benim / senin / onun

Possessive Pronouns

Level 2

Possessive pronouns like benim (my/mine) and senin (your/yours) indicate who owns something. They are formed by adding genitive suffixes to personal pronouns.

How It Works

Turkish possessive pronouns are the genitive case forms of personal pronouns.

1. Formation:
Most follow the standard genitive rules, but 'I' and 'We' are irregular:

  • ben + im = benim (my / mine)
  • sen + in = senin (your / yours)
  • o + nun = onun (his, her, its / hers)
  • biz + im = bizim (our / ours)
  • siz + in = sizin (your / yours - plural/polite)
  • onlar + ın = onların (their / theirs)

2. Attributive Use (My house):
When used before a noun, the noun must also have a matching possessive suffix. Because the suffix already tells you who the owner is, the pronoun is often dropped unless you want to emphasize the owner.

3. Predicative Use (It is mine):
When you want to say 'This is mine' or 'That is yours,' you use these pronouns as the main complement of the sentence. In this role, they are not optional.

4. With Postpositions:
Certain words like için (for) or gibi (like) require the pronoun to be in this genitive/possessive form (e.g., benim için - for me). However, onlar is an exception; it stays in the basic form (e.g., onlar için - for them).

Examples (6)

  1. Bu çanta benim.

    This bag is mine.

    Word by Word: This bag mine.

    Here, 'benim' acts as the predicate, meaning 'mine'.

  2. Benim evim çok büyük.

    My house is very big.

    Word by Word: My house-my very big.

    Using 'benim' emphasizes that it is my house, specifically. Note the suffix -im on 'evim'.

  3. Senin anahtarların nerede?

    Where are your keys?

    Word by Word: Your keys-your where?

    The pronoun 'senin' matches the second-person singular suffix -ın on 'anahtarların'.

  4. Bu araba onun mu?

    Is this car his/hers?

    Word by Word: This car his/hers [question]?

    In a question, the possessive pronoun 'onun' asks about ownership.

  5. Bizim okulumuz çok eski.

    Our school is very old.

    Word by Word: Our school-our very old.

    Note the irregular 'bizim' (not 'bizin') used with the first-person plural suffix -umuz.

  6. Bu hediye senin için.

    This gift is for you.

    Word by Word: This gift your for.

    When used with the postposition 'için', singular pronouns take the possessive form 'senin'.

Common Mistakes

  • Dropping the possessive suffix on the noun when the pronoun is present.

    benim kitap
    benim kitabım

    In Turkish, the suffix on the noun is mandatory. You cannot say 'my book' by just using the pronoun; you must include the possessive ending on the noun.

  • Using the regular genitive suffix for 'ben' and 'biz'.

    benin / bizin
    benim / bizim

    The first-person pronouns are irregular and use -im instead of the standard -in suffix.

  • Confusing 'onun' (his/her) with 'onu' (him/her).

    Onu evi burada.
    Onun evi burada.

    'Onu' is the accusative case (object), while 'onun' is the genitive/possessive form (owner).

How It Connects

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benim / senin / onunLevel 2Possessive Pronouns

Learn This First

To understand possessive pronouns (benim, senin, etc.), you first need to be familiar with the basic personal pronouns for both singular and plural subjects. Additionally, since these forms are created by applying the genitive case suffix to those pronouns, knowledge of the genitive case (-in) is required to understand their structure.

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Words in This Pattern

seninonun