Dolaptaki elbiseleri katladım, hepsini askıya astım.

the dress

Breakdown of Dolaptaki elbiseleri katladım, hepsini askıya astım.

• hepsi: all
• asmak: to hang
• -ya: to

Questions & Answers about Dolaptaki elbiseleri katladım, hepsini askıya astım.

What does the -ki in Dolaptaki mean? Is it different from dolapta?

• dolapta = “in the closet/wardrobe” (locative; an adverbial phrase of place)
• dolaptaki = “the one(s) that are in the closet” (locative + -ki; turns it into an adjective)

Form: dolap + ta + ki → dolaptaki. The -ki suffix makes a relative-like adjective: “the X that is/are in/on/at Y.”

Examples:

• Dolapta elbise katladım. = I folded clothes in the closet. (where the action happened)
• Dolaptaki elbiseleri katladım. = I folded the clothes that are in the closet. (which clothes I folded)

Note the consonant in dolaptaki is t, not d, because the locative on a voiceless consonant is -ta/-te: dolapta → dolaptaki (not “dolapdaki”).

Why is elbiseleri in the accusative (-i)?

In Turkish, a definite/specific direct object takes the accusative. Dolaptaki elbiseleri is “the clothes (in the closet)”—a specific set—so you need -i:

• Dolaptaki elbiseleri katladım. = I folded the clothes (in the closet). [definite] If you mean it indefinitely, you’d avoid -i and usually drop -ki as well:
• Dolapta elbise katladım. = I folded (some) clothes in the closet. [indefinite]

Could elbiseleri mean “his/her/their clothes”? How do I say that if I want it?

Alone, elbiseleri can be ambiguous in other contexts (it can be “their clothes” as a possessed noun in the nominative), but in your sentence it functions as the definite plural object (“the clothes”). To clearly express possession with a direct object, add both the possessive and the accusative: