The Turkish Alphabet The Turkish alphabet contains 29 letters, 8 of which are vowels and 21 of which are consonants. Here is the alphabet, with the vowels in red and the consonants in black; a b c ç d e f g g h i i j k l m n o ö p r s s t u ü v y z Pronounciation Turkish is generally quite easy to pronounce, mainly because unlike English, words are said just as they are written and every letter (with the exception of - 'Ğ') are pronounced. The unfamiliar letters are pronounced as follows: ç - 'ch' (as in 'church') c - 'j' (as in jealous) g - silent but lengthens the vowel before ı - 'uh' (as in but) ö - 'er' (as in burn) ş - 'sh' (as it shut) ü - 'ooh' (as in few) Examples şeker (sugar) is pronounced 'she-ker' göz (eye) is pronounced 'gurz' çalmak (to work) is pronounced 'cha-lush-mak' kadın (woman) is pronounced 'ka-duhn' utangaç (shy) is pronounced 'utan-gach' cuma (friday) is pronounced 'juma' soğuk (cold) is pronounced 'so-ook'
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Transcript
The Turkish Alphabet
The Turkish alphabet contains 29 letters, 8 of which are vowels and 21 of which are consonants.
Here is the alphabet, with the vowels in red and the consonants in black;
a b c ç d e f g g h i i j k l m n o ö p r s s t u ü v y zPronounciation
Turkish is generally quite easy to pronounce, mainly because unlike English, words are said just as they are written and every letter (with the exception of - 'Ğ') are pronounced. The unfamiliar letters
are pronounced as follows:
ç - 'ch' (as in 'church')
c - 'j' (as in jealous)
g - silent but lengthens the vowel before
ı - 'uh' (as in but)
ö - 'er' (as in burn)
ş - 'sh' (as it shut)
ü - 'ooh' (as in few)
Examplesşeker (sugar) is pronounced 'she-ker'
göz (eye) is pronounced 'gurz'
çalmak (to work) is pronounced 'cha-lush-mak'
kadın (woman) is pronounced 'ka-duhn'
utangaç (shy) is pronounced 'utan-gach'
cuma (friday) is pronounced 'juma'
soğuk (cold) is pronounced 'so-ook'
Basic Information
Perhaps the hardest thing to learn is word order, as it is almost the direct opposite of English. For example, in English we would say 'I am going...to the shop...with my friend'. In Turkish though we
would say 'With my friend...to the shop...I am going'.
The basic rule for word order in Turkish is generally subject + object + verb , for example;
The cat wanted food = kedi (the cat) yemek (food) istedi (wanted).
Another difference between English and Turkish is that there is no gender; he/she/it are all counted as the same, which can be quite confusing sometimes!
Unlike English, suffixes are used for almost everything in Turkish, by adding a suffix onto the root word you can completely change the meaning of a word. Words such as 'my, from, to, with, in, before, after, whilst' and many more are all added to the root word rather than being a seperate word on their own,
for example - 'from my house' - 'evimden'.
Vowel Harmony Part 1Vowel harmony is essential to learn in order to speak Turkish well, however at first it is quite hard to
understand, so I will try to make this guide as simple to understand as possible!
In Turkish there are 8 vowels. We can split these into 2 groups. These are:
e, i, ö, ü (known as 'front' vowels)
a, ı, o, u (known as 'back' vowels)
It is essential to learn which vowels go into which group. To make this easier, think of them as the 'e dotted group' (which contains 'e' and the 3 vowels with dots), and the 'a undotted group' (which
contains the 'a' and the 3 undotted groups).
Many suffixes are also split into two, for example '-den/-dan' (from), '-de/-da' (in/on/at), and '-(y)e/-(y)a' (to). Vowel harmony ensures that the correct suffix is used depending on what the last vowel in the
word is.
If the last letter is a 'front' vowel, then '-den', '-de', and '-(y)e' would be used.If the last letter is a 'back' vowel, then '-dan', '-da', and '-(y)a' would be used.
You should have already looked at the Vowel Harmony 1 section and you will have seen how the vowels are split into 2 groups, each of which take different suffixes.
However, there are other suffixes that instead of taking either 'e' or 'a', take either 'i, ı, ü, u', such as ...'-(i)yorum' (i am ....ing), '..dim' (i did...), and '-siz' (without). Therefore we need to split the suffixes
into more groups in order to add the suffixes with the correct vowels.
For example if the suffix is '-siz' (without) then the 'i' will change into:
If the last vowel is:'e' or 'i' - stays as 'i' (-siz)
'a' or 'ı' - changes to 'ı' (-sız)'ü' or 'ö - changes to 'ü' (-süz)'u' or 'o' - changes to 'u' (-suz)
This applies to a number of suffixes, such as the past suffix ('...dim'), the possessive suffix (-im, -sin etc) and the 'without' suffix (-siz), as well as many more. Click on the suffixes page to discover more.
Examples
For now we will just use just two suffixes, the '-siz' suffix, meaning 'without....'. and '-li', meaning 'with...'.
When a suffix starting with a vowel is added to a root word that ends in some certain letters, the last letter of the root word must change into a different letter to keep the pronounciation smooth.
These letters are:
Examples
For these examples we will use the '-(i)m' (my....) suffix.
The '-(i/ı/u/ü)' is only used if the last letter is a consonant, otherwise just 'm' is added.
bed - yatakmy bed - yatağım
cupboard - dolapmy cupboard - dolabım
plug - tıkaçmy plug - tıkaçım
dog - köpekmy dog - köpeğim
wolf - kurtmy wolf - kurdum
In some cases, the last letter of a root word can change the first letter of an added suffix. The letters which can change this are;
k/p/ç/f/t/h/b/s/ş
When a suffix beginning with 'd' is added to one of these above letters, the first letter of the suffix changes from 'd' to 't'. This occurs in suffixes such as '-den/-dan' (from) and '-de/-da' (in/at/on).
If you have trouble remembering these consonants, try and remember this phrase -
Suffixes are used very widely in the Turkish language and are often added on to words where in the equivalent English language they would be a seperate word.
In most suffixes the rules of vowel harmony apply and therefore the vowels in it might have to change (e.g '-ler/lar' - choose '-ler' if the last vowel in the base words is either 'e/i/ü/ö' and '-lar' of the last
vowel is either 'a/ı/u/o'.
If the suffix contains a (y) or (n), it is only used if the last letter is a vowel.If the suffix contains a (i), it is only used if the last letter is a consonant.
Here are some of the most common suffixes;
'-ler/lar' = 's' (kediler = cats)'-de/da' = 'in/at/on' (evde = in the house, evlerde = to the houses)
'-den/dan' = 'from' (evden = from the house)'-(y)e/a' = 'to' (eve = to the house)
'-siz/sız/suz/süz' = 'without...' (sütsüz = without milk)'-li/lı/lu/lü)' = 'with/containing...' (şekerli = with sugar)
'-le/la' = 'with...' (annemle = with my mum)'-(n)in/n/un/ün' = 's/of (annemin evi = my mums house)
'-(i/ı/u/ü)m' = 'my' (kedim = my cat)'-(i/ı/u/ü)yorum' = 'i am....ing' (gidiyorum = i am going)
'-(i/ı/u/ü)yordum' = 'i was....ing' (gidiyordum = i was going)'-(y)im/ım/um/üm' = 'i am..' (mutluyum = i am happy)
'-(y)dim/dım/dum/düm' = 'i was...' (i was happy = mutluydum)'-(y)eceğim/acağım' = 'i will...' (i will go = gideceğim)
'-meyeceğim/mayacağım' = 'i will not...' (i will not go = gitmeyeceğim)'-mem' = 'i don't' (i don't go = gitmem)
'-emem' = 'i can't' (i can't go = gidemem)'-(y)ebilirim = 'i can' (i can go = gidebilirim)
'-mişim/mı şım/muşum/müşüm' = 'apparently i..' (apparently i went = gitmişim)'-(y)elim = let's...' (let's go = gidelim)
'-sem' = 'if i...' (if i go = gitsem)
'-den/dan beri' = 'since' (işten beri = since work)'-dikten sonra' = 'after...ing' (geldikten sonra = after coming)
'-den/dan sonra' = 'after' (işten sonra = after work)'-den/dan önce' = 'before' (işten önce = before work)
Personal Pronouns are words put before a verb to show the person or thing who is doing the act. For example, in the sentence 'I went to the beach', the personal pronoun would be 'I'. In the sentence 'His
bike', the personal pronoun would be 'His'.
Personal pronouns are not used as widely in Turkish as they are in English, and can be left out altogether. This is because personal endings are put on the end of a verb showing who the subject is,
therefore there is not always a need to add a personal pronoun.
For example, 'I went home' in Turkish is 'Ben eve gittim'. Both the parts in blue show who the subject is, meaning we can remove one and still know, making the sentence 'Eve gittim'. Likewise, 'My cat' is
'Benim kedim', and can be shortened to simply 'kedim'. This is why the personal pronouns are not always used.
The main reason for using personal pronouns is for emphasisim, for example 'Benim kedim', (emphasising the fact its yours. not someone elses).
Here are some personal pronouns;
Ben - ISen - You (singular/familiar)
O - He/she/itBiz - We
Siz - You (plural/polite)Onlar - They
Beni - MeSeni - You (singular/familiar)
Onu - Him/her/itBizi - Us
Sizi - You (plural/polite)Onlar - Them
Benim - MySenin - Your (singular/familiar)
Onun - His/her/itsBizim - Our
Sizin - Your (plural/polite)Onların - Their
Bana - To meSana - To you (singular/familiar)
Ona - To him/her/itBize - To usSize - To you
Onlara - To them
Bende - In meSende - In you (singular/familiar)
Onda - In him/her/itBizde - In us
Sizde - In you (plural/polite)Onlarda - In them
Benden - From meSenden - From you (singular/familiar)
Ondan - From him/her/itBizden - From us
Sizden - From you (plural/polite)Onlardan - From them
To say 'I am...', for example 'I am fine', a suffix is used.
Personal pronouns can be used before the adjective but are not necessarily needed as the suffix will make it clear who the subject is, eg 'I am fine = Ben iyiyim'. The personal pronouns are usually only
used for emphasis.
(the 'y' in brackets is only used if the last letter in the adjective is a vowel, e.g iyiyim, kötüyüm)
Each of these suffixes change according to vowel harmony .
For example; 'I am....' = '-(y)im'. But, if the last vowel in the adjective is;
This tense is quite simple to make. Simply take an word, such as 'fine' or 'tired', and add the word 'deil'. This is not a suffix, but a word on its own. Then add the same personal endings that you would
for the 'to be - positive tense '.
Examples'İyi değilim' = 'I' am not fine'
'Mutlu değilsin' = 'You are not happy''Yorgun değil' = 'He is not tired'
'Türk değiliz' = 'We are not Turkish''Yorgun değilsiniz' = 'You are not tired'
To turn this into the past tense, such as 'He was not happy', add the past suffix '-di' and then the personal ending, just like with the ' To be - positive ' tense '.
Examples'İyi değildim' = 'I was not fine'
'Mutlu değildin' = 'You were not happy'etc
Asking Questions
To turn this tense into a question, follow this formula;
word + değil + question + personal
Mutlu + değil + mi + sin= 'Mutlu değil misin?' = 'Are not happy?'
'Mutlu değil miydin?' = 'Were you not happy?'
'Yorgun değil miyim?' = 'Am I not tired?'
'Yorgun değil miydin?'= 'Were you not tired?'
'İyi değiller mi?' = 'Are they not alright?'
(For 'they', the question marker comes at the end).
Present Continuous Tense
The present continuous tense in English would be 'I am.....ing'. To form this tense, you must add the present progressive suffix '-(i)yorum' to the verb and then add the appropriate ending depending on vowel harmony.
If the last letter in the verb is already either 'i/ı/u/ü', just add '-yorum'. If the last letter in the verb is either 'e/a/o/ü', change it to 'i/ı/u/ü' depending on vowel harmony .
For example; 'yemek' = 'to eat'. 'I am eating' = 'yiyorum'.
'okumak' = 'to read'. 'I am reading' = 'okuyorum'.
Personal suffixes for the present progressive tense
Using other words with their suffixes, we can now make sentences.
I am walking to my house = Ev-im-e yürüyorum
I am coming from the bank = Banka-dan geliyorum
You are staying at my house = Ev-im-de kalıyorsun
What are you doing? - Ne yapıyorsun?
Where is he going? - Nereye gidiyor?
Why are they coming? - Niye geliyorlar?
Negative present progressive tense
To turn a verb into the present progressive tense, for example 'I am not going', simply add the negative suffix '-me/ma- after the verb. Then you must change it according to vowel harmony so that it becomes either -mi/mı/mu/mü-, then add the appropriate ending.
Examples
I am not coming - Gelmiyorum
You are not staying - Kalmıyorsun
He/she/it is not thinking - Düşünmüyor
They are not asking - Sormuyorlar
etc
Asking questions in the present progressive tense
Examples
Am I staying? - Kalıyor muyum?
Are you coming? - Geliyor musun?
Is he/she/it going? - Gidiyor mu?
Are we learning? - Öğreniyor muyum?
Are you walking? - Yürüyor musunuz?
Are they thinking? - Düşünüyorlar mı?
(for 'they', the question marker always comes at the end after the personal suffix).
'We were coming' = 'Geliyorduk''You were going' = 'Gidiyordunuz'
'They were looking' = 'Bakiyorlardi'
Negative tense
To turn this tense negative, eg 'They were not looking', we must add the negative marker'-me/ma' and change the 'e' to 'i' or the 'a' to ''.
Follow this formula;
verb + negative (mi/m) + past continuous + personal
bak + m + yordu + m = 'i was not looking'git + mi + yordu + n = 'you were not looking'
etc
Simple Present - Positive Tense
The simple present tense is the equivalent of 'I...' in English, for example 'I go', or 'I leave'. It is used to describe actions carried out regularly as well as general statements, and is sometimes used to ask a
request.
To make this tense in Turkish, we must add a suffix after this verb.
The rules to do this are;
1) If the verb ends in a vowel, simply add ‘-r. (oyna = play, oynar = plays)
2) If the verb is just 1 syllable, add ‘-er/ar’ according to vowel harmony . (koy = put, koyar = puts)
3) If the verb is 2 or more syllables, add ‘-ir/ır/ur/ür'. (konuş = speak, konuşur = speaks)
However
Most verbs that end in either ‘L’ or ‘R’ take the ‘-ir’ ending even if they are just one vowel.
Here is a list of the verbs that take this ending;
So, to make a present simple sentece first check if the word ends in a vowel, and then how many syllables it has and add the appropriate suffix. Then check it is not one of the words listed above that
break the rules. After that add the personal ending.
ExamplesI go = Gid-er-im
You stay - Kal-ır-sınHe/she/its puts - Koy-ar
We come - Gel-ir-izYou play - Oyna-r-sınızThey talk - Konuş-ur-lar
Asking questions with the simple present tense
To turn this tense into a question, eg ‘do you go’, add the question marker ‘-mi’ before the personal ending and change according to vowel harmony.
ExamplesDo I read? - Okur muyum ?Do you go? - Gider misin ?Does he stay? - Kalır mı?
Do we think? - Düşünür müyüz ?Do you suppose? - Sanır mısınız ?
Do they come? - Gelirler mi ? (to say 'do they...?', the question marker always comes after the personal ending).
Simple Present - Negative Tense
To make the simple present tense into a negative sentence in Turkish, eg ‘i do not go’, add the following endings onto the verb;
-mem - i don’t....-mezsin - you don’t...(singular/familiar)
-mez - he/she/it doesn’t...-meyiz - we don’t...
-mezsiniz - you don’t...(plural/polite)-mezler - they don’t....
(change the vowels in the suffix according to vowel harmony , eg ‘-mam‘, '-mayız', 'mazlar')
The past tense in Turkish is used in exactly the same way as the past tense in English, which is to express actions done, such as 'I went' and 'I saw'. The suffix used to create this tense is
'-di'
To create a sentence in the simple past tense, follow these rules;
1) Take a verb, such as 'kalmak' - 'to stay' or 'gelmek' - 'to come', and remove the 'mek/mak' leaving just the verb base.
Example -' kalmak' - 'to stay', 'kal' - 'stay'
2) After the verb, add the past simple suffix '-di'. This will change according to vowel harmony , becoming either;
-di / -dı / -dü / -du
(If the last letter in the verb is either k/p/ç/t then the 'd' will become 't' eg '-ti'/'-tu' etc due to consonant changes )
You saw = Gör-dü-nShe looked = Bak-tıWe went = Git-ti-k
You put = Koy-du-nuzThey stayed - Kal-dı-lar
Click here to test your Turkish for 'simple past tense' with questions and answers.
I ....m
You (singular/familiar) ....n
He/She/It (no personal ending)
We ....k
You (plural/polite) ....niz (or 'nız'/'nüz'/'nuz')
They ....ler (or 'lar')
Negative Simple Past Tense
To make the past tense into a negative sentence, eg 'I did not stay', use this formula;
verb + -me/ma + past suffix + personal ending
Examplesgel + me + di + m = gelmedim = i did not comekal + ma + dı + n = kalmadın = you did not stay
gör + me + di = görmedi = he did not see
(If you want to give special emphasis to the fact that you (not someone else) did something, simply add the personal pronoun before the verb, eg 'I stayed here, you didn't stay' = 'Ben burada kaldım,
sen kalmadın').
Asking questions in the past tense
To ask a question in the past tense, simply add the question marker '-mi?' after the sentence and change it to either '-mi/mı/mü/mu' depending on vowel harmony.
Examplesgeldim mi? = did I come?
gördün mü? = did you see?
koymadım mı? = did I not put?gitmedik mi? = did we not go?
The suffix to say 'I will...' is 'Ben ...(y)eceğim'
Just like with the present tense and the future tense, the ending will change according to vowel harmony.
If the last vowel in the verb is e/i/ö/ü, then the suffix will be '-(y)eceim'If the last vowel in the verb is a/ı/o/u, then the suffix will be '(y)acağım'
(the 'y' in the bracket is only used if the last letter in the verb is a vowel.)
(to emphasise the sentence, eg 'I will go, you will not', add the personal pronoun before the verb eg 'ben gideğim, sen gitmeyeceksin')
Personal endings
I will... = '...(y)eceğim' or '...(y)acağım'You will...(singular/familiar) = '...(y)eceksin' or '...(y)acaksın'
He/She/It will... = '...(y)ecek' or '...(y)acak'We will... = '(y)eceğiz' or '...(y)acağız'
You will...(plural/polite) = '...(y)eceksiniz' or '...(y)acaksınız'They will... = '...(y)ecekler' or '...(y)acaklar'
ExamplesCome - Gel
I will come - Geleceğim
Be - OlYou will be - Olacaksın
Drink - İçHe will drink - İçecek
Want - İsteWe will want - İsteyeceğiz
Walk - YürüYou will walk - Yürüyeceksiniz
Jump - AtlaThey will jump - Atlayacaklar
Future negative tense
To make the future negative tense, simply add '-me/ma' after the verb then add the appropriate personal ending.
ExamplesI will not come - Gel - me - yeceğim
You will not jump - Atla - ma - yacaksın
etc
Asking questions in the future tense
We add the question marker '-mi' (or 'mı/mü/mu) after the future suffix to make a sentence into a question.
To ask a positive question in the future tense, you must follow this formula;
verb + future suffix + mi +personal ending
ExamplesGel + ecek + mi + yim = Gelecek miyim? = Will I come?Otur + acak + mı + sın = Oturacak mısın? = Will you sit?
İç + ecek + mi = İçecek mi? = will he drink?Gel + me + yecek misin? = Will you not come?
etc
(to say 'will they...?', the question marker '-mi' always comes at the end of the sentence after the personal ending
In Turkish, possession is shown by adding a suffix onto the noun. Possissive adjectives before the noun can also be used, but are mostly used for special emphasis. However, it is very important that these
are learnt because it can make learning the suffixes easier.
These adjectives are :
Benim - MySenin - Your (familiar or singular)
Onun - His/her/ItsBizim - Our
Sizin - Your (formal or plural)Onların - Their
Suffixes
Following vowel harmony , the suffixes change depending on what the last vowel was. This table shows which suffix should be used for which vowels, for example if the noun is 'el' (hand), the last vowel is an
'e' and therefore 'my hand' would be 'elim'.
The letters in brackets are only used if the last letter is a consonant, apart from 'onun-his/her/its' where the 's/ş ' is used if the last letter is a vowel.
Look at the table and see if you can work out how these suffixes fit with the nouns.
My car - (Benim) ArabamYour house - (Senin) Evin
His garden - (Onun) BahçesiOur friend - (Bizim) Arkadaşımız
Your mother - (Sizin) AnnenizTheir cat - (Onların) Kedileri
For some words, adding a suffix starting with a vowel changes the last consonant of a noun. These letters that change are k-g, p-b, and ç-c. So, for the word 'köpek' (dog), 'My dog' would become 'Benim köpeğim'. For the word 'Dolap' (cupboard), 'Your cupboard' would become 'Senin dolabın'. Click here
for more detail on consonant changes.
If the noun is a plural, the possessive suffix always comes after the plural suffix, for example 'my cars' would be 'Benim araba-lar-ım’.
senin evin var = you have a houseonun araba yok = he doesn't have a car
'There was../There wasn't..'
To say 'there was.....' or 'there wasn't.....', we must use 'var' or 'yok' in the past tense by adding the past suffix '-di'. This will then change to vowel harmony to become;
'vardı' and 'yoktu'
Examples
araba vardı = there was a cararaba yoktu = there wasn't a car
Questions with Var/Yok
To ask a question, for example 'is there a car?', we must add the question marker.
is there not a car? = araba yok mu?bahçede kedi var mı? = is there a cat in the garden?
senin kedin var mı? = do you have a cat?onun kalem yok mu? = doesn't he have a pen?
'Can.../Can't...'Yet again, a suffix is used to express this tense in Turkish. This suffix depends on vowel harmony just
like the others.
If the last letter in a verb is;
e/i/ö/ü - the suffix is '-(y)ebilir'a/ı/o/u - the suffix is '-(y)abilir'
The (y) is only used if the last letter in the verb is a vowel.
The only letter in the suffix which changes with vowel harmony is the 'e/a', '-bilir' will always stay the same.
Examples
gidebilir - it can goyapabilir - it can do
yürüyebilir - it can walkanlayabilir - it can understand
To make these into personal sentences, for example 'I can go', or 'You can stay', we must then add a personal suffix. These are the same as the 'To Be ' personal suffixes;
You can write - yazabilirsinizThey can walk - yürüyebilirler
'Can't...'
To say 'I can't...' in Turkish, we add a different suffix to the verb.The suffix is;
e/i/ö/ü - the suffix is '-(y)eme'a/ı/o/u - the suffix is '-(y)ama'
Again, the (y) is only used if the last letter in the verb is a vowel.
Then we must add the personal endings.
With the exception of 'I' and 'We', the personal endings all begin with '-(y)emez'/'-(y)amaz' and then have the same personal endings as the 'To Be' tense.
'You can't...' (singular/familiar) - '...(y)emezsin' or '...(y)amazsın''He/She/It can't...' - '...(y)emez' or '...(y)amaz'
'You can't...' (plural/polite) - '...(y)emezsiniz' or '...(y)amazsınız''They can't...' - '...(y)emezler' or '...(y)amazlar'
'I can't...' - '...(y)emem' or '...(y)amam''We can't...'- '...(y)emeyiz' or '...(y)amayız'
Examples
I can't go - gelememYou can't stay - kalamazsın
It can't give - veremezWe can't walk - yürüyemeyiz
You can't say - soyleyemezsinizThey can't do - yapamazlar
To say 'Let's....', two suffixes need to be added onto the verb base.
1) The first suffix is '-(y)e/a-' (the 'y' is only used if the last letter is a vowel)
2) The second suffix is the personal ending.
* For he/she/it, there are two choices.Either;
The first suffix '-(y)e/a' is used and no personal ending e.g gel-e (let him go)or
The first suffix is left out and just the personal ending is used e.g gel-sin (let him go)
** 'They' is similar; either gel-e-ler or gel-sinler is used.
ExamplesLet me come - gel-e-yimLet me take - al-a-yım
Let you come - gel-e-sinLet him come - gel-e or gel-sin
Let's come- gel-e-limLet you come - gel-siniz
Let them come - gel-sinler or gel-e-ler
This suffix can be used for a number of meanings. The most common meaning is 'let's...' or 'let me....'.
However it can also be used with questions to mean 'shall i....'. To make a question out of it, simply add the question marker -'mi' and change accordingly with vowel harmony.
examplesshall i come = gel-e-yim mi?
shall we wait = bekle-ye-lim mi?etc
(second suffix below)
Let me...
