Grammar
- Verb Stems & Infinitives
- Person Suffixes
- Present Simple / Aorist (-r)
- Present Continuous (-iyor)
- Past Simple / Definite Past (-di)
- Past Continuous / Imperfect (-iyordu)
- Future Tense (-ecek/-acak)
- Narrative/Reported Past (-miş)
- Imperative Mood
- Optative Mood (-e)
- Necessitative Mood (-meli/-malı)
- Conditional Mood (-se/-sa)
- Ability (-ebilmek/-abilmek)
- Negation (-me/-ma)
- Questions (-mi?)
- Passive Voice (-il/-in)
- Causative Voice (-dir, -t, etc.)
- Verbal Nouns (-me, -mek, -iş)
- Participles (Sıfat-Fiiller)
- Gerunds / Adverbial Clauses
Grammar
Alphabet & Pronunciation
CEFR level: A1 · Topic: Fundamentals
The Turkish alphabet (Türk alfabesi) has 29 letters: 8 vowels and 21 consonants. It has used the Latin script since 1928. The letters q, w and x are not part of it, while six letters are special: ç, ğ, ı, ö, ş, ü.
A B C Ç D E F G Ğ H I İ J K L M N O Ö P R S Ş T U Ü V Y Z
Vowels (Ünlüler)
| Letter | Sounds like | Example |
|---|---|---|
| A a | 'a' in 'father', but short | ad (name) |
| E e | 'e' in 'bed' | ev (house) |
| I ı | no exact English match; close to the unstressed vowel in 'open' or 'cousin'. Say 'ee' with your lips relaxed and your tongue pulled back | kapı (door), ılık (lukewarm) |
| İ i | 'ee' in 'see', but short | dil (tongue, language) |
| O o | 'o' in 'more', short | okul (school) |
| Ö ö | German 'ö'; say 'e' with rounded lips (roughly 'ur' in British 'burn') | göz (eye) |
| U u | 'oo' in 'book' / 'u' in 'put' | su (water) |
| Ü ü | German 'ü', French 'u'; say 'ee' with rounded lips | süt (milk) |
Consonants to Watch
- C c = 'j' in 'jam' (never 'k' or 's'): cep (pocket), cami (mosque)
- Ç ç = 'ch' in 'church': çay (tea), çocuk (child)
- Ş ş = 'sh' in 'shoe': şeker (sugar), baş (head)
- J j = 's' in 'measure' (mostly in loanwords): garaj (garage)
- G g is always hard, as in 'go': gel (come)
- R r is a light tapped r, and H h is always pronounced: bahçe (garden)
- Y y is always a consonant, as in 'yes': yol (road)
The Soft G: Ğ ğ (yumuşak ge)
- It never begins a word, so the capital Ğ is only seen in all-capital text.
- After a back vowel (a, ı, o, u) it is not pronounced as a consonant; it lengthens the preceding vowel: dağ ≈ 'daa' (mountain), ağaç ≈ 'aaach' (tree), soğuk ≈ 'sooouk' (cold).
- Between or after front vowels (e, i, ö, ü) it often sounds like a light y: değil ≈ 'deyil' (not), eğer ≈ 'eyer' (if).
A Phonetic Spelling System
Turkish is spelled very much as it is pronounced: each letter normally stands for one sound, and every letter is pronounced, including double letters (anne = an-ne (mother)). Once you know the letter sounds, you can read almost any word aloud. A few loanwords use a circumflex to mark a long vowel or a softened consonant (kâr (profit) vs. kar (snow)). Word stress usually falls on the last syllable (kitap, kitaplar), with exceptions such as many place names (Ankara, stressed on 'An').
Dotted and Dotless I
i and ı are two different letters with different sounds, and each has its own capital: i → İ and ı → I. Compare İstanbul and Iğdır, or sinir (nerve) and sınır (border).
Common Mistakes
- Reading c as in English: cam (glass) is 'jam', not 'kam'.
- Ignoring the dots: dots change the word. öl (die) vs. ol (be), kör (blind) vs. kor (ember).
- Pronouncing ğ as a hard g: dağ is 'daa', never 'dag'.
- Capitalising i as I: write İzmir, not 'Izmir'.
Practice Zone
1. Which Turkish letter sounds like 'ch' in 'church'?
2. What is a common characteristic of the Turkish letter 'Ğ (ğ)' (yumuşak ge)?
3. The Turkish vowel 'I (ı)' (undotted i) is phonetically described as a: