Turkish 14 - The dative case suffix

The dative case suffix is (y)E. The dative case suffix is often used to signify motion towards something.

I am walking towards the table.(Ben) masaya yürüyorum.
I am coming home.(Ben) eve geliyorum.

A lot of verbs that take an object with the dative case suffix, can take an object with the accusative case suffix as well. The object with the accusative case suffix is called the direct object and the object with the dative case suffix is called the indirect object.

I am giving an apple to Selma.(Ben) Selma'ya (bir) elma veriyorum.
Put the apple on the table.Elmayı masaya koy.

As you can see again above, proper nouns receive an apostrophe before a case suffix.

There are also verbs that only take an indirect object, and there is no general rule when to use which suffix. For example, in the sentence below you can rationalize that bakmak takes a dative case suffix because you look at the cat, so there is a kind of motion towards. However, this doesn't work as well for the second sentence. The verb to believe definitely looks as if it needs a direct object, but it needs an indirect object.

You will therefore have to memorize for each verb, which case suffix you need to use with its object.

Look at the cat.Kediye bak.
I believe the man.Adama inanıyorum.

Contributors