understand who the pen belongs to from this expression,. Object: kalem (pen) / Owner: sen (you). In this case, the genitive would be “senin (your)”. The suffix at the end of this word is the genitive suffix (-in). In English this suffix appears as of, ‘s. E.g. The door of the house, girl‘s name.
In some cases, Turkish ablative case suffix can be used instead of the genitive suffix (-ın, in, un, ün). For example, instead of saying “sizin bazılarınız” (some of you), it may be preferable to say “sizden bazıları” (some of you)”. But as I said, the ablative suffix (den/dan/ten/tan) can sometimes be used in this task. Note that it cannot always be used as a genitive suffix.
SAMPLE SENTENCES:
-
- Öğrencilerden birkaçı sınava giremedi. (A few of the students could not take the exam.)
- Çikolatalardan her türlüsünü severim. (I like all kinds of chocolates)
- Ojelerimden hangisini beğendin? (Which of my nail polishes do you like the?)
- Kızlarından sadece en küçüğü üniversiteyi bitirebildi. (Only the youngest of her daughters was able to graduate from university.)
- Sizden birkaç kişiyi birazdan çağıracağız. (We will be calling a few of you in a moment.)
6. MEANING:
Apart from all the functions we have explained, the Turkish ablative case also has the function of being a derivational suffix . By adding it to the end of the word, it gives a new meaning to the word other than its own meaning. Sometimes it is added to the end of the noun and turns it into an adjective. Sometimes this adjective can give the meaning of what is it made of.
Sometimes it’s used in some phrases.
SAMPLE SENTENCES:
-
- Kardan adam yapmaya gidiyoruz. (We’re going to build a snowman.) <a man made of snow>
- Altından sarayları varmış, buna inanmamı bekliyor! (They have palace of gold, he expects me to believe it!) <a palace made of gold>
- Sudan sebeplerle beni terk etti. (She left me because of lame excuses.)
- Uzaktan eğitim başlıyor! (Distance education starts!)
- Uzaktan kumanda nerede? (Where is the remote control.)
- Pek tanımıyorum, uzaktan akrabamız. (I don’t know much, we are distant relatives.)
7. MEANING:
It is used to indicate a part, something from within a whole or a community.
SAMPLE SENTENCES:
-
- Öğrencilerden Emine bizimle gelecek. (Emine will come with us among the students.)
- Pastadan bir dilim alacağım. (I’ll take a slice of the pie.)
- Aylardan kasım (It’s November) (It’s November among days)
- Günlerden pazar. (It’s sunday) (It’s sunday among days)
!PAY ATTENTION!
When some verbs used in a sentence, some words takes this suffix in accordance with the verb. You can learn them by practicing.
>Nefret etmek: to hate
Senden nefret ediyorum. (I hate you)
>Tat-mak: to taste
Şundan tadabilir miyim? (Can I taste this?)
Tat al-mak: to get a taste
Kovid’ten sonra 5 ay boyunca yemekten tat alamadım. (I couldn’t get a taste the food for 5 months after covid.)
>Ayrıl-mak: to leave
2 yıl önce benden ayrıldı. (He/She left me 2 years ago.)
>Hoşlan-mak: to like
Çünkü senden çok hoşlanıyorum. (Because I like you so much)
>Çekin-mek: to hesitate:
Bir şeye ihtiyacın olursa haber ver, benden çekinme. (Let me know if you need anything, don’t hesitate.)
>Utan-mak: to be ashamed:
Bunun için senden utanıyorum. (I am ashamed of you for this.)
>Kork-mak: to be scared:
Bana bağırdığı için ondan korkuyorum. (I’m afraid of her/him because she yelled at me.)
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