Turkish Dative Case: Rules and Examples

In Turkish, the dative case suffix -e / -a indicates the recipient (indirect object) of an action, direction, or goal. If the word it attaches to ends in a vowel, the buffer letter y is inserted in between.

We add the dative case suffix -(y)e / -(y)a:

1. To the indirect object

Indirect object is an object of a verb that refers to the person or thing that something is given to, said to, done to, or made for.

Example:

• Sana bir şey sorabilir miyim?

→  Can I ask you something?

Here, sana is the indirect object.

In indirect objects, the dative case suffix usually corresponds to the English prepositions at, to, or for.

Other examples:

• Adam fotoğrafa hüzünle baktı.

→ The man looked at the photograph sadly.

• Şimdi komşunun kedisine süt veriyorum.

→ I’m giving milk to the neighbour’s cat now.

• Her cuma karıma çiçek alıyorum.

→ I buy flowers for my wife every Friday.

• Dedem her akşam bize masal anlatıyor.

→ Grandpa tells us a story every evening.

2. To the name of a place, area, direction etc.

The dative case is also used to say where someone or something goes, or where something is placed.

In this use, it usually corresponds to the English prepositions to, in(to), or on(to).

Examples:

• Biz yarın İzmir'e gidiyoruz.

→ We are going to İzmir tomorrow.

• Eti derin dondurucuya koydum.

→ I have put the meat into the deep freeze.

• Düz gidin, bankadan sonra sağa dönün.

→ Go straight on, then turn right after the bank.

• Sakızını yine masaya yapıştırmışsın.

→ You have stuck your gum on the table again.

This post is just a part of the lesson on Turkish Case Suffixes in my book easy Turkish Grammar with answers 1 (A1-A2). You can find explanations of other case suffixes and grammar topics in the book. 👉 Check out the book here.