The suffix -ki in Turkish

The suffix “-ki” in Turkish has multiple use cases.

Instead of learning about the suffix “-ki” with some definition and its equivalent in English, let us see how it is used in real life and learn from examples.

Let us do few shots learning.

1. When “-ki” is used to express possession + context.

Its general grammatical structure is Pronoun + Possessive suffix + “-ki.”

• “Ayşe’nin arabası kırmızıdır ama benimki mavidir.”

  • Ayşe’s car is red but mine is blue.

• Onların ülkesi güzeldir ama bizimki daha güzel.

  • “Their country is beautiful but ours is more beautiful.”

• “Benim arkadaşım telefonu Iphone değil, onunki Samsung.”

  • My friend’s phone is not an Iphone his is Samsung.

• “Benim evim çok uzak seninki yakın mı?”

  • My house is very far is yours closer?

"-ki" literally means “the one that is” or “the one that belongs to” in this context.

• Benimki -> The one that is mine

• Seninki -> The one that is yours

• Onunki -> The one that is his/hers

• Bizimki -> The one that is ours

• Sizinki -> The one that is yours

• Onlarınki -> The one that is theirs

2. The “-ki” that is equivalent to “the one at” in English when used with locative suffix (-da, -de, -ta, -te)

The general grammar structure is taking into account vowel harmony🔗.

If you want to read about the locative suffixes (”At” equivalent of Turkish) in Turkish you can read about it here🔗.

Let us see examples of the “locative suffix + ki” in use.

If you want to say “the cat on the table”, it goes like “Masadaki kedi”

Masa - ┬─┬ (table)

Kedi - 😺 (cat)

• Evdeki bilgisayar çalışmıyor.
  • The computer at home doesn’t work.
• Raftaki kitab
  • The book on the shelf (the one on the shelf)
• Raftaki kitabı bana ver.
  • Give me the book on the shelf (the one on the shelf)
• Taylor Swift’in Singapur’daki konserini beğendim.
  • I liked the concert of Taylor Swift that was in Singapore.
• Buradaki insanlar çok misafirperver.
  • The people here are so hospital (the one here)

🎯 1. “-ki” is approximately like “≈ the one” in many cases.

🎯 2. “-ki” can also be used to avoid redundancy it can be used as a reference to the subject being discussed.

3. “-ki” when used to emphasize something you know or make a point.

It is the cutest use case of “-ki.”

It is like “-to begin with.”

I didn’t invite Aslı to the party (ki).

Aslı’yı partiye davet etmedim (ki).

I didn’t invite Aslı to the party (in the first place / to begin with / to start with).

It is usually used in a sweet tone and has a very warm feel to it.

Personally it is one of my favorite expressions in Turkish.

4. “-ki” when used as connector when describing something with exaggeration.

• Öyle büyük bir bina ki, içeride kayboldum.
  • It's such a big building that I got lost inside.

💡 This is probably not an exhaustive list of how ‘-ki’ is used and you wil instinctively learn about how it is used rather than studying it.

Thanks for reading!

Written by

Abbas Abdelila

@abbasabdelila