Let you..(singular/familiar)
Let him/her/it
Let's
Let you...(plural/polite)
Let them...
...(y)im
...sin
...sin *
...lim
...siniz
...sinler or ...ler **
'If...'
A suffix is added on to a verb to express the English word 'If'. The suffix is;
'-se/sa'
(see vowel harmony to know which to use)
The word 'eser' is sometimes used at the start of a conditional sentence and simply means 'if', but this doesn't have to be used as the suffix will show it is a conditional sentence.
The formula to make this tense is;
verb + -se/sa + personal ending
It takes the same personal endings as the past tense which are;
I ....m
You (singular/familiar) ....n
He/She/It (no personal ending)
We ....k
You (plural/polite) ....niz (or 'nız'/'nüz'/'nuz')
gel + se + m = if i comeoku + sa + n = if you come
bil + se = if he knowsgit + se + k = if we go
anla + sa + nız = if you understandoku + sa + lar = if they read
This can also be used with the present continuous tense
examples
verb + present continuous + -se/sa + personal
gel + iyor + sa + n = geliyorsan = if you are comingoku + yor + sa + m = okuyorsam = if i am reading
gel + mi + yor + sa + n = gelmiyorsan = if you are not comingetc
It can also be used with 'var' and 'yok';
'varsa' = 'if there is....''yoksa' = 'if there isn't'
examples
araba varsan = if there is a carpara yoksa = if there is no money
The conditional tense can also be used with the 'to be' tense. It uses the same personal endings but if placed after a vowel, you must change it into 'yse/ysa'.
exampleshastaysam = if i am ill
yorgunsan = if you are tiredmutluysak = if we are happy
iyi değilsen = if you are not alrightetc
'Apparently...'
In English, when we want to express the fact that something has reportedly happened but the speaker didn't actually see it first hand, we use the word 'apparently', for example 'apparently he didn't go to
school'.
In Turkish, a suffix is used (suprise!) to express this. This suffix is;
'-miş'
Vowel harmony applies to this too, so it can become either 'miş/mış/müsş/muş' depending on what the last vowel was.
We must then add the personal ending onto this suffix, these are;
I = '-im'You = '-sin'
He/she/it = (no personal ending)We = '-iz'
You = '-siniz'They = 'ler/lar'
(don't forget to change it according to vowel harmony)
This suffix can be used with many tenses, such as;
the past tense (add -miş to verb)'apparently they did' = 'yapmışlar'
'apparently he went' = 'gitmiş'
The 'to be' tense (add -(y)miş + 'to be' personal endings)'apparently he is ill' = 'hastaymış''apparently i am fine' = 'iyimişim'
'apparently you were not fine' = 'iyi değilmişin'
The present continuous tense'apparently he is going' = 'gidiyormuş'
The future tense'apparently she will come' = 'gelecekmiş'
The present simple tense'apparently you go' = 'gidermişin'
'Telling The Time'
To ask 'what is the time?' in Turkish, we must say 'saat kaç?'.
It is 2 o'clock - saat iki
It is 5 o'clock - saat beşIt is 11 o'clock - saat on bir
Past the hour -
To tell the time past the hour, the hour comes first followed by either -(y)i/ı/u/ü depending on vowel harmony. (The -(y) is only added if the last letter is a vowel). Then add the minutes, then 'geçiyor'.
To say 'quarter past...', simply put 'çeyrek' (quarter) where the minutes would go.
The formula for telling the time 'past the hour' therefore is;
saat + hour + -(y)i + minute + geçiyor
examples
saat + hour + -(y)i + minute + geçiyorsaat beşi on geçiyor (10 past 5)
saat üç ü yirmi beş geçiyor (25 past 3)saat on ikiyi çeyrek geçiyor (quarter past 12)
To the hour
To tell the time to the hour, the hour comes first followed by either '-(y)e/a' depending on vowel harmony. (The -(y) is only added if the last letter is a vowel again). Then add the minutes, then 'var'.
Once again, to say 'quarter to', put 'çeyrek' (quarter) where the minutes would go.
The formula for telling to time 'to the hour' therefore is;
saat + -(y)e/a + minute + var
examplessaat + hour + -e/a + minute + var
saat yediye yirmi var (20 to 7)saat on bire be var (5 to 11)
saat dokuza çeyrek var (quarter to 9)
Half past
To say 'half past....' add 'buçuk' after the hour.
exampleshalf past 4 - dört buçukhalf past 10 - on buçuk
half past 12 - yarım (simply meaning 'half', this is used for 'half past 12')
To say 'at' a certain time such as 'at half 8', the same formulas are used but with a different ending.
yes - evetno - hayırok - tamamplease - lütfenthank you - teekkür ederimthanks - teşekküleryou're welcome (response to thank you) - birşey değilsorry - özür dilerimexcuse me - affedersinizhello - merhabahi - selamgood morning - günaydıngood afternoon - tünaydıngood evening - iyi akşamlargood night - iyi gecelergood day - iyi günlergoodbye - hoşça kalın/güle gülesee you - görüsürüzsee you later - sonra görüsürüztoday - bugüntomorrow - yarınyesturday - dünhow are you? - nasılsın?how is it going? - nasıl gidiyor?i'm fine - iyiyimnice to meet you - memnum oldumi am english - ben ingilizimi don't speak turkish - türkçe bilmiyorumi don't understand - anlamıyorumi understand - anlıyorumi am learning turkish - türkçe öğreniyorumdo you speak english? - ingilizce biliyor musunuz?where is .....? - .....nerede?when? - ne zaman?why? - neden?how? - nasıl?what? - ne?which? - hangi?what is your name? - adınız ne?my name is ...... - adım .....
For your lover (I know how charming them Turkish boys can be!)
i love you - seni seviyorumi love you too - bende seni seviyorum
do you love me? - beni seviyor musun?i miss you - seni özledim
i need you - bana sen lazımsınwill you marry me? - benimle evlenir misin?
i fell in love - aşık oldumkiss me! - öp beni!
you are beautiful - sen güzelsinyou are sexy - sen seksisin
you are handsome - sen yakışıklısıni want to kiss you - seni öpmek istiyorum
my love - aşkımmy darling - sevgilimsweetheart - tatlım
honey - balımmy angel - meleğimmy baby - bebeğim
my life/darling - canım
Numbers1 - 10
zero - sıfırone - birtwo - iki
three - üçfour - dörtfive - beşsix - altı
seven - yedieight - sekiznine - dokuz
ten - on
11 - 19
eleven - on birtwelve - on iki
thirteen - on üçfourteen - on dört
fifteen - on beşsixteen - on altı
seventeen - on yedieighteen - on sekiznineteen - on dokuz
Ordinals
(simply add -(i)nci/(ü)ncü/ etc onto the number depending on vowel harmony)
twenty - yirmitwenty one - yirmi birtwenty two - yirmi iki
(the rest follow the same pattern)
thirty - otuzthirty one - otuz bir
forty - kırkforty one - kırk bir
fifty - ellififty one - elli bir
sixty - altmışsixty one - altmış bir
seventy - yetmişseventy one - yetmiş bir
eighty - sekseneighty one - seksen bir
eighty - sekseneighty one - seksen bir
ninety - doksanninety one - doksan bir
Days, Months and Seasons
Days
Sunday - Pazar
Monday - Pazartesi
Tuesday - Salı
Wednesday - Çarsamba
Thursday - Perşembe
Friday - Cuma
Saturday - Cumartesi
Months
January - Ocak
February - Şubat
March - Mart
April - Nisan
May - Mayıs
June - Hazıran
July - Temmuz
August - Ağustos
September - Eylül
October - Ekim
November - Kasım
December - Aralık
Seasons
Spring - İlkbahar
Summer - Yaz
Autumn - Sonbahar
Winter - Kış
Turkish Slang
When learning another language it's important to make sure you learn at least a little bit of slang, otherwise you won't have a clue what some people are talking about!
Here is a list of some Turkish slang and the English translation;
Turkish Slang English Translation
napiyorsun?
ne haber/naber
ne var ne yok
lan
bana ne
sana ne
fistik
salak
defol
valla?
vallahi
demi
hadi ya!
what are you doing?
what's up
what's up
son/mate
i don't care/what's it to me
what's it to you/none of your business
pretty girl
idiot
get lost
really?
believe me
isn't it
come off it!
MSN/Text Turkish Slang!
If you talk to Turkish people on MSN or other messenger services, these might come in handy!