Welcome to LearningTurkish

 

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Automatic verb declinations for all Turkish verbs: click here

 

Last update: 7-May-2009

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents. 1

1      Introduction. 1

2      The alphabet 2

3      Some rules on words and sounds. 3

4      Gender (he/she/it, la/le, der/die/das) 3

5      Important rules on vowels and consonants. 3

6      First rule of vowel harmony. 4

7      Second rule of vowel harmony, and suffixes. 4

8      Suffix declination according to the rules of vowel harmony. 5

9      Harmony rules on consonants. 5

10     Stress in a name. 6

11     Stress in a sentence. 6

12     Stress with suffixes. 6

13     Separate word “suffixes” 8

14     Suffix of plural 8

15     Suffixes for the five states of the name. 8

16     Personal pronouns: I, you, he/she/it, we, you, they. 8

17     Negation: word and suffixes for “not" 9

18     Suffix of question. 9

19     To be. 9

20     Four simple tenses which use “to be" 10

21     Past tense with –di 13

22     More on past tenses: -miş, -di 14

23     Separate words idi, imiş. 14

24     The definite/indefinite articles: the/a/- 15

25     "to” + stem of a verb. 15

26     Name form of a verb. 16

27     Imperative: do! 16

28     Let me, let us. 16

29     Want, want to. 16

30     "can” / “be able to" 17

31     There is, there isn't 17

32     To have. 18

33     Numbers. 18

34     Suffix of the owner ("of") 19

35     Suffix of the owned. 19

36     Possesive pronouns: My, your, .. 20

37     The ambiguity of ev+i+ni and ev+in+i 21

38     Nouns and adjective repetition. 21

39     And. 21

40     With. 22

41     The other “with” 23

42     too. 23

43     de: suffix or separate word?. 23

44     Suffixes of “make do" 24

45     Adverbs. 24

46     Words and suffix of “if" 25

47     I know that .. (ki) 26

48     XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX that .. 26

49     Prepositions. 26

50     Verb list 26

51     Reading - Poems. 28

52     yet to come, yet to be completed. 29

 

1       Introduction

This document is written as one piece instead of several pages or unit, so that it can be easily printed and read offline.

 

Some important properties of the Turkish language:

2       The alphabet

29 letters: 8 vowels and 21 consonants.

 

Compared to the English alphabet: 3 characters are absent (q, x, w), and 6 characters are added (ç, ğ, ı, ö, ş, ü).

 

Also note that the letter dotted “i” has a dot even when it is capitalised: İ. The letter undotted “I” is the capitalised form of the letter “ı".

 

Note:

 

Letter

(approximate) equivalent in English

A a

·         car (thick “a” in a syllable ending in a consonant, eg: sar)

·         about (thin “a” in a syllable ending in a vowel, eg: sarı, where the syllables are sa-rı)

B b

Box

C c

Gene

Ç ç

Child

D d

Day

E e

get

(thicker in a syllable ending in a consonant,

thinner in a syllable ending in a vowel)

F f

Fox

G g

Get

Ğ ğ

no equivalent in English, but for now imagine this as a soft transition from, or extension of, the preceding vowel.

Examples: “seğirmek” (read similar to “seirmek” with a soft transition, and not as “se’irmek”); yoğurt (which is originally a Turkish word); ağır (heavy).

 

Ğ is also named “soft g” (yumuşak g). This letter never starts a word.

H h

Hot

I ı

function, away (exact equivalent of the Dutch “te”)

İ i

Bit

J j

Vision

K k

Key

L l

·         thick “l” like in English, when in a syllable with a thick vowel (see section 5 “ First rule of vowel harmony” below), eg: alım (attractiveness).

·         thin “l” like in French and German, when in a syllable with a thin vowel (see section 5 “ First rule of vowel harmony” below), eg: elim (my hand).

M m

Met

N n

Net

O o

Loft

Ö ö

Girl

P p

Pie

R r

Rid

S s

Sell

Ş ş

Shell

T t

Tell

U u

Put

Ü ü

exactly as in German müller and French vue, somewhat similar to English pure, a somewhat difficult sound for English native speakers

V v

Very

Y y

Yet

Z z

Zen

3       Some rules on words and sounds

In “original” Turkish words, the following rules apply.

 

Vowels:

 

Consonants:

 

Words of foreign origin have exceptions to all rules above except the one about “ğ”. Many words of foreign origin are often modified when being copied into Turkish in order to satisfy the above rules, but many are not modified enough, and clash with the above rules.

 

Examples to words of foreign origin:

 

With composite words (= when two words are combined into one word), the rules apply to each sub-part separately.

4       Gender (he/she/it, la/le, der/die/das)

5       Important rules on vowels and consonants

As you will see more in depth in the following sections, the following rules apply with regards to vowels and consonants in Turkish.

 

Turkish words are made up as: stem + suffix + suffix + ...

 

For vowels: What a vowel in a stem or a suffix is allowed to be, is determined by what the previous vowel is in the word. The vowels in the stem are fixed (never change), but the vowels in a suffix may become one of 2 or 4 possible choices depending on what the previous vowel is. Example: “e” (to) becomes a “a” after a syllable with an “a”: ev+e (to home), av+a (to hunting).

 

For consonants: When a suffix is appended to a stem or to the previous suffix, Turkish tries to prevent a soft consonant and a hard consonant from following each other. To provide for this rule, the last consonant of the front part or the first consonant of the last part may change. Example: suffix “de” (in/on/at) becomes “te” after a word ending in a hard consonant: ev+de (at home), iş+te (at work).

6       First rule of vowel harmony

The 8 Turkish vowels are divided symmetrically into the following two groups:

 

Rule:

 

Examples:

 

Exceptions:

 

Note that the symmetry simplifies the 2nd rule of vowel harmony, because the rules which apply to the thick vowels apply symmetrically also to the thin vowels.

7       Second rule of vowel harmony, and suffixes

Every Turkish syllable contains exactly 1 vowel, and 0 - 3 consonants.

 

Within a word, the vowel in each syllable can only be one of the two vowels given below depending on the vowel in the previous syllable.

 

a syllable with this vowel

can only be followed by a syllable with this vowel

examples

a

a, ı

karanlık (dark)

ı

a, ı

sıra (bench), sırık (pole)

o

a, u

oda (room), soluksuz (breathless)

u

a, u

uzak (far), uzunluk (length)

 

And symmetrically (by the 1st rule of vowel harmony)

 

A syllable with this vowel

can only be followed by a syllable with this vowel

examples

e

e, i

eğitimsizlik (uneducatedness, ignorance)

i

e, i

giden (the one who went), iyi (good)

ö

e, ü

ödev (duty), özür (excuse)

ü

e, ü

güneş (sun), yüzük (ring)

 

 

Note -- As you can see from the tables above:

8       Suffix declination according to the rules of vowel harmony

If we repeat the line in red from the previous paragraph above:

 

A suffix is by definition one or more “subsequent” syllables (suffix = subsequent).

In Turkish the first vowel of a suffix will be one of the following:

-         fixed: form (1),

-         an “a/e” depending on the previous vowel and the vowel harmony rules: form (2),

-         an “i/ı/ü/u depending on the previous vowel and the vowel harmony rules: form (4).

 

Most Turkish verbs, prepositions and pronouns come as suffixes. The suffixes are appended in a certain order to the stem. The stem is a noun, verb or adjective, and the suffix typically corresponds typically to an English preposition, state of a name, a verb tense, a person (I/you/..) etc.

 

Examples:

 

A minority of suffixes are (always or alternatively) written as separate words, but they behave, ie they are declined, just like a suffix which is attached to the previous word.

 

The vowels in a suffix change depending on the last vowel in front of it: yan+dı (burned), yen+di (won).

 

Consonant harmony: If the suffix starts with a consonant and the letter in front of it is also a constant, the first letter of the consonant or sometimes the last letter in front of it may change, to match each other. This makes it physically easier to speak the word.

 

Suffixes come in sets of 1, 2, or 4, which we will call: the form (1), form (2), and form (4).

 

Vowel harmony: Throughout this guide, when a (1), (2) or (4) is given after a suffix, it shows the form of the suffix. When it is form (2) or (4), you will need to use the second rule of harmony to pick the matching form of the suffix. When it is form (1), the vowels in the suffix does not change regardless of the vowel in front of it.

 

Note that every suffix of form (1) is automatically an exception to the first rule of vowel harmony, because the first vowel of the suffix will conflict with the preceding vowel according to the two rules of harmony. This exception typically comes from the fact that these suffixes were originally separate words.

 

Examples:

9       Harmony rules on consonants

Just like vowels, consonants are also divided into two groups:

 

With some suffixes, if the first letter of a suffix is a soft consonant, it is converted to a hard consonant when following a hard consonant. This is not relevant for consonants which cannot end a word: b, c, d, g (described in a rule above).

 

Examples:

10         Stress in a name

Stress in a word is often on the last syllable (stress shown in bold below).

 

kapı = door

araba = car

pazar = market, bazaar

Pazar = Sunday (= market day)

 

With composite words, one of the sub-words takes the stress:

Pazartesi = Monday (literally: Pazar + ertesi = the day after Sunday)

 

As suffixes get appended, the stress still remains on the last syllable, unless the suffix is an unstressed suffix:

 

güzel = beatiful

güzellik = beauty

güzelliğin = your beauty

güzelliğinden = from your beauty

 

In proper names such as city and country names, the second last syllable mostly takes the stress:

but:

11         Stress in a sentence

In a sentence (or in a phrase), normally only one of the words will have the stress, indicating the focus of the sentence. The word with stress is often placed immediately before the verb.

 

Yesterday the door of my car was broken:

 

Sometimes multiple words may share the stress, such as:

12         Stress with suffixes

Some suffixes are stressed, some not.

 

With each suffix in the following sections, it will be indicated whether it is (stressed) or (not stressed).

 

Throughout this guide, the bold typeface, when given, will indicate which syllable in that word or sentence is stressed.

 

A number of suffixes have two (or more) entirely different meanings and uses, one being stressed, the other not. Examples:

 

suffix (or separately written suffix)

first meaning (stressed)

example

second meaning (not stressed)

example

-ler (2)

plural

yeşiller = the greens

to be (they “are")

yeşiller (they are green)

-de (2)

-de: in/or/at

arabada = in the car

too

araba da = the car, too

-me

noun form of a verb

oturma = the sitting

not

oturma = do not sit

-ki (1)

that of

benimki = that of me, mine

that (conjunction)

dedim ki ... = i said that ...

-sin (4)

let him/her/it ...

açsın = let him open

"to be” for second person singular (you are)

açsın = you are hungry

-le (2), -(y)le (2)

makes a verb from a noun

açık = open, clear.

açıkla = explain.

kutu = box (noun).

kutula = box (verb).

with

(conjugation letter: y)

evle = with the house.

kutuyla = with the box.

-(i)m + i, -mi

-(i)m : my

-i: state of name (accusative)

kapımı = my door

mi: suffix of question (written separately)

kapı mı? = is it a door?

