raf: a shelf and its cases

The idea

Raf means shelf. A place on the shelf uses rafta, and movement from it uses raftan. The voiceless f selects t in both suffixes. A specific direct object is rafı; the final f remains unchanged.

Examples

• Üst rafta eski bir saat duruyor.An old clock is on the upper shelf.
• Rafı dikkatle duvara monte ettik.We carefully mounted the shelf on the wall.
• Sabah alt raftan kitapları aldım.In the morning I took the books from the lower shelf.
• Bu raf çok dar.This shelf is very narrow.
• Rafın üzerinde üç küçük kutu var.There are three small boxes on the shelf.
• Yeni raflar mutfakta kullanışlı.The new shelves are useful in the kitchen.

Watch out

Do not replace the ablative raftan with rafta when the sentence describes taking something off the shelf. Their endings express different relationships.

Try it yourself

1. Use the definite object: We carefully mounted the shelf on the wall. ___ dikkatle duvara monte ettik.

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   rafı

   rafı: the specific shelf is the direct object, marked with -ı.

2. Use the locative: The old clock is on the upper shelf. Eski saat üst ___.

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   rafta

   rafta: after voiceless f, the location ending begins with t.

3. Use the ablative: In the morning I took the books from the lower shelf. Sabah alt ___ kitapları aldım.

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   raftan

   raftan: the ablative with -tan marks movement from the shelf.

Use it today

Describe something on a shelf and something you took from another shelf.