Turkish Locative Case: Rules and Examples
In Turkish, the locative case suffix -de / -da indicates location in place and time. If the word it is attached to ends in a hard consonant (f, s, t, k, ç, ş, h, p), the d changes to t (-te / -ta).
You can use the mnemonic word fıstıkçı Şahap, which translates as peanut seller Şahap, to remember these hard consonants.
We add the locative case suffix -de / -da (-te / -ta):
1. to the name of a place, area, container etc.
It usually corresponds to the English prepositions of place in, on or at.
Examples:
Fotoğrafta küçük bir kız vardı. → There was a little girl in the photograph.
Melis odasında müzik dinliyor. → Melis is listening to music in her room.
Et derin dondurucuda. → The meat is in the deep freeze.
Anahtarların masada. → Your keys are on the table.
Çocuklar plajda top oynuyorlar. → The kids are playing ball on the beach.
Ben ikinci katta oturuyorum. → I live on the second floor.
Kapıda bir adam var. → There is a man at the door.
Biz şimdi istasyonda bekliyoruz. → We are waiting at the (train) station now.
Bu otobüs Kızılay’da duruyor. → This bus stops at Kızılay [in Ankara].
2. to months, years, centuries and clock times
It usually corresponds to the English prepositions of time in, on or at.
Examples:
martta, 15 Mart’ta → in March, on 15 March
1971’de, 2003’te → in 1971, in 2003
20. yüzyılda → in the 20th century
5.00’te, 9.00’da → at 5.00, at 9.00
We add -da or -ın to seasons:
ilkbaharda → in spring
sonbaharda → in autumn/fall
yazın → in summer
kışın → in winter
However, we do not add the locative case suffix:
1. to days
Example:
Ben cuma (günü) Ankara’ya gidiyorum. → I’m going to Ankara on Friday.
Days may be followed by the word günü (gün ‘day’ + ü), literally translating as the day of Friday, Saturday etc.
2. to parts of the day
Examples:
Dersler sabah 9.00’da başlıyor. → Classes start at 9.00 in the morning.
Biz öğleden sonra alışverişe gidiyoruz. → We are going shopping in the afternoon.
Akşam buluşuyoruz, değil mi? → We are meeting up in the evening, right?
Also, not to hafta içi (weekday) and hafta sonu (weekend):
Ben hafta içi 7.00’de kalkıyorum. → I get up at 7.00 on weekdays.
Sen hafta sonu ne yapıyorsun? → What are you doing at the weekend?
See page 170 for clock times, and page 172 for days, months, seasons and years.
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.
