Questions & Answers about Öğrencinin potansiyeli yüksek.
What does the suffix -nin in Öğrencinin indicate?
It’s the genitive (possessor) case marker, showing Öğrencinin means “of the student.”
Why is the genitive suffix on Öğrencinin -nin and not -ın, -un, or -ün?
Turkish vowel harmony makes the suffix vowel match the last vowel of the stem. Öğrenci ends in the front unrounded vowel e, so the genitive uses i. Because the stem ends in a vowel, a buffer consonant n is inserted, yielding -nin.
Why does potansiyel take the suffix -i in potansiyeli?
When a noun is possessed, the possessed noun must carry a 3rd-person singular possessive suffix.
• potansiyel + -i → potansiyeli = “his/her/its potential.”
Is the -i on potansiyeli the accusative case?
No. Although the 3rd-sg. accusative suffix is also -i, here it’s the possessive suffix. You can tell because the possessor (Öğrencinin) is in the genitive case.