benimle / seninle

With Me, With You

Level 2

To say 'with' a person using a pronoun, Turkish uses the genitive stem (possessive form) + the postposition ile (or its suffix form -le/-la). For example: benimle (with me).

How It Works

The Turkish postposition ile expresses accompaniment. When combined with personal pronouns, it follows a specific rule:

1. The Genitive Rule: Unlike English 'with me', Turkish literally says 'with mine'. You must use the possessive pronouns as the base.

  • Benim + le = Benimle (With me)
  • Senin + le = Seninle (With you)
  • Onun + la = Onunla (With him/her/it)
  • Bizim + le = Bizimle (With us)
  • Sizin + le = Sizinle (With you all/polite)

2. The Exception: The 3rd person plural pronoun onlar does not take the genitive. It uses the plain form: onlarla (with them).

3. Vowel Harmony: The suffix follows two-way vowel harmony. Use -le for front vowels (e, i, ö, ü) and -la for back vowels (a, ı, o, u).

4. Buffer Consonant: Note that onunla uses a buffer -n- because the base pronoun 'o' becomes 'onun' in the genitive.

Examples (5)

  1. Benimle sinemaya gelmek ister misin?

    Do you want to come to the cinema with me?

    Word by Word: With-mine to-the-cinema to-come do-you-want?

    Uses 'benimle' (with me) in a standard invitation.

  2. Seninle gurur duyuyorum.

    I am proud of you (literally: I feel pride with you).

    Word by Word: With-yours pride I-am-feeling.

    In Turkish, the idiom 'to be proud' uses the 'with' construction.

  3. Yarın sizinle bir toplantı yapacağız.

    We will have a meeting with you (plural/polite) tomorrow.

    Word by Word: Tomorrow with-yours one meeting we-will-do.

    Shows the polite/plural form 'sizinle'.

  4. Onunla konuşmak çok zor.

    It is very difficult to talk with him/her.

    Word by Word: With-his/her to-talk very difficult.

    Uses 'onunla' which includes the pronominal 'n' buffer.

  5. Bizimle kalmak istiyorlar mı?

    Do they want to stay with us?

    Word by Word: With-ours to-stay they-want [question]?

    Uses 'bizimle' (with us) followed by the infinitive 'kalmak'.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the nominative (plain) pronoun instead of the genitive.

    Benle gel.
    Benimle gel.

    While 'benle' is heard in very casual speech, it is grammatically incorrect in standard Turkish. You must use the genitive 'benimle'.

  • Applying the genitive rule to 'onlar'.

    Onlarınla gittim.
    Onlarla gittim.

    The plural pronoun 'onlar' is an exception; it does not take the genitive suffix before '-la'.

  • Using the dative case (to/for) instead of the genitive.

    Bana ile konuş.
    Benimle konuş.

    With a personal pronoun, 'ile' uses the genitive form (benimle, seninle), not the dative. Learners sometimes mix it up with words like 'göre' (according to), which take the dative case.

How It Connects

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

benimle / seninleLevel 2With Me, With You

Learn This First

To understand 'benimle' and 'seninle', you first need to know the genitive forms of personal pronouns (benim, senin, etc.) and how the suffix -(y)le (meaning 'with') functions, as these pronouns exceptionally require the genitive case when combined with this suffix.

Words in This Pattern

ile-lesen