-(y)eyim, -(y)im

let me do

yapayım = let me do (it)

kasayım = let me flex

i am ...

yapayım = i am artificial

kasayım = i am a safe

-(y)di (4), idi (1) (separate word) (*)

past tense with -di

yazdı = he wrote / has written

noun + di(4), noun + idi (1) = he was / has been + noun

 

tense with to be + di (4) or idi (1) (separate word) = past composite tense (see sections below).

yazdı, yaz idi = it was summer.

yazıyordu, yazıyor idi = he was / has been writing (past continuous tense)

-(y)miş (4), imiş (1) (separate word) (*)

past tense with –miş

yazmış = he apparently wrote / has written

noun + miş (4), noun + imiş (1) = he was + noun

 

tense with to be + miş (4) or imiş (1) (separate word) = told past composite tense (see sections below).

yazmış, yaz imiş = apparently it was summer.

 

yazıyormuş, yazıyor imiş = apparently he was / has been writing (told past continuous tense)

 

(*) The conjugation letter “y” is appended when the preceding letter is a vowel. You will notice that the suffix itself (-di, -miş) does not start with a vowel, so there is no need to insert a “y” to prevent from two vowels coming together. –di/-miş are shortened versions of the original forms idi/imiş however, and the “y” was originally for the (now disappeared) forms: burada+y+ıdı, burada+y+ımış = he was (apparently) here. Note that the separate words idi and imiş are older forms; the prefix forms –di/-imiş are normally used.

 

Note:

word

meaning

this guide shows

stress in reality

güle

gül-e = to the rose

güle

gü-le

13         Separate word “suffixes”

Some of these suffixes can actually be written as a separate word, generally only to distinguish them from their alternative meaning; however these can/are still be considered as suffixes, as they are declined with the word they follow just as an ordinary suffix.

 

Some suffixes can be written both separated and non-separated. Example:

14         Suffix of plural

Suffix: -ler (2) (stressed)

          (The suffix is either -ler or -lar, depending on the vowel of the preceding syllable).

 

Example: akşamlar (evenings), geceler (nights).

 

Note:


Example: arabalar (cars), bir araba (one car), iki araba (two cars), bir kişi (one person), yedi kişi (seven people), bir çok kişi (a lot of people), kişiler (persons/people).

15         Suffixes for the five states of the name

Turkish names have 5 states.

 

state

suffix

meaning

examples

plain

-

the object itself (nominative)

deniz orada: the sea is there.

i

-i (4) (stressed)

do something with the object (accusative)

denizi seviyorum: i like/love the sea.

e

-e (2) (stressed)

to (dative)

denize gidiyorum: i'm going to the sea.

de

-de (2) (stressed)

in/at/on (locative)

denizde balıklar var: there are fish in the sea.

den

-den (2) (stressed)

from

denizden geliyorum: i'm coming from the sea.

 

Note that all 4 suffixes above are stressed.

16         Personal pronouns: I, you, he/she/it, we, you, they

Turkish has 6 personal pronouns: 3 singular and 3 plural.

 

(English has 7: two extras for 3rd singular, and 1 shared for 2nd singular/plural).

 

 

 

plain

-i

-e

-de

-den

singular pronouns

I

ben (I)

beni (me)

bana (to me)

bende (in/at/on me)

benden (from me)

you

sen

seni

sana

sende

senden

he/she/it

o

onu

ona

onda

ondan

plural pronouns

we

biz

bizi

bize

bizde

bizden

you

siz

sizi

size

sizde

sizden

they

onlar

onları

onlara

onlarda

onlardan

 

Notes:

17         Negation: word and suffixes for “not"

With the verb “to be", the following word is used to express “not":

 

Example:

 

With all other tenses and modal verbs, the following suffix is normally used:

 

positive

negative

otur = sit

oturma = don't sit

otururum = i sit

oturmam = i don't sit (tense of always - stressed)

oturuyorum = i am sitting

oturmuyorum = i am not sitting

oturacağım = i will sit

oturmayacağım = i won't sit

oturmuşum = (it's told that) i sat

oturmamışım

oturdum = i sat

oturmadım = i didn't sit

 

Note:

 

The use of the negation word and suffixes are described further with the particular tense or modal verb in sections below.

18         Suffix of question

"Suffix": mi (4) (not stressed)

 

Examples:

görüşeceğiz = we will meet each other, görüşecek miyiz? = will we meet each other?

 

This “suffix” is always written as a separate word, and not as a suffix. In this aspect it looks like a word and not a suffix. Still, one of the four forms is selected according to the vowel harmonies, just like other suffixes. For this reason it should have been appended like a suffix, but it is written separately in order to distinguish it from some other suffixes: eg: atımı gördü (he saw my horse), atı mı gördü? (did his horse saw it?).

 

Its use will be described further with each particular tense or modal verb in the following sections.

19         To be

This set of suffixes are used to express “to be” in present tense (but also in other tenses which use the same form).

 

personal pronoun

suffix (unstressed)

example

ben

-(y)im (4)

buradayım: i am here (conjugation letter “y” inserted)

sen

-sin (4)

görürsün: you see (-ür: tense of “always” (present tense) )

o

-

yeşil: it is green

biz

-(y)iz (4)

yapacağız: we will do (-ecek, -acak: future tense, “k” softened to “ğ")

siz

-siniz (4)

neredesiniz: where are you?

onlar

-(ler) (2)

altı kişiler: they are six people (this is not the suffix of plural)

 

Notes:

 

Word for negative:

 

Positive/negative/affirmative/question:

(Tip: read the first line “ben” only, and try to guess the other lines as exercise)

 

 

positive affirmative

positive question

negative affirmative

negative question

ben

uzunum (i'm tall)

uzun muyum

uzun değilim

uzun değil miyim?

sen

uzunsun

uzun musun

uzun değilsin

uzun değil misin

o

uzun

uzun mu

uzun değil

uzun değil mi

biz

uzunuz

uzun muyuz

uzun değiliz

uzun değil miyiz

siz

uzunsunuz

uzun musunuz

uzun değilsiniz

uzun değil misiniz

onlar (*)

uzun(lar)

uzunlar mı , uzun mu

uzun değil(ler)

uzun değil(ler) mi

 

20         Four simple tenses which use “to be"

Reference: Automatic verb declinations for all Turkish verbs: click here

 

The suffixes for the following four tenses are followed by the suffix for “to be” described in the previous section To be.

 

Stress:

 

Notes:

 

 

now

always

future

past tense with -miş

(told/heard/indirect past)

turkish name

şimdiki zaman

geniş zaman

gelecek zaman

miş'li geçmiş zaman

equivalent tense in English

present continuous

present

future

no equivalent but gives the meaning of “apparently”

(there are equivalents in Dutch and German)

example in English

He is eating.

He eats.

He will be eating.

He is going to eat.

Apparently I ate, or apparently I have eaten. Dutch: Ik zou hebben gegeten.

German: Ich häbe gegessen. (?)

meaning

Something is happening now.

 

See important note 1 below.

Something happens always.

 

See important note 1 below.

Something is going to happen in the future.

One is telling that I have eaten.

It is not a fact I directly know.

I have heard it.

I have been told so.

I know it indirectly.

It seems that...

suffixes

-(i)yor, -(ı)yor

 

(-yor if after a vowel)

-er (2) and -ir (4) (these after a consonant)

 

-r (after a vowel)

 

See important note 2 below.

-ecek (2)

-miş (4)

examples

examples with all personal pronouns:

(gel = come, oku = read)

 

(Ben) geliyorum

(Sen) geliyorsun

(O) geliyor

(Biz) geliyoruz

(Siz) geliyorsunuz

(Onlar) geliyor(lar)

 

(Ben) okuyorum

examples only with “ben” (I):

 

yaparım (yap = do)

çekerim (çek = pull)

gelirim (gel = come)

sırıtırım (sırıt = grin)

görürüm (gör = see)

okurum (oku = read)

examples with all personal pronouns:

(gör = see)

 

göreceğim

göreceksin

görecek

göreceğiz

göreceksiniz

görecek(ler)

examples with all personal pronouns:

(uç = fly)

 

uçmuşum

uçmuşsun

uçmuş

uçmuşuz

uçmuşsunuz

uçmuş(lar)

 

Important note 1:

 

Important note 2:

 

when the last syllable of the verb contains

one of the following is used (depending on the verb)

 

(Note: always the 2nd one is used after “make do” suffixes (see Section: Suffixes of “make do"))

examples

a, ı

-ar, -ır

yan-ar (burns)

kal-ır (stays)

 

yırt-ar (tears)

tanıt-ır (makes known, introduces)

e, i

-er, -ir

çek-er (pulls)

gel-ir (comes)

 

gir-er (enter)

işit-ir (hears)

o, u

-ar, -ur

sor-ar (asks)

ol-ur : (becomes)

 

tut-ar (holds)

unut-ur (forgets)

ö, ü

-er, -ür

dön-er (turns)

gör-ür (sees)

 

yüz-er (swims)

yürüt-ür (makes walk)

 

Note:

grammatical tense

expressed (meant) tense

example (english)

now

future

i'm coming tomorrow
yarın geliyorum

always

future

i come tomorrow

yarın gelirim

now

always

sık sık yazıyorum
i am often writing

 

1. Positive/negative/affirmative/question - tense of now:

(read the first line “ben” only, and try to guess the other lines as exercise)

 

 

positive affirmative

positive question

negative affirmative

negative question

ben

okuyorum = i'm reading

okuyor muyum

okumuyorum

okumuyor muyum

sen

okuyorsun

okuyor musun

okumuyorsun

okumuyor musun

o

okuyor

okuyor mu

okumuyor

okumuyor mu

biz

okuyoruz

okuyor muyuz

okumuyoruz

okumuyor muyuz

siz

okuyorsunuz

okuyor musunuz

okumuyorsunuz

okumuyor musunuz

onlar (*)

okuyor(lar)

okuyorlar mı, okuyor mu

okumuyorlar

okumuyorlar mı, okumuyor mu

 

(*) Note: When it is already clear from the rest of the sentence that the person is plural (ie they), then “lar” is redundant and is usually dropped.

 

2. Positive/negative/affirmative/question - tense of always:

 

 

positive affirmative

positive question

negative affirmative

negative question

ben

okurum = i am reading

okur muyum

okumam

okumaz mıyım

sen

okursun

okur musun

okumazsın

okumaz mısın

o

okur

okur mu

okumaz

okumaz mı

biz

okuruz

okur muyuz

okumayız

okumaz mıyız

siz

okursunuz

okur musunuz

okumazsınız

okumaz mısınız

onlar (*)

okur(lar)

okurlar mı, okur mu

okumaz(lar)

okumazlar mı, okumaz mı

 

3. Positive/negative/affirmative/question - tense of future:

 

 

positive affirmative

positive question

negative affirmative

negative question

ben

okuyacağım = i will read

okuyacak mıyım

okumayacağım

okumayacak mıyım

sen

okuyacaksın

okuyacak mısın

okumayacaksın

okumayacak mısın

o

okuyacak

okuyacak mı

okumayacak

okumayacak mı

biz

okuyacağız

okuyacak mıyız

okumayacağız

okumayacak mıyız

siz

okuyacaksınız

okuyacak mısınız

okumayacaksınız

okumayacak mısınız

onlar (*)

okuyacak(lar)

okuyacak(lar) mı

okumayacak(lar)

okumayacak(lar) mı

 

4. Positive/negative/affirmative/question - tense of told/heard/indirect past:

 

 

positive affirmative

positive question

negative affirmative

negative question

ben

okumuşum = they tell that i've read

okumuş muyum

okumamışım

okumamış mıyım

sen

okumuşsun

okumuş musun

okumamışsın

okumamış mısın

o

okumuş

okumuş mu

okumamış

okumamış mı

biz

okumuşuz

okumuş muyuz

okumamışız

okumamış mıyız

siz

okumuşsunuz

okumuş musunuz

okumamışsınız

okumamış mısınız

onlar (*)

okumuş(lar)

okumuşlar mı, okumuş mu

okumamışlar

okumamış(lar) mı

 

Note:

 

Note that in many languages an adjective can be used as a noun (sometimes with a somewhat altered meaning). Examples: güzel = beautiful, a beatiful person. Specific examples here: gelecek (noun) = the future, geçmiş = the past.

21         Past tense with –di

 

past tense with –di

turkish name

di'li geçmiş zaman

(past tense with -di)

equivalent tense in English

simple past tense, present perfect tense

example in English

He ate. He has eaten.

meaning

Something happened or started in the past. It may or may not have been completed/ended.

 

Suffix: -di (4). Example: gördüm = i saw, yazdım = i wrote

zzz

Notes:

 

Stress:

 

Positive/negative/affirmative/question - tense of past:

 

 

positive affirmative

positive question

negative affirmative

negative question

ben

okudum = i read

okudum mu = did i read

okumadım = i didn't read

okumadım mı = didn't i read

sen

okudun

okudun mu

okumadın

okumadın mı

o

okudu

okudu mu

okumadı

okumadı mı

biz

okuduk

okuduk mu

okumadık

okumadık mı

siz

okudunuz

okudunuz mu

okumadınız

okumadınız mı

onlar (*)

okudu(lar)

okudular  mı, okudu mu

okumadı(lar)

okumadı(lar) mı

22         More on past tenses: -miş, -di

Note:

 

More examples:

23         Separate words idi, imiş

Repeating from above sections:

zzz enter some intro/description here

 

suffix (or separately written suffix)

first meaning (stressed)

example

second meaning (not stressed)

example

-(y)di (4), idi (1) (separate word) (*)

past tense with -di

yazdı = he wrote / has written

noun + di(4), noun + idi (1) = he was / has been + noun

 

tense with to be + di (4) or idi (1) (separate word) = past composite tense (see sections below).

yazdı, yaz idi = it was summer.

yazıyordu, yazıyor idi = he was / has been writing (past continuous tense)

-(y)miş (4), imiş (1) (separate word) (*)

past tense with –miş

yazmış = he apparently wrote / has written

noun + miş (4), noun + imiş (1) = he was + noun

 

tense with to be + miş (4) or imiş (1) (separate word) = told past composite tense (see sections below).

yazmış, yaz imiş = apparently it was summer.

 

yazıyormuş, yazıyor imiş = apparently he was / has been writing (told past continuous tense)

 

(*) The conjugation letter “y” is appended when the preceding letter is a vowel. You will notice that the suffix itself (-di, -miş) does not start with a vowel, so there is no need to insert a “y” to prevent from two vowels coming together. –di/-miş are shortened versions of the original forms idi/imiş however, and the “y” was originally for the (now disappeared) forms: burada+y+ıdı, burada+y+ımış = he was (apparently) here. Note that the separate words idi and imiş are older forms; the prefix forms –di/-imiş are normally used.

24         The definite/indefinite articles: the/a/-

English and many other languages have three article states for the noun:

 

(Some languages (for instance Serbo-Croat) has only a single state for the noun.)

 

The definite article: In Turkish all these three states can be expressed separately, but a definite article “the” does not exist. The -i state of the name is used to express the definite case “the".

 

The indefinite article: “bir” (meaning: a/an/one) is used to express the definite case.

Note:

 

The distinction between “a” and “one” is expressed with the stress in Turkish. Example:

 

Case

English

Turkish

Definite case

Show me the house

Bana evi göster

Indefinite case

Show me a house

(Show me one house)

Bana bir ev göster

(Bana bir ev göster)

No case

Show me house(s)

Bana ev göster

Bana evler göster

25         "to” + stem of a verb

Suffix: -mek (2) (stressed) = “to” + verb

 

In Turkish verbs are normally called “with” this suffix, and “not” just as a stem.

 

Example:

26         Name form of a verb

Suffix: -me (2) (stressed) = noun form of the verb

 

This is the name of the action.

 

Example:

27         Imperative: do!

Three (like in German) forms of imperative, for ordering/instructing/asking someone to do something:

 

Stress: Normally on the last syllable of the verb

 

form

suffix to the verb stem

example

target person(s)

meaning

1

-

açıkla

sen

explain (direct)

2

-(y)in (4)

açıklayın

siz

explain (direct)

sen, siz

please explain (polite)

3

-(y)iniz (4)

açıklayınız

sen, siz

please explain (very polite, or formal)

 

Notes:

28         Let me, let us

"Let me” and “let us” complement (but are softer than) the “Imperative” (see section Imperative above):

 

Stress: on the (last syllable) of the suffix

 

Suffixes:

 

person

suffix (stressed)

meaning

examples (*)

ben

-(y)eyim (2)

let me ..

göreyim = let me see

okuyayım = let me read

o

-sin (4)

let him/her/it ..

görsün = let him see

yapsın = let him do

biz

-(y)elim (2)

let us, let's

bilelim = let us know

söyleyelim = let us tell

onlar

-sin(ler) (4)

let them

Yüzsünler.

Onlar yüzsün (**).

 

(*) The personal pronoun is normally redundant, as it is already clear who the person is.

(**) -ler redundant after “yüzsün” when it is clear that the person is plural.

 

Note: The suffix -sin (4) here is stressed. This suffix also has a second meaning: to be (see section To be), which is unstressed.

29         Want, want to

Verb:

 

To want something:

(See section The definite/indefinite articles: the/a/- above)

 

To want to do something:

 

Note:

30         "can” / “be able to"

In English/German/Dutch, the modal verb for “can” comes from the verbs “know” / “kennen". In Turkish, it similarly comes from the verb “ bilmek” (to know), which is why the main part of the suffix is not declined according to the vowel harmony, it acts like a composite word.

 

Suffix:

 

Conjugation letter: y

 

4. Positive/negative/affirmative/question - tense of told/heard/indirect past:

 

 

positive affirmative

positive question

negative affirmative

negative question

ben

okuyabilirim = i can read

okuyabilir miyim

okuyamam

okuyamaz mıyım

sen

okuyabilirsin

okuyabilir misin

okuyamazsın

okuyamaz mısın

o

okuyabilir

okuyabilir mi

okuyamaz

okuyamaz mı

biz

okuyabiliriz

okuyabilir miyiz

okuyamayız

okuyamaz mıyız

siz

okuyabilirsiniz

okuyabilir misiniz

okuyamazsınız

okuyamaz mısınız

onlar (*)

okuyabilir(ler)

okuyabilir(ler) mi

okuyamazlar

okuyamaz(lar) mı

 

Examples with all other simple tenses:

 

tense

meaning

positive

negative

always

i can read

okuyabilirim

okuyamam

now

i am being able to read

okuyabiliyorum

okuyamıyorum

future

i will be able to read

okuyabileceğim

okuyamayacağım

past with –miş

(it is told that) i could read

okuyabilmişim

okuyamamışım

past with –di

i could read

okuyabildim

okuyamadım

 

 

 

 

imperative

be able to read!

i wish you can read!

okuyabil

okuyama

31         There is, there isn't

There is = var

There isn't = yok

 

Examples:

 

Yok also has a second meaning: “no” (informal).

 

Example: Yok, gelmiyorum: no, i'm not coming.

 

Note:

32         To have

Turkish does not have a verb for “have", in contrast to all western languages.

 

The verb “sahip olmak” means “to have” or “to be the owner of" (akin to the word saab in English / Indian). However, this verb is of foreign origin, and is not the common way to say “I have”.

 

To express “I have", the construction “there is my” is used instead.

 

Examples:

Note: The stress can fall on the last syllables of: paran/param/ekmeğiniz if that is the particular focus of the sentence.

33         Numbers

Suffix of ordinality: -(i)nci (4) = 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.

 

 

cardinal (one, two, ..)

ordinal (first, second, ..)

1

bir

birinci

2

iki

ikinci

3

üç

üçüncü

4

dört

dördüncü

5

beş

beşinci

6

altı

altıncı

7

yedi

yedinci

8

sekiz

sekizinci

9

dokuz

dokuzuncu

10

on

onuncu

11

onbir

onbirinci

12

oniki

onikinci

13-19

... (regular)

... (regular)

20

yirmi

yirminci

30

otuz

otuzuncu

40

kırk

kırkıncı

50

elli

ellinci

60

a(l)tmış

a(l)tmışıncı

70

yetmiş

yetmişinci

80

seksen

sekseninci

90

doksan

doksanıncı

100

yüz

yüzüncü

200

ikiyüz

ikiyüzüncü

300- 900

... (regular)

... (regular)

1000

bin

bininci

2000

ikibin

ikibinci

10,000

onbin

onbininci

100,000

yüzbin

yüzbininci

1,000,000

milyon

bir milyon

milyonuncu

bir milyonuncu

1,000,000,000

milyar

bir milyar

milyarıncı

bir milyarıncı

 

Stress:

 

385,621: üçyüzseksenbeşbin altıyüzyirmibir.

 

Note:

 

Abbreviation of ordinality: is simply a dot (.). Example: “125. kişi” = yüzyirmibeşinci kişi = 125th person.

34         Suffix of the owner ("of")

In the construction “house's door": house is the owner, door is the owned.

 

Suffix: -(n)in (4) (stressed)

 

Conjugation letter: n (if the word doesn't end in a consonant)

 

The single exception:

 

Examples:

 

Exception: Words of foreign origin ending in b/c/d are hardened to end in p/ç/t, because b/c/d normally cannot end a word in Turkish. However, when a suffix is added, these letters do not end the word any longer, so they are often softened back to the original form. Examples:

35         Suffix of the owned

In the construction “house's door": house is the owner, door is the owned.

 

In European languages:

 

In Turkish:

 

Suffix of the owned:

 

Note: Suffix of the owned has no equivalent in European languages.

 

Conjugation letter: s (if the word does not end in a consonant)

 

Examples below (kapı = door, ev = house/home, sap = handle, tarla = field, fare = mouse)

 

Note on the stress:

In each of the examples below, when two syllables are shown to take the stress, actually only one will be stressed, depending on the focus.

 

the house's door (the door of the house)

the house's door

evin kapısı

evin kapısı

 

(for -in, see the previous section: Suffix of the owner ("of"))

house door

ev kapısı

evin

of the house, house’s

onun kapısı

his/her/its door

kapısı

(his/her/its) door

onun kapıları (*)

(his/her/its) doors

onların kapısı (**)

their door

onların kapıları (***)

their doors

kapıları

- short for (*) or (**) or (***) above

either: (his/her/its/their) doors

or: (their) door (single door owned by multiple people)

- Here the “ler/lar” indicates either that multiple doors are owned by a single person, or a single door by multiple people.

the door's handle (not window’s)

the door's handle (not anything else of the door)

(stress indicates our focus)

kapının sapı

kapının sapı

door handle

eg: this is a door handle (just any)

kapı sapı

the field's mouse (the mouse of the field)

the field's mouse

(we know the field or the mouse)

tarlanın faresi

tarlanın faresi

mouse field (just any)

tarla faresi

 

The single exception:

