Learn Turkish

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Introduction
Grammar
Turkish grammar is simplistic once you get used to the style. However, it can seem to be very
difficult since the grammatical structure is totally different from the Indo-European languages. This
is because Turkish is from a different language family called Ural-Altaic languages. Some
languages similar to Turkish are Finnish, Hungarian, Estonian, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian,
Kazak, Uzbek, Tatar, Manchu. Compared to English, the most fundamental differences
in Turkish grammar can be listed as:
Ordering of sentence parts
o A typical Turkish sentence is ordered as (subject + object + verb)
Arkadam [My friend --> subject] araba [car -->object] ald [bought--
>verb].
No gender
o There are no articles in Turkish, and no gender associated with words
o No gender in personal pronouns (the Turkish word for he, she and it is o)
Vowel harmony
o Harmony of vowels is a very fundamental property of Turkish. The rules concerning
vowel harmony need to be learned as one of the first steps because they affect the
way almost all the other rules are applied.
Use of suffixes
o Suffixes are very widely used in Turkish. The meaning of prepositions, personal
pronouns and tenses are all countered by adding suffixes to word roots.
Kalbimdesin [You are in my heart]
Once you get to these differences and learn the basic harmony rules, the rest of the grammar is
quite simple. Almost everything follows well defined, simple rules.
Sounds
Another important point is the way you read a written text. There is exactly one sound for each
character in Turkish. A character always represents the same sound, regardless of its position in a
word or the characters next to it. Therefore, it is straightforward to pronounce a word that you see
for the first time once you are familiar with the characters in the Turkish alphabet.
Vocabulary
Once you are comfortable or at least familiar with the harmony rules, the main challenge will be the
vocabulary. Turkish vocabulary can be very challenging since the words have no resemblance to
the European languages except the few words adapted directlyfrom these languages.



Alphabet
Turkish alphabet consists of 29 letters - 8 vowels and 21 consonants.Each letter has exactly one
associated sound which never changes.
There are seven additional characters not found in the English alphabet.

1. (-)
2. (-)
3. (I-)
4. (-i)
5. (-)
6. (-)
7. (-)
The letters of Turkish alphabet and the sounds associated with these are in the following table...
Lette
r
Pronunciation Letter Pronunciation
A, a like the a in car M, m like the m in man
B, b like the b in bet N, n like the n in neighbor
C, c like the g in gender O, o like the a in ball
, like the ch in chance , like the u in urge
D, d like the d in debt P, p like the p in pen
E, e like the e in less R, r like the r in rent
F, f like the f in felony S, s like the s in send
G, g like the g in game , like the sh in shed
, weak sound,not pronouncing at all will be ok T, t like the t in tennis
H, h like the h in hello U, u like the oo in good
I, like the e in halted , like the u in nude
, i like the ee in keen V, v like the v in vent
J, j like the s in leisure Y, y like the y in yes
K, k like the k in kelly Z, z like the z in zen
L, l like the l in lamb

Numbers
Constructing numbers in Turkish is simple and straightforward. The rule is to line up the parts in
decreasing magnitude like in English, but without putting any conjunctive words in between. For
example, direct translation of 1256 from Turkish would be thousand two hundred fifty six. Lets
continue to construct numbers after you take a look at the table below. The numbers from 0 to 10
definitely need to be learned without any rule, as well as 10, 20, ..., 100 and 1,000-1,000,000-
1,000,000,000.... After that, its all about applying the simple-straightforward rules and practicing.
0 sfr 21 yirmi bir
1 bir 22 yirmi iki
2 iki 30 otuz
3 40 krk
4 drt 50 elli
5 be 60 altm
6 alt 70 yetmi
7 yedi 80 seksen
8 sekiz 90 doksan
9 dokuz 100 yz
10 on 137 yz otuz yedi
11 on bir 200 iki yz
12 on iki 300 yz
13 on 1,000 bin
14 on drt 2,000 iki bin
15 on be 10,000 on bin
16 on alt 25,000 yirmi be bin
17 on yedi 1,000,000 bir milyon
18 on sekiz 1,000,000,000 bir milyar
19 on dokuz
20 yirmi
Looking at the table above, let us see how some numbers are read in different cases:
58 --> elli sekiz 63 --> altm 97 --> doksan yedi
104 --> yz drt 148 --> yz krk sekiz 752 --> yedi yz elli iki
1,765 --> bin yedi yz
altm be
48,392 --> krk sekiz bin yz
doksan iki
305,018 --> yz be bin on
sekiz
4,762,345,258 --> drt milyar yedi yz altm iki milyon yz krk be bin iki yz elli sekiz
Now, practice time. Try tofigure out the number correspondin to thefollowing (answers are below the
list)
Correct answers in sequence are: 4, 14, 44, 174, 629, 724, 1785, 1000003, 328, 1919, 2004, 1789
Fractions
Another point to note here is how to read fractions. The most commonly used form, x.5, is read as the
whole part of the number followed by buuk. The only exception to this is the 0.5 case, which is read
like the other fractions. For the other fractions, the whole part of the number is read first, and then the
fractional part is read as if it is a seperate number after saying virgl . Acually virgl means comma,
and this word is used for separating the whole part and the fractional part of a number. Comma is used
instead of point or dot because in Turkish convention fractions are separated by comma. Here are some
examples:
Turkish spelling Number
drt ?
on drt ?
krk drt ?
yz yetmi drt ?
alt yz yirmi dokuz ?
yedi yz yirmi drt ?
bin yedi yz seksen be ?
bir milyon ?
yz yirmi sekiz ?
bin dokuz yz on dokuz ?
iki bin drt ?
bin yedi yz seksen dokuz ?

2.5 --> iki buuk
274.5 --> iki yz yetmi drt
buuk
0.5 --> sfr virgl be
104.25 --> yz drt virgl
yirmi be
14.8 --> on drt virgl sekiz 7.52 --> yedi virgl elli iki
1.705 --> bir virgl yedi yz
be
48.012 --> krk sekiz virgl
sfr on iki
305.008 --> yz be virgl
sfr sfr sekiz

We should also look at the translations of fraction denoting adjectives. These are:
Half --> Yarm (Be careful that this is used only as an adjective, the word buuk is used instead when
you are reading numbers -half a bread is yarm ekmek, one and a half is bir buuk)
Quarter --> eyrek
Some sentences and prases using these adjectives would be:
Half an hour --> yarm saat
Buy half a bread. --> Yarm ekmek al.
Joe made a foul in the last quarter. --> Joe son eyrekte bir faul yapt.
Sequence Numbers
Now, let us take a look at how order is indicated using the numbers. The suffix used for order is -inci.
Adding this at the and of any number will give the meaning of order. An important point to pay
attention here, as always, is that this suffix changes according to vowel harmony.
1st --> birinci
2nd --> ikinci (not ikiinci, one vowel falls when there is two next to each
other)
3rd --> nc 4th --> drdnc
5th --> beinci 6th --> altnc (again, not altnc because one of the double s falls)
7th --> yedinci 10th --> onuncu
25th --> yirmi beinci 50th --> ellinci (note the same vowel fall here)



Pronouns 1
Personal Pronouns
Here are the Turkish translations of the personal pronouns. However, these pronouns are
generally omitted in sentences since person is implied in the adjectives or the verbs in
sentences. They are often used to stress the person.
i ben i am adjective ben adjective-im
you sen you are adjective sen adjective-sin
he
she
it
o
he
she | is adjective
it /
o adjective
we biz we are adjective biz adjective-iz
you siz you are adjective siz adjective-siniz
they onlar they are adjective onlar adjective-ler

gzel --> beautiful
I am beautiful. --> Ben gzel-im. --> Gzelim. (Personal pronoun is implied)
You are beautiful. --> Sen gzel-sin. --> Gzelsin.
He/she/it is beautiful. --> O gzel. --> Gzel.
We are beautiful. --> Biz gzel-iz. --> Gzeliz.
You are beautiful. --> Siz gzel-siniz. --> Gzelsiniz.
They are beautiful. --> Onlar gzel-ler. --> Gzeller.
kt --> bad
I am bad. --> Ben kt-y-m. --> Ktym. (Note how kt and -m are connected with the
fusion consonant y.)
You are bad. --> Sen kt-sn. --> Ktsn.
He/she/it is bad. --> O kt. --> Kt.
We are bad. --> Biz kt-y-z. --> Ktyz.
You are bad. --> Siz kt-siniz. --> Ktsnz.
They are bad. --> Onlar kt-ler. --> Ktler.





geliyor --> coming (present continuous tense)
I am coming. --> Ben geliyor-um. --> Geliyorum.
You are coming. --> Sen geliyor-sun. --> Geliyorsun.
He/she/it is coming. --> O geliyor. --> Geliyor.
We are coming. --> Biz geliyor-uz. --> Geliyoruz.
You are coming. --> Siz geliyor-sunuz. --> Geliyorsunuz.
They are coming. --> Onlar geliyor-lar. --> Geliyorlar.
For nouns other than these pronouns, you must use the third person case.
Marzena is beautiful. --> Marzena gzel.
Marzena is very beautiful. --> Marzena ok gzel.
Joe is bad. --> Joe kt.
Joe is coming. --> Joe geliyor.
Demonstrative pronouns
These are the pronouns used for obects instead of people.
this bu
that (between this and that) u
that o
these bunlar
those (between these and those) unlar
those onlar

kitap --> book
Bu bir kitap. --> This is a book.
u bir kitap. --> That is a book.
O bir kitap. --> That is a book.
Bunlar kitaplar. --> These are books.
unlar kitaplar. --> Those are books.
Onlar kitaplar. --> Those are books.




Possessive Pronouns
Personal posessive pronouns:
my ben-im my noun ben-im noun-im
your sen-in your noun sen-in noun-in
his
her
its
o-n-un
his
her | noun
its /
o-n-un noun-i
our biz-im our noun biz-im noun-imiz
your siz-in your noun siz-in noun-iniz
their onlar-n their noun onlar-n noun-leri
Notice his/her/its is o-n-un instead of o-un. Since two vowels dont come together in Turkish,
one fusion consonant is added in between. It is n in this case. Either a fusion consonant is
added in between, or one of the vowels is dropped whenever a vowel is followed by another
vowel. Which technique must be used changes among different rules, but it is consistent in a
single rule. This will be mentioned in different lessons when necessary.
ev --> house
my house --> ben-im ev-im --> evim (personal pronoun is implied)
your house --> sen-in ev-in --> evin
his/her/its house --> o-n-in ev-i --> onun evi --> evi
our house --> biz-im ev-imiz --> evimiz
your house --> siz-in ev-iniz --> eviniz
their house --> onlar-n ev-leri --> evleri
araba --> car
my car --> ben-im araba-m --> arabam (the suffix -im becomes -m when added after a vowel,
since two vowels dont come together in Turkish)
your car --> sen-in araba-n --> araban
his/her/its car --> o-n-in araba-s- --> onun arabas --> arabas (Instead of dropping one
vowel, here the fusion consonant s is added between vowels since the suffix is only a single
vowel.)
our car --> biz-im araba-mz --> arabamz
your car --> siz-in araba-nz --> arabanz
their car --> onlar-n araba-lar --> arabalar
- For nouns other than these pronouns, always the third person form is used.
Gizems house --> Gizemin evi
Gizems car --> Gizemin arabas
My mothers house --> Annemin evi

Demonstrative posessive pronouns:
of this bu-n-un
of that (between this and that) u-n-un
of that o-n-un
of these bunlar-n
of those (between these and those) unlar-n
of those onlar-n
Bunun evi --> The house of this
unun evi --> The house of that
Onun evi --> The house of that
Bunlarn evleri --> The house of these.
unlarn evleri --> The house of those.
Onlarn evleri --> The house of those.
- For nouns other than these pronouns, always the third person form is used.
The room of the house --> Evin odas
Cats food --> Kedinin yemei
Reflexive Pronouns
The way reflexive pronouns are constructed in Turkish is very similar to the way we do it in
English. The Turkish word for self iskendi. The reflexive pronouns hence are as follows:
myself kendi-im kendim
yourself kendi-in kendin
himself
herself
itself
kendi-si kendisi
ourselves kendi-imiz kendimiz
yourselves kendi-iniz kendiniz
themselves kendi-leri kendileri

Pronouns 2
In the previous lesson on pronouns, we covered the basic pronouns. The topics covered
were:
Personal pronouns (ben, sen, o, biz, siz, onlar)
Demonstrative pronouns (bu, u, o, bunlar, unlar, onlar)
Possessive pronouns
o Personal possessive pronouns (benim, senin, onun, bizim, sizin, onlarn)
o Demonstrative possessive pronouns (bunun, unun, onun, bunlarn,
unlarn, onlarn)
Reflexive pronouns (kendim, kendin, kendisi, kendimiz, kendiniz, kendileri)
There are also other pronouns used for many different situations, like everybody, nothing...
Let's now see the Turkish meanings for these pronouns.
English Turkish
Basic components of these pronouns
every her
thing ey
none hi
any herhangibir
one, a bir
some baz
all btn
Pronouns
everything everything
something something
nothing nothing
anything anything
everybody everybody
somebody somebody
nobody nobody
anybody anybody
all of these all of these
all of those all of those
all of us all of us
all of you all of you
none of these none of these
none of those none of those
none of us none of us
none of you none of you
some of these some of these
some of those some of those
some of us some of us
some of you some of you

In English, some of these pronouns that have negative meanings are used in positive
sentences. For example,
There is nobody here. (Instead of there isn't nobody here)
In Turkish, you never do this. If the meaning of a pronoun is negative, it must always be
used in a negative sentence. Similarly, pronouns with positive meanings must always be
used in positive sentences.
There is nobody here. --> Burada hikimse yok.
Now, let's use some of these pronouns in sentences:
Every flower does not smell. --> Her iek kokmaz.
What is this thing? --> Bu ey ne?
There is none left. --> Hi kalmad.
Some students are here. --> Baz renciler burada.
All students are here. --> Btn renciler burada.
Everything's ok. --> Herey yolunda.
Everything is here. --> Herey burada.
Ask something. --> Birey sor.
I saw nothing. --> Hibir ey grmedim.
Is there anything? --> Herhangibir ey var m?
Is everybody here? --> Herkes burada m?
Somebody came. --> Birisi geldi.
Nobody came. --> Hi kimse gelmedi.
Anybody can come. --> Herhangi birisi gelebilir.
All of these are mine. --> Bunlarn hepsi benim.





















Date and Time
1. Time
Lets start with simple dialogue sentences about time, the question and different answers.
Time - English Turkish (Parantheses for explanation only)
What time is it? Saat ka?
It is ten oclock. Saat on (10).
It is five past ten. Saat onu (10-i) be (5) geiyor.
It is five past five. Saat bei (5-i) be (5) geiyor.
It is five past six. Saat alty (6-[y]-i) be (5) geiyor.
It is five past three. Saat (3-i) be (5) geiyor.
It is quarter past ten. Saat onu (10-i) eyrek (quarter) geiyor.
It is ten twenty. Saat onu (10-i) yirmi (20) geiyor.
It is half past ten. Saat on (10) buuk (half).
It is ten thirty five. Saat on bire (11-e) yirmi be (25) var.
It is ten forty. Saat on bire (11-e) yirmi (20) var.
It is quarter to eleven. Saat on bire (11-e) eyrek (quarter) var.
It is ten to eleven. Saat on bire (11-e) on (10) var.
It is eleven. Saat on bir (11).
Now, time to explain the words and phrases used in this table. Lets start with the question,
Saat ka?. Word by word:
Saat --> Hour
Ka --> How many
It is not perfectly logical, but the question sentence used for asking the time is Saat ka?.
Then, you may say, how do you ask how many hours? To say How many hours? you would
say Ka saat?. Saat ka? is a special phrase for asking the time which otherwise would
not be very meaningful. More or less the same is true for the answer. The best thing is to try
to learn the main phrase instead of trying to learn the logic, because the logic used here does
not apply to other cases in the language. You basically say "Saat xxx.".
From the exact hour to half past, you say the time as minutes past hour. From half past to the
next hour, convention is to sat the time as minutes to hour.
The word for past is geiyor.
The word for to is var.
The word for half is buuk.
The word for quarter is eyrek.
The general phrase for "It is minutes past hours" is:
Saat hours-i minutes geiyor. (Note the vowel harmony rules for the suffix -i)
And the general phrase for "It is minutes to hours" is:
Saat hours-e minutes var. (Note the vowel harmony rules for the suffix -e)
2. Date
Lets start with the days of the week and months:
English Turkish
Days of the week
Sunday Pazar
Monday Pazartesi
Tuesday Sal
Wednesday aramba
Thursday Perembe
Friday Cuma
Saturday Cumartesi

Months
January Ocak
February ubat
March Mart
April Nisan
May Mays
June Haziran
July Temmuz
August Austos
September Eyll
October Ekim
November Kasm
December Aralk
2.1. Day of the week
A simple conversation about the day of the week would be like the following:
English Turkish
A. Whats the day? A. Bugn gnlerden ne?
B1. Today is Monday. B1. Bugn gnlerden pazartesi.
B2. Monday. B2. Pazartesi.
Lets examine the parts of the question sentence first:
bu --> this
gn --> day
bugn --> today
gnler --> days
gnlerden --> from the days (also means among the days)
ne --> what
Putting all these words together, the direct translation of Bugn gnlerden ne? would be
Today among the days what?. Funny? Thats the way you ask the day of the week. After
these explanations and translations, the answer sentence should be clear.
2.2. Whole Date
To ask the date, you say:
-Bugnn tarihi ne?
-14 Temmuz 2004.
Vocabulary:
bugn --> today
tarih --> date
bugnn tarihi --> todays date
ne --> what
Using these, the direct translation of the question sentence would be: Todays date what? .
Actually, this is how you form a regular question sentence in Turkish. You shouldnt worry
about this yet, well cover it later in another lesson.
The answer doesnt need much explanation. The day number, followed by months name, and
finally the year. The day number and the year are both read as a regular numbers.For reading
years, it is always read as a whole as a single number. Years are never read as two parts like it
is done in English in the case of 1996 (nineteen ninety six). The way you read this year in
Turkish would be bin dokuz yz doksan alt (one thousand nine hundred ninety six).
3. Seasons
Lets see the words used for seasons in Turkish:
English Turkish
spring bahar or ilkbahar
summer yaz
fall, autumn sonbahar or gz
winter k

Love
In this lesson, we will cover the love words and expressions in Turkish. Let's start with a list
of love words used to call the person you love in Turkish. A general point here is that you
always use these words with possession in Turkish. Instead of saying 'honey', the word you
use in Turkish means 'my honey'. I will also give the direct translations of these words to
English.
Turkish English
akm my love
canm my life
bi tanem my only one
hayatm my life
sevgilim my darling
balm my honey
tatlm my sweety (used for girls)
gzelim my beautiful (used for girls)
ieim my flower (used for girls)
glm my rose (used for girls)
meleim my angel (used for girls)










Now, let's see some common love phrases in Turkish and their meanings:
Turkish English
Seni seviyorum. I love you.
Seni ok seviyorum. I love you very much.
Senden ok holanyorum. I like you very much.
Benimle kar msn? Would you like to go out with me?
Benimle dans eder misin? Would you like to dance with me?
Benimle evlenir misin? Will you marry me?
Evlenme teklifi. Marriage proposal.
Nianl Fiancee
Ryalarmn erkeisin/kadnsn. You are the man/woman of my dreams.
Seninle olmak istiyorum. I want to be with you.
Seninle kalmak istiyorum. I want to stay with you.
Seni ok zlyorum. I am missing you very much.
Seni ok zledim. I missed you very much.
Biraz daha kalabilir misin? Can you stay a little longer?
Seni bir daha ne zaman greceim? When will I see you next?
Bir yerlerde bulualm. Let's meet somewhere.
Seni grmek istiyorum. I want to see you.
ok gzelsin. You are very beautiful.






Antonyms
A set of important antonyms you need to know...
English Turkish
big-small byk-kk
fast-slow hzl-yava
quick-slow abuk-yava
full-empty dolu-bo
easy-difficult kolay-zor
heavy-light ar-hafif
open-shut ak-kapal
right-wrong doru-yanl
old-new eski-yeni
old-young yal-gen
first-last ilk-son
beautiful-ugly gzel-irkin
free-busy serbest-megul
good-bad iyi-kt
better-worse daha iyi-daha kt
the best-the worst en iyi-en kt
early-late erken-ge
cheap-expensive ucuz-pahal
near-far yakn-uzak
here-there burada-orada
right-left sa-sol
tall-short uzun-ksa
dark-light koyu-ak
high-low yksek-alak
open-closed ak-kapal
thin-thick ince-kaln
slim-fat zayf-iman

Quantity words
English Turkish
a little, some biraz
very, much, many ok
enough yeterli
any, no, none hi
few az
too much, too many ok fazla
too fazla
more daha fazla, daha ok
less daha az
a few birka (tane)

Colors
English Turkish
Black Siyah
White Beyaz
Red Krmz
Blue Mavi
Orange Turuncu
Green Yeil
Purple Mor
Pink Pembe
Brown Kahverengi
Yellow Sar
Grey Gri
Color Renk
Light Ak
Dark Koyu

The question for asking colors is constructed similar to the way its done in English:
Eng: What color is XXX?
Tr: XXX ne renk? (Here, ne is what and renk is color)
The answer is also simple:
Eng: XXX is red.
Tr: XXX krmz.

However, note the difference in word ordering when you want to add a color (or any
adjective) to an indefinite noun.
Eng: A red XXX.
Tr: Krmz bir XXX. (Not Bir krmz XXX)

Now, try to understand the following sentences. English translations are below the Turkish
sentences.
1. Bu araba ak mavi.
2. Evim koyu krmz.
3. Gzlerin ne renk?
4. Beyaz bir gmlek aldm.

1. This car is light blue. 2. My house is dark red. 3. What color are your eyes? 4. I bought a
white shirt.







Family
English Turkish
father baba
mother anne
brother (erkek) karde
sister (kz) karde
elder brother abi
elder sister abla
son oul - erkek ocuk
daughter kz - kz ocuk
aunt (mother side) teyze
aunt (father side) hala
grandfather dede - bykbaba
grandmother nine - bykanne
grandmother (mother side) anneanne
grandmother (father side) babaanne
nephew, niece yeen
uncle (father side) amca
uncle (mother side) day
cousin kuzen
father-in-law kaynbaba - kaynpeder
mother-in-law kaynana - kaynvalide
sister-in-law baldz
sister-in-law's husband bacanak
son-in-law damat
daughter-in-law gelin
sister's husband enite
grandson, granddaughter, grandchild torun
twin ikiz
twin brother, twin sister ikiz karde
wife e, hanm, kar
husband koca
step mother vey anne
step father vey baba

Fruits and vegetables
Weight is measured with kilograms in Turkey like in Europe, unlike pounds used in America.
Some sentences useful for buying fruits and vegetables would be:

Sentences for request:
A. Bir kilo domates alabilir miyim? (Can I get one kilogram tomatoes?)
A. ki kilo elma verir misiniz? (Can you give me two kilograms of apple?)
A. Yarm kilo ilek alacaktm. (Something like "I would like to buy half a kilogram of
strawberries.")

Possible response of the seller:
B. Tabi, buyrun.(Sure, here you are)
B. Hemen. (Immediately)
B. Buyrun, afiyet olsun. (Here you are, good appetite)

Reply to the seller before leaving:
A. Teekkrler. (Thank you)
A. Hayrl iler. (Something like "Have a fruitful work day")
A. yi gnler. (Have a nice day)

English Turkish
Fruits --- Meyveler
banana muz
apple elma
orange portakal
grape zm
cherry kiraz
tangerine mandalina
sour cherry vine
pear armut
avocado avokado
pineapple ananas
strawberry ilek
currant kuzm
grapefruit greyfurt
fig incir
watermelon karpuz
melon kavun
apricot kays
kiwi kivi
mulberry dut
raspberry ahududu
blackberry brtlen
plum erik
Vegetables --- Sebzeler
lettuce marul
eggplant patlcan
zucchini kabak
cucumber salatalk - hyar
parsley maydanoz
potato patates
onion soan
tomato domates
pepper biber
cabbage lahana
cauliflower karnbahar
lemon limon
Another point worth noting if you are in Turkey is that bargaining is very common :) You can
buy many things under the display price with some bargaining.


Body parts

English Turkish English Turkish
Vcudumuz --- Our Body Vcudumuz --- Our Body
head kafa - ba lip dudak
body vcut - gvde moustache byk
arm kol beard sakal
leg bacak shoulder omuz
hand el waist bel
foot ayak toe ayak baparma
finger parmak abdomen karn
index finger iaret parma lip dudak
thumb ba parmak Organs --- Organlar
eye gz heart heart
ear kulak lung lung
hair sa liver liver
nail trnak kidney kidney
nose burun stomach stomach
mouth az vein vein
tooth di blood blood
tongue dil brain brain
cheek yanak
chin ene
throat boaz
neck boyun
eyelash kirpik
eyelid gz kapa
eyebrow ka
forehead aln
temple akak
wrist bilek - kol bilei
ankle ayak bilei
heel topuk
elbow dirsek
knee diz

Animals


English Turkish English Turkish
Animals --- Hayvanlar Animals - Hayvanlar
animal hayvan beaver kunduz
lion aslan gull mart
tiger kaplan hawk ahin
sheep koyun hedgehog kirpi
cow inek squirrel sincap
bull boa stork leylek
ox kz vulture akbaba
hen tavuk worm kurt - solucan
rooster horoz wasp eek ars
pig domuz millipede krkayak
horse at hyena srtlan
donkey eek grasshopper ekirge
turkey hindi zebra zebra
dog kpek fox tilki
cat kedi snake ylan
mouse fare elephant fil
fish balk bear ay
whale balina giraffe zrafa
dolphin yunus penguin penguen
shark kpek bal spider rmcek
octopus ahtapot crocodile timsah
insect, bug bcek lizard kertenkele
butterfly kelebek turtle kaplumbaa
bee ar rabbt tavan
ant karnca bird ku
wolf kurt fish balk
deer geyik frog kurbaa
bat yarasa monkey maymun




Character

English Turkish English Turkish
Character --- Karakter Character --- Karakter
behavior davran clumsy sakar
honest drst tidy dzenli
patient sabrl untidy dzensiz
impatient sabrsz friendly cana yakn
kind kibar glad memnun
proud gururlu hardworking alkan
polite kibar lazy tembel
impolite kaba joyful neeli
decent terbiyeli - nazik happy mutlu
skilful yetenekli unhappy mutsuz
witty, clever zeki - akll sad zgn
quite suskun - sessiz surprising artc
curious merakl serious ciddi
funny komik charming ekici
boring skc angry sinirli - kzgn
cruel zalim stupid aptal
talkative konukan arrogant kstah
good iyi jealous kskan
bad kt understanding anlayl
naive saf excuse zr
optimistic iyimser obedient itaatkar
pessimistic ktmser active aktif
shy utanga nice ho
strange garip amusing elenceli
sensitive duygusal joyful neeli
crazy lgn arrogant kibirli
tolerant toleransl modest alak gnll






English Turkish English Turkish
House --- Ev Furniture --- Eyalar
door kap table masa
room oda bookcase kitaplk
front door n kap chair sandalye
back door arka kap wardrobe gardrop
window pencere shelf raf
kitchen mutfak armchair koltuk
bedroom yatak odas sofa koltuk - kanepe
dining room yemek odas shower du
living room oturma odas trash bin p kutusu
chldren's room ocuk odas ashtray kl tablas
bathroom banyo bathtub kvet
toilet tuvalet door mat paspas
balcony balkon tap musluk
corridor koridor heating kalorifer
garden bahe candle mum
basement bodrum key anahtar
ground floor zemin kat lamp lamba
garage garaj frame ereve
terrace teras socket priz
yard avlu plug fi
upper floor/story st kat mirror ayna
loft tavan aras door bell kap zili
cellar kiler radio radyo
stairs merdiven television televizyon
step basamak computer bilgisayar
lift, elevator asansr pan tava
wall duvar glass bardak
roof at bottle ie
fireplace mine plate tabak
spoon kak
House and Furniture


Illness

English Turkish
Sicknesses
sick hasta, rahatsz
headache ba ars
to catch a cold souk almak
flu grip
measles nezle
tootache di ars
stomach ache karn ars
contagious bulac
ulcer lser
cancer kanser
to faint baylmak
hiccups hkrk
migraine migren
heart attack kalp krizi
itch kat
to itch kanmak
angina anjin
bronchitis bronit

Now, some sentences for telling you or somebody is sick.
- I am sick. (Hastaym.)
- I am very sick. (ok hastaym.)
- I have a toothache. (Diim aryor.)
- I have a cold. (Nezleyim. or Nezle oldum.)
- I got sick. (Hasta oldum. or Hastalandm.)
- I dont feel well. (yi hissetmiyorum. )
- My foot is itching. (Ayam kanyor.)
If somebody tells you that he is sick or somebody close to him is sick, you say:
fork atal
- Gemi olsun. (This is like wishing for recovery.)



Major Vowel Harmony
Vowel harmony is one of the most fundamental and important aspects of Turkish grammar.
Turkish words generally obey two vowel harmony rules, called the major vowel harmony and
theminor vowel harmony. More important than the words obeying these rules, there are ways
these rules change the vowels in the suffixes added to words. A good understanding of these rules
is necessary to be able to use suffixes, hence to be able to make correct and meaningful
sentences.

1. Major Vowel Harmony

The 8 vowels in the Turkish alphabet are separated into two groups called hard vowels and soft
vowels. There are 4 hard vowels and 4 soft vowels.
Hard vowels: a, , o, u
Soft vowels: e, i, ,

Words of Turkish origin generally (not always) have all hard or all soft vowels. This is just a
generalization that you wont use for constructing Turkish words and sentences. Words that have
hard and soft vowels together are said to violate the major vowel harmony. A word that violates
the major vowel harmony probably has been adopted from another language or has been changed
in the lifetime of the Turkish language.

Each of the hard vowels are the hard counterparts of one soft vowel (and vice versa). Following
this rule, vowels can be paired with their counterparts as follows:
Hard Soft
a e
i
o
u


A Turkish word is either a hard word or a soft word depending on its last vowel.

ev[home] is a soft word since its last and only vowel, e, is a soft vowel.
okul[school] is a hard word since its last vowel, u, is a hard vowel.
kahve[coffee] is a soft word since its last vowel, e, is a soft vowel.



Now, try to guess if the following words are hard or soft. The correct answers are below the
table.
Word Hard or Soft
meslek[job] ?
araba[car] ?
gzel[beautiful] ?
yemek[food] ?
glmse[smile] ?
abuk[quick] ?
gl[rose] ?
gl[lake] ?
gidelim[lets go] ?
telefon[telephone] ?

(Correct answers: soft, hard, soft, soft, soft, hard, soft, soft, soft, hard)

Major vowel harmony states that:
Any suffix appended to a hard word must have hard vowels
Any suffix appended to a soft word must have soft vowels

As an example to this rule lets consider the suffix -de. When added to a noun, this suffix gives
the meaning of "at/in the location expressed by that noun". When added to a soft word like
ev[home], this suffix is -de. However, when added to a hard word like okul[school], the soft
vowels in this suffix are replaced by their hard counterparts and the suffix becomes -da. Hence:

at home --> evde
at school --> okulda
in the car --> arabada
at the lake --> glde














Minor Vowel Harmony

Vowel harmony is one of the most fundamental and important aspects of Turkish grammar.
Turkish words generally obey two vowel harmony rules, called the major vowel harmony and
theminor vowel harmony. More important than the words obeying these rules, there are ways
these rules change the vowels in the suffixes added to words. A good understanding of these
rules is necessary to be able to use suffixes, hence to be able to make correct and meaningful
sentences.
2. Minor Vowel Harmony
We saw that the 8 vowels in the Turkish alphabet are divided into two groups as hard and soft
vowels. Besides this grouping, the 8 vowels are divided into two groups as round vowels and
flat vowels. There are 4 flat and 4 round vowels. A vowels being round or flat is actually
determined from the shape of the mouth when pronouncing that vowel, but it can also be seen
in the shape of the capital characters.

Flat vowels: A, E, I,
Round vowels: O, , U,
A Turkish word is either a round word or a flat word depending on its last vowel.
ev[home] is a flat word since its last and only vowel, e, is a flat vowel.
okul[school] is a round word since its last vowel, u, is a round vowel.
kahve[coffee] is a flat word since its last vowel, e, is a flat vowel.

Now, try to guess if the following words are round or flat. Move the mouse over the right table
cell of the word to see the answer.
Word Round or Flat
meslek[job] ?
araba[car] ?
gzel[beautiful] ?
yemek[food] ?
glmse[smile] ?
abuk[quick] ?
gl[rose] ?
gl[lake] ?
gidelim[lets go] ?
telefon[telephone] ?

(Correct answers: flat, flat, flat, flat, flat, round, round, round, flat, round)
Minor vowel harmony states that:
If a suffix starting with -i is appended to a round word, the -i in the suffix becomes -u or -.
This depends on whether the word is hard or soft. The major vowel harmony and the minor
vowel harmony apply to words simultaneously. This means:
If a suffix starting with -i is added to a hard and round word, the -i in the suffix becomes -u.
o okul --> school [a hard vowel]
o suffix we will add is -im (gives the meaning my)
o my school --> okulum [the suffix -im changes according to vowel harmonies and becomes -um]
If a suffix starting with -i is added to a soft and round word, the -i in the suffix becomes -.
o gl --> rose
o suffix we will add is -im (gives the meaning my)
o my rose --> glm [the suffix -im changes according to vowel harmonies and becomes-m]

my telephone --> telefonum
my beautiful --> gzelim
my lake --> glm
Notes on Vowel Harmony
Vowel harmony is one of the most fundamental and important aspects of Turkish grammar.
Turkish words generally obey two vowel harmony rules, called the major vowel harmony and
theminor vowel harmony.
These rules change the vowels in the suffixes added to words. A good understanding of these
rules is necessary to be able to use suffixes, hence to be able to make correct and meaningful
sentences.

3. Practical notes about vowel harmony rules
As far as vowel harmony is concerned, we can separate all the suffixes in Turkish into two
main groups. Thinking in terms of these two cases simplifies these seemingly complicated
rules. These are:

Case 1:
The suffixes with first vowel -i (the suffixes -i, -di, -iyor, -im, -in ...)

Case 2:
suffixes with first vowel -e (the suffixes -e, -de, -den, -erek, ...)

All suffixes with first vowel -i, -, -u, - fall into the first group, and they are different forms of
this case modified according to vowel harmony rules.
bal-m --> balm (my honey)
ev-im --> evim (my home)
snf-im --> snfm (my class)
dil-im --> dilim (my tongue)
sol-im --> solum (my left)
gz-im --> gzm (my eye)
okul-im --> okulum (my school)
zm-im --> zmm (my grape)
All suffixes with first vowel -e, -a fall into the second group, and they are different forms of
this case modified according to vowel harmony rules.
araba-den --> arabadan (from the car)
ev-den --> evden (from home)
kap-den --> kapdan (from the door)
deniz-den --> denizden (from the sea)
sol-den --> soldan (from the left)
gz-den --> gzden (from the eye)
okul-den --> okuldan (from school)
kap-den --> kapdan (from the door)
Note that no suffix has -o or - as the first vowel. Actually, no suffix has the letter - in it and
there is only one suffix that has the vowel -o (this is the suffix for present continuous tense, -
iyor and this -o does not change according to any vowel harmony rules).
bak-iyor --> bakyor (he/she/it is looking)
gel-iyor --> geliyor (he/she/it is coming)
sk-iyor --> skyor (he/she/it is squeezing)
bil-iyor --> biliyor (he/she/it knows)
ko-iyor --> kouyor (he/she/it is running)
gr-iyor --> gryor (he/she/it is seeing)
bul-uyor --> buluyor (he/she/it is finding)
gl-iyor --> glyor (he/she/it is laughing)
The suffixes in case 1 are affected from both the major vowel harmony and the minor vowel
harmony. For example, the suffix -di can become -di, -d, -du or -d depending on the word at
which it is appended.
ara-di --> arad
gel-di --> geldi
kr-di --> krd
bil-di --> bildi
sol-di --> soldu
gr-di --> grd
bul-du --> buldu
-di --> d

The suffixes in case 2 are affected by only the major vowel harmony rule. For example, the
suffix -erek can become -erek or -arak depending on the word at which it is appended.
bak-erek --> bakarak (with looking)
sev-erek --> severek (with loving)
sk-erek --> skarak (with squeezing)
bil-erek --> bilerek (with knowing, knowingly)
ko-erek --> koarak (with running)
gr-erek -- grerek (with seeing)
vur-erek -- vurarak (with hitting)
bk-erek -- bkerek (with bending)

Vowel Rules
Besides the vowel harmony rules, there are other basic rules that affect the way suffixes are
used. A vowel following another is never allowed in Turkish, and there are rules to avoid
these situations when they occur as a result of other rules. There are also rules about
consonant harmony, that make some consonants change in certain cases.
1. When two vowels come together
In Turkish, two vowels can never come together (note that there are a few exceptions to this
rule). So, what do we do when we need to add a suffix that starts with a vowel at the end of a
word that ends with a vowel? There are two cases here:
1.1. Dropping a vowel
To say my house, you append the suffix meaning my (-im) to the word meaning house (ev).
Simple enough, my house --> evim.
You want to say my car.
Car is araba and the suffix that gives the meaning my is -im. Change the suffix according to
vowel harmony rules so that is can be appended to araba (a hard and flat word) and -im
becomes -m.
So, to put it together, my car becomes araba-m = arabam. However, two vowels can not
come together in Turkish. Trouble...
To avoid this, we drop one of the vowels in this case.
i. If both of the vowels are in the group "-i, -, -u, -" than these two vowels have to be the
same (look at the vowel harmony rules to understand why). Since the two vowels are the
same, it does not matter which one we drop in this case.
ii. However, if one of the vowels is in the group "-i, -, -u, -" but the other is not (meaning
that it is one of "a, e, o, ") then generally the vowel in the group "-i, -, -u, -" is dropped.
There are some exceptions to this, however, and these exceptions will be noted when
necessary.
Applying these rules, my car becomes arabam.
1.2. Adding a buffer consonant in between
You are asked where you are going. You want to say "(to) home". Hence, you append the
suffix giving the direction meaning (-e) to the word meaning home (ev) and your reply
becomes "eve".
However, if you are going to the car and you want to tell this to your friend, things are not
that simple for you:
First, change the suffix -e according to vowel harmony rules according to araba and it
becomes -a.
Now, add this suffix -a at the end of our word araba, and get arabaa.
We have two vowels together. Drop one? Unfortunately, not this time.
In this case we need to add a buffer consonant between the two vowels. There is not a simple
rule to tell why. Sometimes one of the two vowels is dropped, sometimes one buffer
consonant is added in between.
However, what you do is consistent for a given suffix. If you are adding the suffix -e to a
word that ends with a vowel (like araba), you always add the fusion consonant y in between.
Saying to the car then becomes arabaya.
Too much effort spent to say a very simple word? More to come. Lets practice on a few
other words:
Coast --> Ky | To the coast --> Ky-e --> Kyya
Room --> Oda | To the room --> Oda-e --> Odaya
Ship --> Gemi | To the ship --> Gemi-e --> Gemiye

This may take some time to get used to, definitely doable. Unfortunately, thats not
everything. The buffer consonant is not y every time. y is the most common one, so you can
put y whenever you dont remember which one to put, chances are high youll be right. The
other consonants that are sometimes used as fusion consonants are s and n.

Lets see different cases where these fusion consonants are used:
a. The suffix -i
If the suffix -i is used as the -i form of a noun, making it a direct object (like the in English),
then the fusion consonant y is used.
araba-i sat -> araba-y- sat -> arabay sat (sell the car)
yaz-i oku -> yaz-y- oku -> yazy oku (read the text)

If the suffix -i is used as the third person posessive (his-her-its), then the fusion consonant s is
used.
araba-i -> araba-s- -> arabas (his-her-its car)
para-i -> para-s- -> paras (his-her-its money)
kedi-i -> kedi-s-i -> kedisi (his-her-its cat)
* Note that the word for water (su) is an exception for this case, the fusion consonant y is
used with the word su (water).
su-i -> su-y-u -> suyu (his-her-its water)

b. The suffix -e(direction suffix, adds the meaning of preposition to)

When the direction suffix -e is added to a word that ends with a vowel, the fusion
consonant y is added in between.
araba-e -> araba-y-a -> arabaya (to the car)
konu-e -> konu-y-a -> konuya (to the topic)
pencere-e -> pencere-y-e -> pencereye (to the window)
b. The suffix -in (gives the genitive meaning, like Andys)
When the suffix -in is added to a word that ends with a vowel, the fusion consonant n is
added in between.
araba-in -> araba-n-n -> arabann (of the car, the cars)
konu-in -> konu-n-un -> konunun (of the topic)
pencere-in -> pencere-n-in -> pencerenin (of the window)
* Note that the suffix -in is also used with the second person posessive meaning.

