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### Verbs and the Dative Case

In English, verbs take various prepositions (like "at", "to", or "about") or no preposition at all (like "resemble"). In Turkish, a specific group of verbs always requires the **dative case** (*-e / -a* or *-ye / -ya*), because the action is conceptually directed *toward* a target.

### Getting Used to and Resembling

When you adapt to a new environment or look like a family member, the noun you are adapting to or resembling is your target. It must take the dative suffix.

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Notice how *amca* (uncle) takes the dative suffix to become *amcasına* (to his uncle):

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### Expressing Emotions

In English, you might be glad "about" a situation or sad "over" a mistake. In Turkish, emotions like being glad (*sevinmek*) or being sad (*üzülmek*) are directed *toward* their cause. Therefore, the thing you are happy or sad about takes the dative case.

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### Directing Focus and Behavior

Verbs that involve pointing your attention or actions at someone or something also naturally take the dative case. Two common examples are focusing (*odaklanmak*) and behaving (*davranmak*).

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When you behave well or badly toward someone, that person is the target of your behavior:

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Verbs taking the dative case (-e / -a)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

postposition

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Demonstrative pronouns (bu, şu, o)

Basic question words (kim, ne)

Plural nouns (-lar, -ler)

I am and you are (-(y)ım, -sın)

We, you, and they are (-(y)ız, -sınız)

Negative statements (değil)

Yes and no questions (mı, mi, mu, mü)

Questions with 'to be' (mısın, mıyım)

Numbers 1 to 10 (bir, iki, üç)

Numbers 11 to 20 (on bir, on iki)

Numbers by tens to 100 (otuz, kırk...)

Counting objects (tane)

The locative case (-da, -de)

Consonant assimilation (-ta, -te)

Asking where (nerede)

There is / there are (var)

There is not / there are not (yok)

Asking how many (kaç)

Infinitive verbs (-mak, -mek)

Informal commands (git, gel)

Negative commands (-ma, -me)

Polite and plural commands (-In, -InIz)

Basic word order

Present continuous for consonant roots (-iyor)

Present continuous for vowel roots (-iyor)

Present continuous personal suffixes (-iyorum)

Negative present continuous (-miyor)

Present continuous questions (-iyor mu)

Future plans with present continuous

The dative case (-(y)a, -(y)e)

Consonant mutation (k, t, p, ç to ğ, d, b, c)

From or out of (-dan / -den)

Directional question words (nereye, nereden)

First and second person possessives (-(i)m, -(i)n)

Third person possessive (-(s)i)

Plural possessives (-imiz, -iniz, -leri)

The genitive case (-(n)in)

Definite noun compounds (-nin ... -si)

Indefinite noun compounds (bare noun + -(s)i)

Possessive buffer letter (n)

Spatial postpositions (içinde, üstünde)

The definite direct object (-(y)ı, -(y)i)

Object question words (kimi, neyi)

Adjectives modifying nouns

Manner and choice questions (nasıl, hangi)

Basic degree modifiers (çok, biraz)

Comparisons (daha, en)

Days of the week

Months of the year

The time question word (ne zaman)

Telling time (saat, buçuk)

Asking the time (saat kaç, saat kaçta)

Basic conjunctions (ve, ama, veya)

Causality conjunction (çünkü)

Means and accompaniment (ile, -(y)lA)

Purpose and beneficiaries (için)

Expressing desire (-mak istemek)

The past copula (-(y)DI)

The direct past tense (-DI)

Past tense personal suffixes (-DIm, -DIn)

Past tense negative (-mAdI)

Past tense questions (-DI mI)

Ordinal numbers (-(I)ncI)

Greetings and politeness

Saying 'too' (de, da)

Conversation fillers (şey, yani, hadi)

Conversational essentials

Reflexive pronouns (kendim, kendin)

Reciprocal pronouns (birbiri)

Indefinite pronouns for people (herkes, kimse)

Indefinite pronouns for things and places (her şey, hiçbir şey)

Conjunctions of consequence (bu yüzden, bu nedenle)

Correlative conjunctions (hem... hem, ne... ne)

Verbs taking the ablative case (-den / -dan)

Time origin (beri)

Time duration (-DIr)

Comparisons of similarity (gibi)

Comparisons of equality (kadar)

Perspectives (göre)

Verbal nouns (-mA / -mE)

Verbal nouns as objects (-mAyI / -mEyI)

Verbal nouns with the dative (-mAyA / -mEyA)

General necessity (lazım / gerek)

Personal necessity (-mAm lazım)

Third-person commands (-sIn / -sInlAr)

First person singular optative (-(y)AyIm)

First person plural optative (-(y)AlIm)

Question	Answer
environment	çevre
to get used to	alışmak
I am getting used to the new environment.	Yeni çevreye alışıyorum.
situation	durum
He himself wants to get used to this situation.	Kendisi bu duruma alışmak istiyor.
uncle	amca
to resemble	benzemek
He resembles his uncle a lot.	O, amcasına çok benziyor.
aunt	teyze
I do not resemble my aunt at all.	Ben teyzeme hiç benzemiyorum.
to be glad	sevinmek
We were glad about this situation.	Biz bu duruma sevindik.
The child was very glad about his new toy.	Çocuk yeni oyuncağına çok sevindi.
to be sad	üzülmek
My uncle was very sad about this problem.	Amcam bu probleme çok üzüldü.
Your aunt does not want to be sad about this mistake.	Teyzen bu hataya üzülmek istemiyor.
to focus	odaklanmak
You just want to focus on your own environment.	Sadece kendi çevrene odaklanmak istiyorsun.
I am focusing on my work now.	Şimdi işime odaklanıyorum.
to behave	davranmak
They behave very badly towards the cat.	Kediye çok kötü davranıyorlar.
Please behave well towards the guests.	Lütfen misafirlere iyi davranın.
to upset, make sad	üzmek
This situation upset me a lot.	Bu durum beni çok üzdü.
Don't upset your mother!	Anneni üzme!
I upset him; now I am sad.	Onu üzdüm, şimdi üzülüyorum.