Speaking Turkish
Turkish is very easy to read as it is read as written. If you know the sounds of the letters you can read but not understand!
|
Letter
|
Sound
|
As in
|
Never
|
|
A-a
|
a
|
car
|
came
|
|
B-b
|
b
|
bed
|
|
|
C-c
|
dj
|
jam
|
cap or pace
|
|
Ç-ç
|
ch
|
church
|
|
|
D-d
|
d
|
day
|
|
|
E-e
|
e
|
etch or pet
|
|
|
F-f
|
f
|
fetch
|
|
|
G-g
|
g
|
get
|
|
|
Ğ-ğ
|
no sound
|
makes preceding vowel longer
|
|
|
H-h
|
h
|
hedge or hot
|
|
|
I-y
|
uh
|
|
|
|
I-i
|
ee
|
meet
|
|
|
J-j
|
zh
|
pleasure
|
|
|
K-k
|
k
|
kettle
|
|
|
L-l
|
l
|
ledge
|
|
|
M-m
|
m
|
mat
|
|
|
N-n
|
n
|
not
|
|
|
O-o
|
o
|
not
|
|
|
Ö-ö
|
eu
|
curt, church (with rounded lips)
|
|
|
P-p
|
p
|
pot
|
|
|
R-r
|
r
|
rot
|
|
|
S-s
|
s
|
sock
|
|
|
Ş-ş
|
sh
|
shop
|
|
|
T-t
|
t
|
top
|
|
|
U-u
|
oo
|
pool
|
|
|
İ-i
|
pronounced like
|
"ee" with rounded lips
|
|
|
V-v
|
v
|
vodka
|
|
|
Y-y
|
y
|
you
|
|
|
Z-z
|
z
|
zoo
|
|
The aim of this section is not to teach you Turkish, but just to give you a rough idea to how the language works.
Word Formations
In English you can make new words by adding something to the beginning or end of the first word. You can start with a singular noun and add "s" for a plural (e.g. cat-cats), or add "ed" to verbs to make the past tense (e.g.love/loved). Turkish does this all the time, often instead of using separate words like "my" or "from". For example "hotel" is otel in Turkish, "hotels" is oteller, "my hotels" is otellerim, "in my hotels" is otellerimde....
There are two types of vowel In Turkish. Usually each word uses vowels from the same group. Do not forget there are always exceptions.
"back" vowels are: a-ı-o-u
"front" vowels are: e-i-ö-ü
You need to know "vowel harmony" to make plurals and so correctly.
-s plural ler - lar
|
hand
|
el
|
hands
|
eller
|
|
car
|
araba
|
cars
|
arabalar
|
|
with, by
|
ile
|
|
|
|
with/by car
|
araba ile
|
|
|
|
without
|
sız-siz-suz-süz
|
|
|
|
without hand
|
elsiz
|
|
|
|
without car
|
arabasyz
|
|
|
|
without salt
|
tuzsuz
|
|
|
|
without milk
|
sütsüz
|
|
|
|
from
|
den/dan
|
|
|
|
from home
|
evden
|
|
|
|
from car
|
arabadan
|
|
|
|
to
|
ya, a, ye, e
|
|
|
|
to the car
|
arabaya
|
|
|
|
to the school
|
okula
|
|
|
|
to the gallery
|
galeriye
|
|
|
|
to the house
|
eve
|
|
|
|
in, on, at
|
da, ta, de, te
|
|
|
|
at the car
|
arabada
|
|
|
|
on the street
|
sokakta
|
|
|
|
in the house
|
evde
|
|
|
|
at the customs
|
gümrükte
|
|
|
Nouns
Noun is always singular when using a number with.
Example: "4 cars" 4 araba, "2 hands" 2 el.
There is no masculine or feminine nouns in Turkish so that "he" and "she" are the same. Also there is not a specific word for "the" in Turkish. For example araba could mean either "car" or "the car". "a" is the same word as "one" bir araba means "a car " or "one car" according to context.
Pronouns
"He" or "she" and "it" are all the same pronoun in Turkish. There are however two different pronouns for the word "you".If speaking to one person on friendly terms you can use sen, and when speaking to several people or someone you do not know well better to use siz. As a new learner you can use sen, instead of formal siz.
Ben means "I", beni means "me", benim means "mine", bana means "to me", bende means "with me", benden means "from me".
Sen means "you" in singular and informal way, seni, senin, sana, sende senden
O, means "he, she, it", onu, onun, ona, onda, ondan
Biz, means "we", bizi, bizim, bize, bizde, bizden
Siz, means "you" (plural) or formal singular "you", sizi, bizin, size, sizde, sizden
Onlar, means "they", onlari, onlarin, onlara, onlarda, onlardan.
Adjectives
Adjectives come before nouns and the verb comes at the end. Daha is the word for "more", and en is the word for "most". Example: "a new car" yeni araba, "a newer car" daha yeni araba, "a newest car" en yeni araba.
"my", "your" etc. are expressed by ending. Note that "their" form is the same as for "his,her,and its"
|
my
|
-m
|
my car
|
arabam
|
|
your(single, informal)
|
-n
|
your car
|
araban
|
|
his, her, its
|
-si
|
his car
|
arabası
|
|
our
|
-miz
|
our car
|
arabamız
|
|
your(plural, formal)
|
-niz
|
your car
|
arabanız
|
|
their
|
-si
|
our car
|
arabası
|
Also See:
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