-e karşı

Against and Towards

Level 3

The postposition -e karşı is used to express physical direction (facing), emotional attitudes (towards someone), competition (against), time (just before a point), or exchange (in return for).

How It Works

The postposition -e karşı is a versatile tool in Turkish. Depending on the context, it takes on five distinct meanings:

  • Attitudinal/Relational: It describes how you feel or behave toward someone. For example, 'being honest with you' or 'respect towards elders'.
  • Opposition: It indicates being 'against' something, whether in a sports match, a political stance, or physical resistance (like swimming against a current).
  • Physical Orientation: It means 'facing' or 'opposite' to something. If you sit denize karşı, you are sitting with a view of the sea.
  • Temporal: When used with time words like sabah (morning) or akşam (evening), it means 'towards' or 'just before'.
  • Exchange: It can mean 'in return for' or 'in exchange for' something else.

Morphology:
Because it governs the dative case, you must apply two-way vowel harmony to the noun first. If the noun ends in a vowel, use the buffer letter -y- (e.g., arabaya karşı).

Pronouns:
Personal pronouns must also be in the dative form: bana karşı, sana karşı, ona karşı, etc.

Examples (6)

  1. Sana karşı her zaman dürüst oldum.

    I have always been honest with you.

    Word by Word: To-you against every time honest I-became.

    Here, '-e karşı' expresses an attitude or behavior directed toward a person.

  2. Takımımız Beşiktaş'a karşı oynuyor.

    Our team is playing against Beşiktaş.

    Word by Word: Team-our Beşiktaş-to against is-playing.

    In this context, it indicates competition or opposition. Note the apostrophe used for the proper noun.

  3. Sabaha karşı kar yağmaya başladı.

    It started to snow towards morning.

    Word by Word: Morning-to against snow to-snow started.

    This demonstrates the temporal use, meaning 'just before dawn'.

  4. Pencerenin önünde denize karşı oturduk.

    We sat facing the sea in front of the window.

    Word by Word: Window-of front-its-at sea-to against we-sat.

    This shows physical orientation, meaning 'facing' or 'looking out at'.

  5. Bu yardıma karşı hiçbir şey istemiyorum.

    I don't want anything in return for this help.

    Word by Word: This help-to against nothing thing I-do-not-want.

    This shows the 'in exchange for' or 'in return for' meaning of the postposition.

  6. Rüzgâra karşı yürümek çok zor.

    It is very difficult to walk against the wind.

    Word by Word: Wind-to against to-walk very difficult.

    This shows physical resistance or opposition.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the wrong case with pronouns.

    Benim karşı dürüst ol.
    Bana karşı dürüst ol.

    Learners often use the genitive (benim) by mistake. Unlike 'için' or 'gibi', 'karşı' always requires the dative case (bana, sana, ona).

  • Confusing '-e karşı' with '-e karşın'.

    Yağmura karşı dışarı çıktık.
    Yağmura karşın dışarı çıktık.

    '-e karşı' means 'against/towards', while '-e karşın' means 'despite/in spite of'. Use '-e karşın' (or '-e rağmen') when you mean 'despite the rain'.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

-e karşıLevel 3Against and Towards

Learn This First

To understand '-e karşı', you first need to be comfortable with the Dative case (-(y)e) because this postposition specifically governs that case. You should also know how personal pronouns change when the dative case is applied and how vowel harmony affects the choice between '-e' and '-a'.

Words in This Pattern

karşı