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
Vowel Harmony
CEFR level: A1 · Topic: Fundamentals
Vowel harmony (ünlü uyumu) is a cornerstone of Turkish grammar: the vowel of a suffix changes to match the last vowel of the word it attaches to. Native Turkish words also tend to keep all their vowels in one group (çocuklar, evlerimiz). Most suffixes come in one of two patterns: a 2-way pattern (e/a) or a 4-way pattern (i/ı/u/ü).
| Unrounded | Rounded | |
|---|---|---|
| Back vowels | a, ı | o, u |
| Front vowels | e, i | ö, ü |
1. Two-way Harmony (A-Type, e/a)
Only front vs. back matters. After a, ı, o, u the suffix takes a; after e, i, ö, ü it takes e. This is the büyük ünlü uyumu (major vowel harmony) rule.
- Plural -lar/-ler: kitap → kitaplar (books), oda → odalar (rooms), ev → evler (houses), göz → gözler (eyes)
- Locative -da/-de: kapıda (at the door), okulda (at school), evde (at home), köyde (in the village)
- Other 2-way suffixes: ablative -dan/-den, dative -(y)a/-(y)e, infinitive -mak/-mek, future -acak/-ecek, negative -ma/-me.
2. Four-way Harmony (I-Type, ı/i/u/ü)
Here both front/back and rounded/unrounded matter (rounding is the küçük ünlü uyumu rule). The suffix vowel is always a high vowel:
| Last vowel of the word | Suffix vowel | Accusative -(y)I | Genitive -(n)In |
|---|---|---|---|
| a, ı | ı | kapıyı (the door) | kızın (the girl's) |
| e, i | i | evi (the house) | kedinin (the cat's) |
| o, u | u | okulu (the school) | okulun (the school's) |
| ö, ü | ü | köyü (the village) | gözün (the eye's) |
Other 4-way suffixes follow the same pattern:
- Possessives: adım (my name), evim (my house), okulum (my school), gözüm (my eye)
- Question particle mI: Hazır mı? (Is it ready?), İyi mi? (Is it good?), Doğru mu? (Is it right?), Türk mü? (Is he Turkish?)
- Past tense -DI: aldı, geldi, oldu, gördü (took, came, became, saw)
- -lI / -sIz: tuzlu (salty), sütsüz (without milk); personal ending -(y)Im: öğretmenim (I am a teacher)
Tip: in grammar notes, a capital A stands for a/e and a capital I for ı/i/u/ü, e.g. plural -lAr, accusative -(y)I.
Exceptions
- Loanwords often mix vowel groups (kitap, kalem, otobüs); the suffix still follows the last vowel: otobüste (on the bus). Some loanwords take front-vowel suffixes despite a back last vowel: saat → saati (the hour), gol → golü (the goal), rol → rolü (the role), hal → hali (the state).
- A few suffixes do not follow harmony, or only partly: -yor (geliyor), -ken (okurken), -ki (sabahki; but bugünkü, dünkü).
Common Mistakes
- Using the 4-way pattern for 2-way suffixes: kapıda, not 'kapıdı'.
- Matching the first vowel instead of the last: otobüs → otobüsler, not 'otobüslar'.
- Forgetting rounding: okulu, not 'okulı'; gözü, not 'gözi'.
Practice Zone
1. Which plural suffix is correct for the word 'oda' (room)?
2. If the last vowel of a noun stem is 'e', what would be the vowel in a suffix following I-Type (minor) vowel harmony?
3. Which plural suffix is correct for the word 'ev' (house)?