Turkish Apostrophe: Rules and Examples

Turkish apostrophes (kesme işareti) are used in specific ways with proper names, initials, acronyms, numbers, dates, and times. In this post, we’ll explain the rules with examples.

A. We use the apostrophe (kesme işareti) when we add inflectional suffixes, such as case endings and the ek-fiil (the verb to be):

1. To proper names, and the titles Bey and Hanım

Examples:

• Biz yarın Mersin’e gidiyoruz. → We are going to Mersin tomorrow.

• Oğlum Ankara Üniversitesi’nde okuyor. → My son is studying at Ankara University.

• Selim Bey’in karısı İngiliz’miş. → (They say) Mr Selim’s wife is English.

• Melisa’yla Cansu alışverişe gittiler. → Melisa and Cansu have gone shopping.

2. To initials and acronyms

Examples:

• ABD’den /abededen/ → from the USA

• THY’yle /teheyeyle/ → with THY (Turkish Airlines)

• NATO’da /natoda/ → in NATO

• TÜBİTAK’a /tübitağa/ → to TÜBİTAK (a national agency of Turkey)

Notice that like in English, initials (ABD and THY) are pronounced as separate letters, and acronyms (NATO and TÜBİTAK) are pronounced as words.

3. To dates, times, amounts etc. shown by numbers

Examples:

• 2010’da /iki bin onda/ → in 2010

• saat 3.00’te /...üçte/ → at 3.00

• 15’le 20 kg arası /on beşle yirmi.../ → between 15 and 20 kg

Also, we use the apostrophe before the suffix -(i)nci, which forms ordinal numbers:

• 3’üncü kat → the 3rd floor

• 21’nci yüzyıl → the 21st century

B. We do not use the apostrophe when we add inflectional suffixes:

1. To proper names in phrases, idioms, and proverbs

Examples:

• Allaha ısmarladık. → Goodbye. (Literally, I leave you God’s care.)

• Her firavunun bir Musası vardır. → For every pharaoh there is a Moses.

2. To derived proper names

Examples:

• Türk → Turk

Türkçe → Turkish

Türkçede → in Turkish

• Amerika → America

Amerikalı → American

Amerikalıyım. → I'm American.

But:

• Türk’üm. → I'm Turkish.

• İngiliz’im. → I'm English.

We do not use the apostrophe either when we add the plural suffix to the nationalities and personal names.

Examples:

• Türkler

• İngilizler

• Amerikalılar

• Ayşeler

• Hasanlar

Want to know what the plural suffix does with personal names? Check out this post.

I included this lesson as an appendix in my book easy Turkish Grammar with answers 1 (A1–A2), along with 10 other appendices, in addition to the 36 main units. Check out the book here.