Turkish Ablative Case: Rules and Examples

In Turkish, we add the ablative case suffix -den / -dan, which usually corresponds to the English preposition from, to the name of a place, area, container, substance etc, or to the name of a person to say:

1. where someone or something starts, leaves, or comes from

Examples:

• Bizim trenimiz 2. perondan kalkıyor. → Our train departs from platform 2.

• Sabah evden 7.00’de çıkıyorum. → I leave home at 7.00 in the morning.

• Öykü hafta sonu Isparta’dan dönüyor. → Öykü is returning from Isparta at the weekend.

2. where something is before it is removed

Examples:

• Cepbinden bir fotoğraf çıkardı. → He took a photograph out of his pocket.

• Gözlerini fotoğraftan ayıramadı. → He couldn’t take his eyes off the photograph.

• On ikiden beşi çıkartın. → Subtract five from twelve.

If the word it is attached to ends in a hard consonant (f, s, t, k, ç, ş, h, p) as in fotoğraf in the second example, the d changes to t (-ten / -tan). You can use the mnemonic word fıstıkçı Şahap, which translates as peanut seller Şahap, to remember these hard consonants.

3. what substance is used to make something

Examples:

• Lokum şeker ve nişastadan yapılıyor. → Turkish delight is made from sugar and starch.

• Çocuklar plajda kumdan kule yapıyorlar. → The kids are building a tower from sand on the beach.

4. who sends or gives something

Examples:

• Her hafta Ece’den mektup alıyorum. → I receive a letter from Ece every week.

• O hâlâ babasından harçlık alıyor. → He still gets pocket money from his father.

This post is just a part of the Turkish Case Suffixes lesson in my book easy Turkish Grammar with answers 1 (A1–A2). Throughout the book, all suffixes are shown in the same colours, with a clear colour legend on every page — see it below! — making it easy to follow and remember each pattern. 👉 Check out the book here.

Suffixes are colour-coded with these colours throughout the book.