Questions & Answers about Benim kelime hazinem geniş.
What does each word in Benim kelime hazinem geniş correspond to literally?
Word by word:
- Benim = my (literally the genitive form of ben “I”)
- kelime = word
- hazinem = my treasure / my treasury (hazine = treasure, -m = my)
- geniş = wide, broad
So the structure is literally something like: “My word treasury-my wide.”
Idiomatically: “My vocabulary is broad.”
Why do we have both benim and the -m ending on hazinem to show “my”? Isn’t that redundant?
In Turkish, possession is normally shown on the possessed noun with a suffix:
- hazine → hazinem = my treasure
Adding benim is optional and adds emphasis or clarity, similar to the difference between:
- Kelime hazinem geniş. – My vocabulary is broad. (neutral)
- Benim kelime hazinem geniş. – My vocabulary is broad. (with emphasis on my, like “It’s my vocabulary that’s broad.”)
So yes, both benim and -m mark possession, but benim is there for emphasis or contrast, not because it’s grammatically required.
Can I leave out benim and just say Kelime hazinem geniş?