Combining Possession and Questions in Turkish

Now that we’ve learned basic sentences like Benim evim (My house), Senin evin (Your house), Onun evi (His/her house), Senin araban var mı? (Do you have a car?), Evet, arabam var (Yes, I have a car), and Hayır, arabam yok (No, I don’t have a car), it’s time to combine possession with more complex questions.

Examples of Combined Sentences:

Senin evinde televizyon var mı? (Is there a TV in your house?)

Senin çantanda telefon var mı? (Is there a phone in your bag?)

Onun evinde kedi var mı? (Is there a cat in his/her house?)

How to Form These Questions:

In Turkish, we combine possession and location using suffixes. Let’s break it down:

1. Possessive Pronouns

We already know the possessive pronouns:

• Benim (my)
• Senin (your)
• Onun (his/her)

2. Possessive Suffixes

To indicate possession, we add these suffixes:

• im for benim (my)
• in for senin (your)
• i for onun (his/her)

Examples:

Benim evim (My house)

Senin evin (Your house)

Onun evi (His/her house)

3. Locative Suffix

To indicate location, we add the suffix -de or -da depending on vowel harmony:

• After front vowels (e, i, ö, ü), use -de
• After back vowels (a, ı, o, u), use -da

Examples:

Ev + de → Evinde (in your house)

Çanta + da → Çantanda (in your bag)

4. Forming Questions

Once we have the possessive and locative forms, we simply add the question structure with var mı? (is there):

Senin evinde televizyon var mı? (Is there a TV in your house?)

Senin çantanda telefon var mı? (Is there a phone in your bag?)

Onun evinde kedi var mı? (Is there a cat in his/her house?)

Table for Clarity: