"Kedinin suyu var."
Translation:The cat has water.
48 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
I must be missing something. Why is it suyu? Is it implied that it is ''the'' water?
1208
It is not 'the water', though it looks like the Accusative form of water (as in 'Ben suyu içerim.'- I drink the water.)
The sentence here describes an ownership: both owner and possessed item get an ending. On top of it, this sentence is constructed with 'var' (there is/it exists). For better understanding you have to turn the whole sentence around. You don't say 'The cat has water' in Turkish but literally
'The cat's water exists.'
The cat is the owner. It get's the Genitive ending -(n) l n : n - after a vowel ln- after kedi = in (4way harmony)
Kedi- n - in = the cat's
the water 'su' is owned. It therefore get's the possessed ending(= 3rd person sg possessive ending (s ) l (4way harmony )
Su - should get 's' because it ends in a vowel and 'u'.
But 'su' is an exception to the rule:
suyum - my water
suyun - your water
suyu - his /her water ( what we have in the sentence above)
suyumuz - our water
suyunuz - your water
suları (or onların suyu) - their water
Hope that helps
dieprinzessin
Merhaba kızım.
I love your jargon free, user friendly explanations.
Teşekkür ederim.
I have awarded you a lingot & voted like ^ on your comment.
That would be a "have the" sentence instead -- about the location of specific water.
Your cat has the water. --> Su senin kedinde. [lit. The water is at/with your cat.]
Kedinin suyu var. Slightly different grammatical process (kedi-nin suyu var VS kedi-n-in suyu var) but outcome is the same phrase and pronunciation. :) Just have to understand it from context.
I don't remember learning about all these "n"s... How are we supposed to know this?
Look at the tips & notes for the Possessive section.
First, to translate "the cat's" from English to Turkish:
The genitive case ending is ln, where l is replaced by the vowel that follows 4-way vowel harmony. But if the root word ends in a vowel, we need to add buffer -n- between the word and the genitive case suffix, otherwise it would sound ridiculous.
So, following these steps, we get kedi +buffer n + genitive ending in = kedinin. This means "the cat's".
Now, to translate your cat's, it's a bit different. Once again start with kedi, then add the -n suffix to indicate that it is your cat.
Now add the genitive ending -in, but this time because your cat already ends with the letter n, we obviously don't need to add a buffer -n-.
Following these steps, we get to kedi + possessive ending n + genitive ending in = kedinin, translating to your cat's.
The result is the same for both: kedinin, but the process to get to the result is a bit different. I hope this helped, it's very confusing and took me a while to grasp so let me know if you have any more questions.
That would be a "have the" sentence instead -- about the location of specific water.
Your cat has the water. --> Su senin kedinde. [lit. The water is at/with your cat.]
- 190
Вот я тоже удивляюсь, как они тогда различают " у кота есть вода ( вообще вода , water)" и " у кота есть та самая конкретная вода (the water)"
Yes, that is a different type of sentence -- a "have the" sentence -- about the location of specific water.
The cat has the water. --> Su kedide. [lit. The water is at/with the cat.]
Not in this sentence. If you are thinking about the accusative case, it does not belong here, and that would not be how you would add it.
According to their own rules it must be "susu"
"su" is a Possessee, "Kedi" is a Possessor
"Kedi (n) in" (is correct) and "su-su" because "Kedi" is a 3rd person and "su" is Singular which ends with a vowel "
I understand there are exceptions, but in this case, at the very beginning exceptions should absent. It must be the entire dedicated lesson about exceptions.
There are very few exceptions/irregulars in Turkish, but "su" is one of them. "Suyu" is correct for adding the possessive suffix (or the accusative case, when appropriate) to "su."
- 190
It's just not clear: The cat has water = Kedinin suyu var - ОК but how it would be if The cat has THE(!) water. Any translator answers again: Kedinin suyu var.
Lesson: Do not trust online translators!
Google Translate, and the like, are basically just robots that make intelligent guesses. There are many, many things about Turkish grammar that they do not understand, and they are often wrong. These are valuable tools, but you cannot rely on them for producing grammatically correct sentences.
(See other comments in this thread for the answer to your question.)
If it was a dog, would it be a) "Köpeknin suyu var." or b) "Köpeğnin suyu var." or c) Köpeğin suyu var."?
MysaraAlge
Hello.
My cat's water - Benim kedimin suyu.
Water of my cat - Kedimin suyu.
Kedimin eşyaları - My cats possessions, objects, personal effects & cat litter tray. Genitive/possessive suffixed.
Thank you.
I am sorry I meant YOUR cat's water the water of YOUR cat çok teşekkürler
Gargamelin kedisinin adı neydi? - What is the name of Gargamel's cat? Reference to the (Smurfs) I always watched the Smurfs with my daughter when she was a child.
I am sorry I meant YOUR cat's water the water of YOUR cat çok teşekkürler
Senin kedisinin suyu - Your cat's water.
Good morning MysaraAlge - You are very generous & please do not award me any more lingots.
Thank you.
- 811
Could you please break down "kedisinin"? If "my cat" is "benim kedimin", why can't "your cat" be "senin kedinin"?
That must have been a typo.
Your cat --> Senin kedin
Your cat's water --> Senin kedinin suyu
Her cat --> Onun kedisi
Her cat's water --> Onun kedisinin suyu
I answered the question as:The cat has the water 'Kedinin suyu var' Suyu i thought means the water ,but it seems not. Apparently the correct answer is 'The cat has water' Also can you please explain this to me in simple form. (I have just started this topic and find all this possesive stuff really confusing) :\ Thanks,
SabahAhmadi
Hello.