If the suffix -in used as second person possessive is added to a word that ends with a vowel,
than the letter i of the suffix is dropped. The same is true for the first person possessive
suffix, -im, first person plural possessive suffix, -imiz and second person plural possessive
suffix, -iniz.
araba-im -> araba-m -> arabam (my car)
kedi-in -> kedi-n -> kedin (your cat)
kap-imiz -> kap-mz -> kapmz (our door)
para-iniz -> para-nz -> paranz (your (plural) money)
pencere-im -> pencere-m -> pencerem (my window)
There are also other uses of fusion consonants besides separating two vowels.

d. The suffix -le(with, by)

When the suffix -le is added to a word that ends with a vowel, the fusion consonant y is added
in between.
araba-le git -> araba-y-la git -> arabayla git (go by car)
kedi-le oyna -> kedi-y-le oyna -> kediyle oyna (play with the cat)
gemi-le gel -> gemi-y-le gel -> gemiyle gel (come by ship)

e. The suffix -de(location, like propositions at, in, on) and the suffix -den (proposition from)

When the suffix -de or -den is added to a word as the first suffix, no fusion consonant is used.
But when one of -de or -den/ is added to a word that already has a suffix or a series of
suffixes that end with a vowel, the fusion consonant n is added in between.
araba-de -> araba-da -> arabada (in the car)
kedi-den -> kediden (from the cat)
araba-si-de -> araba-s-n-da -> arabasnda (in his-her-its car)
kedi-in-ki-den -> kedi-n-in-ki-n-den -> kedininkinden (from the cats)
gemi-leri-den -> gemi-leri-n-den -> gemilerinden (from their ship)
Consonant Harmony
Besides the vowel harmony rules, there are other basic rules that affect the way suffixes are
used. A vowel following another is never allowed in Turkish, and there are rules to avoid these
situations when they occur as a result of other rules. There are also rules about consonant
harmony, that make some consonants change in certain cases.

2. Consonant Harmony
Vowel harmony rules cause the vowels of suffixes to be modified when they are added to some
words. There are similar rules about consonants. However, you may feel that all these rules are
too many just for a simple start. Then, I advice you to omit the consonant harmony rules when
you want to say or write something, just for the beginning. You will still be understood.
Consonant harmony is mainly for making speech more fluent, it does not have a major effect on
understandability. You will eventually learn these if you decide to continue learning Turkish, as
you read sentences or listen to Turkish speakers.
Tip
Consonant harmony is mainly for making speech more fluent, it does not have a major
effect on understandability.

There are two different cases of consonant harmony - either the last consonant of the main
word changes, or the first consonant of the suffix changes. The trouble making consonants in
this case arep, , t and k. Lets call the words that end with one of p, , t or k the trouble
words.

CASE A - Word mutation.
Two conditions must be satisfied for word mutation to occur:
1. You have a word ending with one of p, , t, k.
2. You want to add this word a suffix that starts with a vowel.
If the word has only one syllable, like sa, you are safe. The word usually does not change.
sa- --> sa (his/her/its hair)
sap-a --> sapa (to the handle)

However, if the word has more than one syllable, than the consonant at the
end usually changes.
p becomes b
becomes c
t becomes d
k becomes

And here are some examples to this:
aa-a --> aaca (to the tree)
arap-n --> arabn (of the wine)
kat-a --> kada (to the paper)
geyik-e --> geyie (to the deer)

Tip
There are exceptions to both the single syllable and multiple syllable cases mentioned above. For
example:
kap-a --> kaba (to the container)
saat-in --> saatin (the clocks)

You should still learn and apply the rules though, there are not too many of these exceptions.








CASE B - Suffix mutation.
Two conditions must be satisfied for suffix mutation to occur:
1. You have a word ending with one of p, , t, k, f, h, s, .
2. You want to add this word a suffix that starts with c or d.
In this case, the first letter of the consonant changes.
c becomes
d becomes t
Examples:
Leh --> Polish (people)
Leh-ce --> Lehe --> Polish (language)
Trk --> Turkish (people)
Trk-ce --> Trke --> Turkish (lanuage)
yap --> do
yap-di --> yapt --> he did

Infinitives and Plurals
1. Infinitives
Verbs in Turkish, when used alone, have the imperative meaning as in English.
do --> yap
come --> gel
go --> git
drink --> i
sleep --> uy
In order to make a verb infinitive, the suffix -mek is used.
to do --> yapmak (changes to -mak since yap[do] is a hard word)
to come --> gelmek
to go --> gitmek
to drink --> imek
to sleep --> uyumak
The following are examples to the use of infinitives in Turkish:
It is good to sleep. --> Uyumak iyi(dir).
It is difficult to study. --> almak zor(dur).
I want to go. --> Gitmek istiyorum.
I want to walk. --> Yrmek istiyorum.
2. Plurals
To make plurals of nouns, the suffix -ler is used. Below are some examples, note how the suffix -
lerbecomes 'sometimes -ler, sometimes -lar' obeying the rules of vowel harmony.

road(s) --> yol --> yollar room(s) --> oda --> odalar
tree(s) --> aa --> aalar house(s) --> ev --> evler
rose(s) --> gl --> gller job(s) --> meslek --> meslekler
Negatives
1. Negatives of nouns and adjectives
To make a noun or adjective negative, add the word deil at the end of the adjective or noun.
Positive Negative
Bu bir araba. [This is a car.] Bu bir araba deil. [This is not a car]
O bir ev. [That is a house.] O bir ev deil. [That is not a house]
O ok gzel. [She is very beautiful.] O ok gzel deil. [She is not very beautiful.]
Bu araba beyaz. [This car is white.] Bu araba beyaz deil. [This car is not white]

2. Negatives of verbs
To make a verb negative, add the suffix -me at the root of the verb.
to come --> gel-mek
not to come --> gel-me-mek (the negating suffix is always added at the verb root)
Note how the suffix is added at the root. This is always the case. A verb may have many
suffixes, but the negating suffix is always immediately after the verb root. All the other suffixes
follow as if they are being added to the positive of the verb.
gel-di --> geldi --> he came
gel-me-di --> gelmedi --> he did not come
ol-mak ya da ol-ma-mak --> olmak ya da olmamak --> to be or not to be

3. There is, there is not
In Turkish, there are special words for there is and there is not. In particular:
there is --> var
there is not --> yok
Let's make sentences with these words:
There is a book on the table. --> Masada bir kitap var.
There isn't a table in this room. --> Bu odada (bir) masa yok.
The words 'var' and 'yok' are more important than this, since they are used when you want to
say "I have" or "I don't have" as well. In Turkish, to say "I have something", you say "There is
mysomething". Let's give examples:
I have a book. --> (Benim) kitabm var.
Aylin has a car. --> Aylin'in arabas var.
This woman has seven cats. --> Bu kadnn yedi kedisi var. (Like saying "There is this woman's
seven cats")
I don't have a car. --> (Benim) arabam yok.
My uncle does not have a daughter. --> Amcamn kz yok.


Noun states
In Turkish, a noun has 5 fundamental states, produced using suffixes, that correspond to
meanings of some prepositions in English. It is not necessary to learn these as the states of
nouns, but learning these suffixes is important since they are very commonly used.
State Meaning
Nothing state (no
suffix)
Just the plain noun.
-i state Marks the noun as the subject of an action.
-e state
Adds the meaning of direction (very similar to
the proposition to)
-de state
Adds the meaning of position (Used for the
prepositions in, at, on)
-den state
Adds the meaning of from, used for this
preposition
An important thing to note here is the use of the -i form. It is used to denote the subject of an
action, and adds the meaning of"being known, specified" just as the meaning given by "the".
This will be more clear after looking at the sentences below. (bir --> one, kedi -->
cat, grdm --> I saw)
Bir kedi grdm. --> I saw a cat. (Note that although cat is the object of the action here, the -i
form of kedi is not used since it is not known, i.e. it is a cat, not the cat)
Kediyi grdm. --> I saw the cat. (Note that kedi has the suffix -i, but the two -i's are
separated by the fusion consonant 'y'.)
Now, example sentences for all the cases.
Nothing state:
o This is a house. --> Bu bir ev.
-i state:
o I saw the house. --> Evi grdm.
-e state:
o Go home. --> Eve git. (House and home are the same word in Turkish, 'ev'.)
-de state:
o The pen is on the table. --> Kalem masada.
o Joe is at school. --> Joe okulda.
o Your mother is in that room. --> Annen o odada.
-den state:
o I came from home. --> Evden geldim.


To be
The verb to be (for the is in English) is handled in a special way, it is different from the other
verbs. This is also the case in Turkish, the use of the verb to be is very unique. Unlike all the other
verbs, to be is expressed with suffixes. It can be in one of present tense or past tense. Lets see it in
present tense and past tense for different cases of personal pronouns.

English Turkish Suffix
Present tense to be
i am xxx ben xxx-im -im
you are xxx sen xxx-sin -sin
he \
she | is xxx
it /
o xxx -(none)
or
-dir
we are xxx biz xxx-iz -iz
you are xxx siz xxx-siniz -siniz
they are xxx onlar xxx
or
onlar xxx-ler
none
or
-ler
Past tense to be
i was xxx ben xxx-dim -dim
you were xxx sen xxx-din -din
he \
she | was xxx
it /
o xxx-di -di
we were xxx biz xxx-dik -dik
you were xxx siz xxx-diniz -diniz
they were xxx onlar xxx(-y)-diler (-y)-diler

NOTE 1
For the third person of the present tense to be, there are two cases. One with no suffix and one with
-dir. If you are making a personal statement or you are talking in a casual way, you use the no
suffix case. However, if you want to make a definitive or informative statement like one in an
encyclopedia, you use the suffix -dir. Both have the same meaning, and sometimes can be used
interchangeably. Lets see examples to this.
This house is very big. --> Bu ev ok byk.
That is my house. --> O benim evim.
He is a student. --> O bir renci.
Spider is an animal. --> rmcek bir hayvandr. (The -dir case is used since this is an informative
statement)
Sun is larger than earth. --> Gne dnyadan daha byktr. (Again, this is an informative statem.)

NOTE 2
When constructing the third person plural past tense form of to be, the suffix -ler can be ommitted
in some cases. These are explained below:

a. Humans or objects that have no individuality take singular conjugation for third person plural.
But if the speaker wants to give objects individuality then he can use plural. This would be a poetic
sentence.

b. Humans and other things that have individuality (for instance animals that have names) can take
either singular or plural conjugation. Usually if the subject is defined (if we known them) then we
use plural conjugation. If the subject is undefined then we use singular conjugation.

NOTE 3
Since the verb to be is different for each personal pronoun, personal pronouns can be omitted in
speech or writing. The meaning of person is given with this verb. To say "I am beautiful." you can
use one of:
"Ben gzelim."
"Gzelim.".
Using the personal pronoun adds the meaning of stressing person. We will use the personal
pronoun in parenthesis to indicate that it is optional.

Now, lets see where to be is used:
1. To construct a sentence with a noun or adjective instead of a verb, like in English. The verb
to be is the implicit verb here.
o You are beautiful. --> (Sen) gzelsin.
o You were beautiful. --> (Sen) gzeldin.
o This is a house. --> Bu bir ev.
o That was a house. --> O bir evdi.

2. To construct verbs in different tenses, the suffix for each tense is used with either present
tense of to be or past tense of to be. Actually, it is present tense of to be in all cases except
the regular past tense.












Adjective and noun clauses
In this lesson, we will learn how adjective clauses (for describing a noun using an adjective,
like beautiful girl) and noun clauses (for describing ownership relationships between nouns,
like car's door) are formed in Turkish. First, let's start with the adjective clauses which is
simpler and then we'll look at noun clause construction.
Adjective clauses
Constructing adjective clauses in Turkish is very simple and straightforward, almost the same
as in English. The only thing you need to do is to put the correct adjective before the noun.
beautiful girl ==> gzel kz
fast car ==> hzl araba
big house ==> byk ev
thick book ==> kaln kitap
high building ==> yksek bina
hard lesson ==> zor ders
slow train ==> yava tren
If you don't add the adjective before the noun but use it as the main expression in the
sentence, the word order changes in English and it changes the same way in Turkish.
This girl is beautiful. --> Bu kz gzel
This car is fast. --> Bu araba hzl.
Ahmet is tall. --> Ahmet uzun.
I am tall. --> Ben uzunum. (Note the use of verb to be with the adjective)
You are tall. --> Sen uzunsun.
However, note that when you want to say a beautiful girl, the word for a (bir) is placed
between the adjective and the noun.
a small piece ==> kk bir para
a greedy man ==> agzl bir adam
a blue book ==> mavi bir kitap
a short tree ==> ksa bir aa
a long movie ==> uzun bir film
Let's now apply what we've learned in the construction of a few sentences.
This is a red rose. ==> Bu krmz bir gl.
Joe is a quiet kid. ==> Joe sessiz bir ocuk.
Joe is a very quiet kid. ==> Joe ok sessiz bir ocuk.







Noun clauses
Two nouns form a clause in three different ways in Turkish:
Case1:
The first noun tells what the second noun is made of (i.e. metal box, plastic plate...). In this
case, you just write these nouns in the same order as you do in English without adding any
suffixes.
metal box ==> metal kutu
plastic plate ==> plastik tabak
Case2:
The first noun describes the second noun, wth any relationship except for the made-
of relationship we saw above and the specific ownership relationship. Examples to this case
can be car key, book shelf, garden door, window glass... In this case, you write the nouns in
the same order as English, but add the suffix -i at the end of the second noun. If the noun to
which you append suffix -i already ends with a vowel, you add the fusion consonant -
s between these vowels to separate the two vowels. The third example below demonstrates
this case.
car key ==> araba anahtar
book shelf ==> kitap raf
garden door ==> bahe kaps (note the fusion consonant s here)
window glass ==> pencere cam
Case 3:
There is a specific ownership relationship between the two nouns (the key of the car, the door
of the garden, Kemal's daughter, the door of the car). In this case, you write the describing
noun first and the described noun second as it was done in the preceding two cases. However,
you add the suffix -in to the first noun and the suffix -i to the second noun. If the noun to
which you append the suffix -in already ends with a vowel, you add the fusion
consonant n between the two vowels to separate them. For the suffix -i, the fusion consonant
is same as told in the previous case. You add the consonant s to separate the word ending
with a vowel from the suffix -i.
the key of the car ==> arabann anahtar (note the use of fusion consonant n here for the first
noun, araba)
the door of the garden ==> bahenin kaps
Kemal's daughter ==> Kemalin kz
the door of the car ==> arabann kaps (note the use of fusion consonant n for the first noun
and the fusion consonant s for the second noun)
exception: The word for water, su, is an exception for the fusion consonants in noun clauses.
The fusion consonant for water (su) is always 'y'.
color of water --> su-in renk-i --> suyun rengi (not sunun rengi)
water of Kemal --> Kemal-in su-i --> Kemal'in suyu. (not Kemal'in susu)
(Note that ' is used in Turkish to separate the suffixes from private words that need to be
always capitalized, like Kemal in this case