Causal clauses (-dığından dolayı)

To explain exactly why something happened—translating to "because of," "due to," or "since"—Turkish uses a causal clause built with the ablative case. We will use this structure to analyze the reasons behind a small business bankruptcy.

Forming Causal Clauses

This structure turns a full sentence into a reason by modifying its verb. It requires three steps:

1. The Participle: Add the suffix -dık / -dik / -duk / -dük to the verb root. (For negative verbs, add the negative suffix -ma / -me first, yielding -madık / -medik).
2. The Possessive: Add a possessive suffix to show who or what is doing the action. (Because possessive suffixes usually start with a vowel, the k in the participle softens to a ğ).
3. The Ablative & Postposition: Add the ablative case suffix -dan / -den ("from"). It is very common to follow this with the word dolayı ("due to"), though it is optional.

Note: For the third-person singular (o), the possessive suffix is *-u / -ü / -ı / -i. Before adding the ablative -dan / -den, Turkish requires the buffer letter n, resulting in olduğundan.*

Applying the Grammar: Business Failures

Notice how the negative verb ödememek (not to pay) takes the third-person structure to mean "because it did not pay":

Using Adjectives and States

To say "because [something] is/was [adjective]," you use the verb olmak (to be) in this construction.

Similarly, you can use the negative olmadığından dolayı to express "because there was no [noun]":

Plural Subjects

If the subject doing the action is "they" (onlar), the possessive suffix becomes -ları / -leri. When combined with the ablative case, it becomes -larından / -lerinden. Because the possessive suffix starts with a consonant, the k does not soften to a ğ:

Chaining Multiple Reasons

If a business failed for more than one reason, you can chain these clauses together using ve (and).