"Kedinin suyu var." - The cat has water.
In Turkish the Possessor is suffixed with -in -ın -un -ün
Buffer -n- is used when suffixed to vowels: → -nin -nın -nun -nün
The "-in" suffix means "of, belonging to."
Turkish Grammar calls it Suffix of Ownership [genitive]
Kedi -nin. "Kedi" - cat. The -nin suffix now says that "the cat" has something.
The Duo tips & notes on this topic are excellent & please refer to them as homework.
Thank you.
- 1108
Unless I badly missed something, this is the first time I see what the suffix for the possessor is. And I DID read the notes a few times, trying to figure out what I am missing.....So the notes here are not all that great, that part is missing as far as I can see.
ReutMark
Hello.
I sincerely apologise to you. I just double checked my topic tips & notes on Duo. I cannot find the above grammar explanation on Duo anywhere.
Turkish Grammar calls it - "Suffix of Ownership" [genitive]
Turkish personal pronouns being put into the "genitive" case. According to 4 way vowel harmony. I, you, she, he & it. (n) in, (n) ın, (n) un & (n) ün. Buffer consonant (n) (Singular) 1st person - benim. (Plural) 1st person - bizim. (Singular) 2nd person - senin. (Plural) 2nd person - sizin. (Singular) 3rd person - onun. (Plural) 3rd person - onların.
Turkish personal nouns being put into the "genitive" case ending. A set of endings for Turkish personal nouns & pronouns that are equivalent English phrase endings for: “Of” & “of the.” The Genitive case ending. According to 4 way vowel harmony rules. (n) in, (n) ın, (n) un & (n) ün. Buffer consonant (n) Kardeşin, Arkadaşın, Kedinin, Arabanın, Okulun, Radyonun, Kuaförün, Senin, Karımın, kimsenin, babanın, kimselerin, Ailenin, Sekreterin & Gökyüzünün.
Proper nouns have an apostrophe before the suffix. İstanbul'un & Yıldız Tilbe'nin.
Turkish personal pronouns for: I, you, he, she or it being put into the “genitive” case ending. I becomes “my” or “mine.” You becomes “your” or “yours.” Singular or informal. According to 4 way vowel harmony rules. (n) in, (n) ın, (n) un & (n) ün. Buffer consonant (n)
(Singular) 1st person - benim.
(Plural) 1st person - bizim.
(Singular) 2nd person - senin.
(Plural) 2nd person - sizin.
(Singular) 3rd person - onun.
(Plural) 3rd person - onların.
Benim – mine.
Bizim – ours.
Senin – yours. (Singular informal)
Sizin – yours. (Plural formal)
Onun – his, hers or its.
Onların – theirs (Plural)
ReutMark
If you have a printer facility please contact me for specific topic grammar tips & notes. I study in the morning @ (4 am)
The "light bulb" does switch on after some time in my (brain)
Please watch the Turkish grammar tutorials on youtube.com
Rica ederim! - You're welcome!
Hello Hilmi and ReutMark. May i add this 3 sites i found: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genitive_case#Turkish where i can read this only precious explanations in only one sentence: "The Turkish possessive is constructed using two suffixes: a genitive case for the possessor and a possessive suffix for the possessed object. For example:
<pre>Nominative: Kadın ('woman'); ayakkabı ('shoe')" Genitive: Kadının ayakkabısı ('the woman's shoe')" and those two super videos on genitive and possessive cases: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH2iRwfBFPs for possessive case and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_aC5BwxuFY for genitive case. Enjoy!
</pre>There is no Reply button there. I suspect it is an exception because "su" is a monosyllable which ends with a vowel, no?
I put 'your cat' instead of 'the cat' and it was marked correct. I didn't put 'the cat' because it wa a 'Y' not '' S' in Suyu. I now see in explanation here it is iregular. But I am still puzzled why it was marked correct because it is suyu not suyun. Can anyone clarify this for me please?
msHelenRuth
Hello.
"Kedinin suyu var." Translation: The cat has water & your cat has water. - Correct answers as verified by Helen.
Kedinin - (genitive) case meaning "of the cat."
Kedinin - "the" cat & "your" cat.
Senin kedinin suyu var - Your cat has water.
In Turkish the Possessor is suffixed with -in -ın -un -ün
Buffer -n- is used when suffixed to vowels: → -nin -nın -nun -nün
The -in suffix means "of, belonging to.."
Turkish Grammar calls it Suffix of Ownership [genitive]
Kedi -nin. "Kedi" - cat. The -nin suffix now says that "the cat" has something.
Kind regards.
Am I alone in having difficulty hearing the difference between "kedinin" and "kadınin"? I think in conversation it would be indistinguishable.
does the ‘kedinin’ in this sentence mean the same thing as ‘kedi’nin’?
because the cat is the possessor?
Raven, "kedinin"="kedi-nin"="her/his cat". "kedi" is not a land noun as in "turkiye'nin nüfusu"="the population of Turkey" or a person name as in "Selcen's comment"="Selcen'in. In those two examples you have to use " '-n-in".
Raven, here is my favorite website about genitive case in Turkish, a video in English, short and clear: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_aC5BwxuFY. Enjoy it!
this video was really helpful, mariane and helped me understand this much better. thank you!
- 404
Why is a particular cat, "the", here? Can you express Cats ingeneral have paws by the sentence, which is not necessarily more than one cat but only plural forms work in English. For example, we just say 猫は足があります in Japanese, which word to word translation is Cat has paws, not cats. Then Kedinin pençeleri var only means The particular cat has paws and can not be Cats generally have paws, where a plural form again is not required in Turkish, well, I hope. Any native speakers? Thanks.