36         Possesive pronouns: My, your, ..

Ev = house

 

personal pronoun

suffix of the owner

suffix of the owned

example

english

ben

-im

-im, -ım, -üm, -um

evim

benim evim

my house

sen

-in

-in, -ın, -ün, -un

evin

senin evin

your house

o

-nun

-i, -ı, -ü, -u

evi

onun evi

his/her/its house

biz

-im

-imiz, -ımız, -ümüz, -umuz

evimiz

bizim evimiz

our house

siz

-in

-iniz, -ınız, -ünüz, -unuz

eviniz

sizin eviniz

your house

onlar

-ın

-i, -ı, -ü, -u

ev(ler)i

onların evi

their house

 

Notes:

37         The ambiguity of ev+i+ni and ev+in+i

In all languages, certain combination of certain structures lead to ambiguities. Probably the most common such ambiguity in the Turkish language is between the following structures:

 

The ambiguity is normally resolved by the context: we know who we are talking about. If it becomes necessary, we add the normally redundant personal pronoun to the sentence, and the ambiguity is resolved: onun evini gördüm (his), senin evini gördüm.

 

Note: onların evini gördüm (their house) will be shortened to “evlerini gördüm”, and not to “evini gördüm”.

 

And note: onun evlerini gördum (his houses) will also be shortened to “evlerini gördüm”.

38         Nouns and adjective repetition

Two nouns or two adjectives can be used together, without a preposition etc between them, in a way not used in English. This is more common in non-formal language.

 

Adjective repetition usually gives the adverb meaning (-ly).

 

construction

meaning

example

noun1 noun1

at the time of ...

sabah sabah = in the morning.

gece gece = at night.

noun1 noun1

a sequence of, one after the other

sokak sokak = street after street.

adım adım = step by step.

bardak bardak = one glass after another.

noun1 noun2

and

gece gündüz = night and day.

adjective1 adjective1

adverb

yavaş yavaş = slowly.

sık sık = frequently.

salak salak = stupidly.

çayını sıcak sıcak iç = drink your tea warmly (while it is still warm).

aç aç gitti (he went hungrily).

adjective1 adjective1

a sequence/row/lot of, one after the other

sarı sarı elmalar = a sequence/lot of yellow apples.

uzun uzun kavaklar = a row of trees.

tuhaf tuhaf bana baktı = he looked at me strangely.

adjective1 adjective2

and

sarı kırmızı = yellow and red (eg: flag)

siyah beyaz tv = black and white tv.

Note that in many occasions “and” is dropped in Turkish.

sağa sola baktı = he looked right and left.

39         And

There is no word for “and” in pure Turkish as such. However, the foreign origin word “ve” have become very much a part of the contemprorary Turkish, significantly more so in written/formal language.

 

Example:

§         ben ve sen = you and i

§         kedi ve köpek = cat and dog

§         araba ve kapısı = car and its door

 

In spoken language, “ve” is less often used. Instead, “too", “with", and sometimes nothing is used, as described in the following sections.

 

All 4 forms for “and”, all meaning “cat and dog":

 

word or suffix

example

literal translation

ve

kedi ve köpek

cat and dog

-le (2), ile

kedi ile köpek (separate word form)

kediyle köpek (suffix form)

dog with cat

-de (2)

kedi de köpek de

cat too, dog too

-

kedi köpek

cat dog

 

Note: “-le (2)” can mean “and” as well as “with”.

40         With

Suffix:

 

Conjugation letter: y, when following a vowel.

 

Alternative separate word form, much less common: ile (1).

 

Meaning:with, and

 

With can often mean: using, by means of, like in English (eg: with a car, with a knife).

 

With personal pronouns the suffix of the owner can be added, leading to two forms:

 

personal pronoun

first form

second form (with possessive pronoun (see section above))

ben

benle = with me

benimle = with me

sen

senle

seninle

o

onla

onunla

biz

bizle

bizimle

siz

sizle

sizinle

onlar

onlarla

= same as the first form

 

Note: The first form is more casual and less accepted. Prefer the second form.

 

Examples (with) :

 

Examples (and) :

 

Note:

-le meaning “and” can often be dropped (but not -le meaning “with")

41         The other “with”

-li (4) (stressed)

 

It has the meaning of: something “with” something in it. Often it expresses a smaller amount/size of something added to or contained in something of a larger amount/size. It produces an adjective from a noun: noun + li(4) --> adjective

 

Examples:

 

This suffix is sometimes expressed by an “-ed” in English where the part before the “-ed” is a noun instead of a verb:

 

zzz

42         too

zzz The original Turkish, as well as the contemporary one, uses the following suffix to express additionality.

 

Suffix:

-de (2) (not stressed)

 

Meaning: too, also, as well, as well as

 

It points at the preceding word.

 

However, even though this is a vowel-harmonising suffix, it is written separately to distinguish it from the “state of the name” suffix “-de” (in/on/at). In spoken language, “-de” expressing “and” is not stressed, “-de” expressing “in/on/at” is stressed.

 

Examples:

43         de: suffix or separate word?

As described in previous sections:

 

 

type

grammatical description

meaning

stressed

example (stress shown in bold)

"-de” (2)

suffix

state of the noun

in, on, at

yes

masada = on the table

de (2)

separate word

and, too

and, too, also

no

masa da = the table, too

 

Notes:

 

More examples (stress shown in bold) :

44         Suffixes of “make do"

In Turkish (generally like in German and Dutch), unlike in English (this is an important contrast), a verb is either transitive (verbs with an object) or intransitive (verbs with no object), but never both.

 

Examples in English:

 

intransitive

transitive

i'm walking

i'm walking my dog

i'm turning

i'm turning the table

i wake up

i wake him up

 

In Turkish, the suffixes of “make do” are used to generate a transitive verb from an intransitive one.

