Turkish Adverb Suffix -CA: -ca, -ce, -ça, -çe Explained
How the Turkish suffix -CA turns an adjective or noun into a manner adverb — the two-way vowel harmony that picks -ca or -ce, the c → ç hardening after a voiceless consonant (açık → açıkça), and the two further jobs it does: naming a language (Türk → Türkçe) and giving an opinion (ben → bence).
Ekle ·
The suffix -CA builds an adverb of manner from an adjective or noun, harmonising with the last vowel and hardening its c to ç after a voiceless consonant.
What the suffix does
English adds -ly to make a manner adverb; Turkish adds this one suffix. Glue it onto an adjective and you get the adverb: hızlı "fast" becomes hızlıca "quickly", and yavaş "slow" becomes yavaşça "slowly". The base can be an adjective or a noun, and the ending does the rest.
Two things happen the moment the suffix goes on, and both are decided by the sound just before it: its vowel harmonises with the last vowel of the base, and its opening consonant surfaces as either c or ç depending on what it lands after. The next two sections take those one at a time.
Vowel harmony picks the vowel
The suffix vowel copies the front or back quality of the base's last vowel. A front vowel — e · i · ö · ü — pulls the front shape -ce, so güzel gives güzelce. A back vowel — a · ı · o · u — pulls the back shape -ca, so hızlı gives hızlıca.
| Last vowel | After a voiced sound | After p ç t k f h s ş |
|---|---|---|
| e · i · ö · ü | -ce | -çe |
| a · ı · o · u | -ca | -ça |
Read a row for the harmony choice and a column for the consonant. The middle column is the plain form after a voiced sound; the right column is the hardened form the next section explains. Only the front-back split of the last vowel counts — rounding plays no part — which is why there are two vowel shapes and not four.
Consonant hardening after a voiceless sound
The suffix opens with a c, and that c hardens to a ç when the base ends in a voiceless consonant. The voiceless consonants are p ç t k f h s ş, and Turkish learners hold them in mind through the name Fıstıkçı Şahap — a pistachio-seller whose name happens to contain every one of them. So açık "open" gives açıkça, and dost "friend" gives dostça.
After anything else — a vowel or a voiced consonant — the c stays soft. hızlı ends in a vowel, so hızlıca; sessiz ends in the voiced z, so sessizce with a plain c. What triggers the hardening is the voicing of that last sound, not merely the fact that a consonant is there.
Five worked forms
Five manner adverbs built with the suffix — an adjective, then -ca or its hardened partner -ça. Read each as the adverb of the adjective it stands on, and watch where the c hardens: yavaşça, açıkça and dostça follow a voiceless consonant, while hızlıca and güzelce keep the soft c.
| Turkish | Parts | English |
|---|---|---|
| hızlıca | hızlı + ca | quickly, fast |
| yavaşça | yavaş + ça | slowly, gently |
| güzelce | güzel + ce | nicely, thoroughly |
| açıkça | açık + ça | clearly, openly |
| dostça | dost + ça | in a friendly way, amicably |
Voicing, not the consonant
Set two look-alike bases side by side. açık ends in k, a voiceless consonant, so the suffix hardens: açıkça. sessiz ends in z, a voiced consonant, so the suffix stays soft: sessizce. Both bases end in a consonant, yet only one hardens — the trigger is the voicing of that consonant, never its bare presence. Get this pair right and the whole rule follows.
| Turkish | Parts | English |
|---|---|---|
| açıkça | açık + ça | clearly, openly |
| sessizce | sessiz + ce | quietly, silently |
Language names
The same suffix builds the name of a language, or a national manner, from the word for a people. Türk "a Turk" gives Türkçe "Turkish", and İngiliz "an Englishman" gives İngilizce "English". Harmony and hardening apply as always: Türk ends in the voiceless k, so the c hardens to ç in Türkçe.
| Turkish | Parts | English |
|---|---|---|
| Türkçe | Türk + çe | Turkish (the language) |
In my opinion
On a personal pronoun the suffix means "in one's opinion, as far as one is concerned". ben "I" gives bence "in my opinion", and sen "you" gives sence "in your opinion". These are fixed, everyday words — reach for bence wherever English would say "if you ask me".
| Turkish | Parts | English |
|---|---|---|
| bence | ben + ce | in my opinion, to me |
Frequently asked questions
- When does the c in the suffix harden to ç?
- When the base ends in a voiceless consonant — one of p ç t k f h s ş. Then the c hardens to ç: açık gives açıkça, dost gives dostça. After a vowel or a voiced consonant the c stays soft, as in hızlıca and sessizce.
- How do I turn an adjective into an adverb in Turkish?
- Add the suffix to the adjective and let its vowel harmonise with the last vowel of the base. hızlı "fast" becomes hızlıca "quickly", yavaş "slow" becomes yavaşça "slowly", and güzel "nice" becomes güzelce "nicely". English does the same job with -ly.
- How are language names like the word for Turkish formed?
- With the same suffix. Add it to the word for a people: Türk "a Turk" gives Türkçe "Turkish", and İngiliz gives İngilizce "English". Harmony and hardening apply as always — Türk ends in the voiceless k, so the c hardens to ç in Türkçe.
- How do I say 'in my opinion' in Turkish?
- Add the suffix to a personal pronoun. ben "I" gives bence "in my opinion", and sen "you" gives sence "in your opinion". They are fixed everyday words: use bence where English would say "if you ask me".