Where from: the Ablative in Kazakh

Kazakh grammar for beginners · Starting points, origins, and standards of comparison

The ablative case indicates the starting point, origin, or source of an action ("from", "out of", "off"). It answers the questions "from where?", "from whom?", and "from what?".

In addition to physical movement away from a place, the ablative is used in comparisons ("more than..."), for causes and reasons ("because of..."), and with time postpositions ("after", "since").

Choosing the shape

Sound before the ending	Back vowels (a, o, ū, y (а, о, ұ, ы))	Front vowels (ä, e, ı, ö, ü (ә, е, і, ө, ү))
a vowel, i, u (й, у), or a voiced consonant: j, z, l, r (ж, з, л, р)	-dan (-дан)	-den (-ден)
a nasal consonant: m, n, ñ (м, н, ң)	-nan (-нан)	-nen (-нен)
a voiceless consonant: k, q, p, s, t, f, h, ş (к, қ, п, с, т, ф, х, ш), or b, v, g, d (б, в, г, д)	-tan (-тан)	-ten (-тен)
a third person possessive ending (-y, -ı, -sy, -sı (-ы, -і, -сы, -сі))	-nan (-нан)	-nen (-нен)

The six shapes

Where a movement started

The ablative case marks where a movement started from: the city, building, or place left behind.

Personal pronouns in the ablative case

When men (мен) and sen (сен) take -nen (-нен), the double n (н) simplifies by dropping one letter, resulting in menen (менен) (not *mennen (меннен)*) and senen (сенен) (not *sennen (сеннен)*). For the third person, ol (ол) drops its l (л) before -dan (-дан), becoming odan (одан).

Plural and formal pronouns follow the standard phonetic rules without dropping letters: bız (біз) and sız (сіз) end in voiced z (з) and take regular -den (-ден) (bızden (бізден), sızden (сізден), sızderden (сіздерден)), sender (сендер) takes -den (-ден) (senderden (сендерден)), and olar (олар) takes -dan (-дан) (olardan (олардан)).

Ablative case after first and second person possessives

First-person and second-person possessives (-m, -ñ, -ym, -ım, -yñ, -ıñ (-м, -ң, -ым, -ім, -ың, -ің)) end in nasals (m, ñ (м, ң)), so they take -nan (-нан) or -nen (-нен). Formal second-person endings (-ñyz, -ñız (-ңыз, -ңіз)), ending in voiced z (з), take -dan (-дан) or -den (-ден).

A buffer n (н) appears after third-person possessives

Third-person possessive suffixes (-y, -ı, -sy, -sı (-ы, -і, -сы, -сі)) end in a vowel, but insert a buffer n (н) before the ablative case ending, producing -nan (-нан) or -nen (-нен) (never -dan (-дан) or -den (-ден)).

The words that stand after it

Four common postpositions govern the ablative case: keiın (кейін) ("after"), būryn (бұрын) ("before"), berı (бері) ("since"), and basqa (басқа) ("besides / other than"). Each measures a distance or stretch of time starting from the noun.

Than

In comparisons, Kazakh puts the noun being compared against into the ablative case, corresponding to "than" in English.

Because of it

The ablative case also marks causes and reasons, indicating what an effect originated from ("from / because of").

Quoting a price

When naming unit prices at a market or asking the price per item ("at what rate?"), the numeral or question word takes the ablative ending.

Parallel structures in Turkish

Turkish marks the ablative case with -dan, -den, -tan, -ten, following the same vowel harmony and voiceless consonant assimilation rules as Kazakh (e.g. Kazakh qaladan (қаладан) matches Turkish şehirden, and mektepten (мектептен) matches mektepten).

Kazakh adds a nasal assimilation rule not found in standard Turkish: after nasal consonants (m, n, ñ (м, н, ң)), the suffix assimilates to -nan / -nen (-нан / -нен) (e.g. adamnan (адамнан) vs. Turkish adamdan).

Both languages use the ablative for starting points, origins, causes, comparisons ("than"), and with parallel postpositions like berı (бері) ↔ beri and basqa (басқа) ↔ başka. After third-person possessives, both languages insert a buffer n (н) / n (şeşesınen (шешесінен) ↔ annesinden).

Keep going

← Where to: the Dative · Whose: the Genitive →

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• Whose: the Genitive — Possession, definite noun phrases, and relationships
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• Verb Differences & False Friends — How common Kazakh and Turkish verbs parted ways over time

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