 

Notes:

 

Suffixes (stressed) :

 

Examples:

 

intransitive

transitive

oku = read

okut = make read (make somebody read something)

aç = open

açtır = make open

uyan = wake up (intransitive, e.g.: i wake up)

uyandır = wake up (transitive, e.g.: i wake him up)

 

For more examples, see the section “Verb list” below.

45         Adverbs

Adverbs are often generated from adjectives in one of the three following ways:

 

Examples:

 

adjective

meaning

by repeating an adjective

using the adverb suffix

appending “olarak"

yavaş

slow

yavaş yavaş

yavaşça

yavaş olarak

açı

open, clear

açık açık

açıkça

açık olarak

sık

often, frequent

sık sık

sıkça

sık olarak

 

Note:

46         Words and suffix of “if"

"If” is expressed by a suffix and a separate word. The suffix is always required, the separate word is entirely optional.

 

1. Suffix of “if” (always required, appended to the verb) :

 

The personal pronoun suffixes (m/n/-/k/niz/ler) are exactly as with “tense of past” (see the section “Tense of past” above).

 

Examples 1:

 

koşar-sa-m

if i run

koşar-sa-n

if you run

koşar-sa

if he/she/it runs

koşar-sa-k

if we run

koşar-sa-nız

if you run (plural)

koşar-(lar)-sa, koşar-sa-(lar)

if they run

 

Examples 2:

 

koşar-sa-m

if i run

koşmuş-sa-m

if i am told to have run

koşacak-sa-m

if i am going to run

koşuyor-sa-m

if i am running

koştu-ysa-m

if i did run

 

Examples:

If i am here, etc:

burada-y-sa-m

burada-y-sa-n

burada-y-sa

burada-y-sa-k

burada-y-sa-nız

burada-y-sa-(lar), burada-(lar)-sa

 

Note: Separate word form for this suffix: ise (less frequently used) (not stressed)

 

Example:

koşar isem

koşar isen

koşar ise

koşar isek

koşar iseniz

koşar ise(ler)

 

2. Separate words of “if": “eğer"

 

Examples:

 

Synonym of foreign origin for “eğer”: şayet

47         I know that .. (ki)

To combine two sentences with “that", such as:

Turkish provides the word

 

Example:

 

Note:

 

Note:

 

However, the function of combining two sentences in this way to express “... that” is almost always constructed as shown in the following section, and not using “ki”.

48         XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX that ..

several sections:

 

yapan, eden, gelen = the one that

 

yaptigim, ettigin, gordugun

 

yapacagim edecegim

 

yapmis/yapacak/yapiyor/yapar oldugum/olacagim

 

phrases: geldiğini, yaptığımızı, yapacağımızı

49         Prepositions

 

50         Verb list

Suffix: -mek/mak (see section "to” + stem of a verb)

The verb is normally called together with this suffix, which means “to":

 

In the first column, verbs in orange are intransitive, ie do not take an accusative object. Thes verbs often describe a motion.

 

verb

state of the object

(-i unless given below)

meaning in english

suffix for tense of always

"make do” form

aç

 

open, also: turn on (door, light)

-ar

açtır

açıkla

 

explain

-r

açıklat

ağla

 

cry

-r

ağlat

anla

 

understand

-r

(anlat)

anlat

 

(make understand: see “anla")

explain, tell

-ır

anlattır

ayır

 

split, divide, reserve, book

-ır

ayırt (also: book)

bak

-e

look at

-ar

baktır

bas

-i, -e

(stamp sth onto sth)

step on, stamp, publish

-ar

bastır

bil

 

know

-ir

bildir (also: announce)

bin

-e

get on (horse, vehicle)

-er

bindir

bırak

 

leave, let go

-ır

bıraktır

bul

 

find

-ur

buldur

çek

 

pull, suffer

-er

çektir

çık

-e

climb up, get out

-ar

çıkar, çıkart (also: take out

de

 

say

-r

dedir, dedirt

dinle

 

listen

-r

dinlet

dokun

-e

touch

-ur

dokundur

dur

 

stop

-ur

durdur

duy

 

hear

-ar

duydur, duyur

et (t softened to d when followed by vowel)

 

do

-er

(example: ed-er-im)

ettir

gel

-e

come

-ir

getir (bring someone to some place)

gez

 

wander

-er

gezdir (walk, take on a tour)

git (t softened to d when followed by vowel)

 

go

-er

(example: gid-er-im)

götür (take someone to some place)

gör

 

see

-ür

göster (show)

hatırla

 

remember

-r

hatırlat

iç

 

drink

-er

içtir, içir

in

-den

climb down (also from a vehicle)

-er

indir

ısır

 

bite

-ır

ısırt

işit

 

hear

-ir

işittir

it

 

push

-er

ittir (also: push)

izle

 

watch (tv), follow (path)

-r

izlet

kalk

 

stand up

-ar

kaldır (lift up)

kapa

 

close, also turn off (door, light)

-r

kapat (close

kes

 

cut

-er

kestir

kok

 

smell

-ar

koktur

kokla

 

sniff

-r

koklat

koş

 

run

-ar

koştur (also: run intermittently, or hasten

oku

 

read

-r

okut

otur

 

sit down

-ur

oturt

piş

 

cook (intransitive)

-er

pişir (cook)

sev

 

love, like

-er

sevdir

sevin

-e

become happy (about something)

-ir

sevindir (make happy)

söyle

 

tell

-r

söylet

sür

 

drive, go on, continue

-er

sürdür

uç

 

fly

-ar

uçur

unut

 

forget

-ur

unuttur

uyu

 

sleep

-r

uyut

üz

 

make sad

-er

üzdür (not often used, too indirect)

üzül

 

become sad

-ür

 

yak

 

burn

-ar

yaktır

yan

 

burn

-ar

(yandır) --> yak

yap

 

do, make

-ar

yaptır

yat

 

lie

-ar

yatır (lay)