How to Learn Turkish? Tips from a Teacher and Language Learner

Proverbs, idioms, and sayings play an important role in every language and culture. Many Turkish proverbs and idioms have close equivalents in English, even though they are expressed with different words. In this post, you will find a carefully selected collection of Turkish proverbs, idioms, and sayings with their English equivalents. In some cases, alternative equivalents may exist in American and British English. Instead of literal word-for-word translations, the focus is

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In Turkish, the verb “öpmek” (to kiss) looks simple at first glance, but it actually has different meanings depending on the grammatical structure. Especially for learners, the difference between -i öpmek , -den öpmek , and öpüşmek  can feel confusing at first. In this post, we’ll break down each form with clear explanations and natural example sentences. 1. -i Öpmek — to Kiss Someone This structure is used when you kiss a person directly. The noun before the verb takes the a

Yapıl ana kadar hep imkânsız görünür. It always seems impossible until it's done. (Nelson Mandela) In Turkish, -(y)ene kadar  (or -(y)ene dek / -değin ) is used to indicate how long an action will continue or until what point something lasts . In English, it usually translates as “until” or “up to.” Here is another example from a well-known Turkish saying: Köprüyü geç ene kadar ayıya "dayı" de. Literally:  Call the bear "uncle" until you have crossed the bridge. Meaning:  Ge

Have you ever looked at a long Turkish word and wondered how all those pieces come together? Turkish might seem complex from the outside, but once you understand how roots and suffixes interact, everything starts to click. In this post, we’ll explore one of the best examples of Turkish word formation: “dönüştürülebilir.”  It’s a word you’ll often see on recycling labels, and it perfectly illustrates how Turkish builds meaning step by step through derivation, causation, the pa

This post features a lesson from my book easy Turkish Grammar with answers 1 (A1–A2) . In the book, all suffixes are shown in the same colours throughout the book, with a clear colour legend on every page, as you can see in the image. This helps you follow each suffix easily. Exercises You can check your answers with audio support here. 👉 Check out easy Turkish Grammar with answers 1 (A1-A2) , where this lesson comes from.

This post features a lesson from my book easy Turkish Grammar with answers 1 (A1–A2) . In the book, all suffixes are shown in the same colours throughout the book, with a clear colour legend on every page, as you can see in the image. This helps you follow each suffix easily. Exercises You can check your answers with audio support here . 👉 Check out easy Turkish Grammar with answers 1 (A1-A2) , where this lesson comes from.

This post features a lesson from my book easy Turkish Grammar with answers 1 (A1–A2) . In the book, all suffixes are shown in the same colours throughout the book, with a clear colour legend on every page, as you can see in the image. This helps you follow each suffix easily. 👉 Check out the book here .

Includes Case Endings, Grammar Tips, and Practice Exercises Most native speakers use only around 800 unique words in daily conversation. With this book, you'll learn 200 of the most common Turkish verbs , carefully selected from frequency dictionaries and learner-focused resources . All verbs are shown in real-life contexts, with brief grammar tips, conjugation tables for the basic verb tenses, the case endings they require in sentences, and exercises to practice. Visit our

Turkish apostrophes (kesme işareti) are used in specific ways with proper names, initials, acronyms, numbers, dates, and times. In this post, we’ll explain the rules with examples. A. We use the apostrophe (kesme işareti) when we add inflectional suffixes, such as case endings and the ek-fiil (the verb to be): 1. To proper names, and the titles Bey and Hanım Examples: Biz yarın Mersin ’e gidiyoruz. → We are going to Mersin tomorrow. Oğlum Ankara Üniversitesi ’nde okuyor. →

Turkish capital letters (büyük harfler) usually follow English patterns, with a few differences. In this post, we’ll go over these patterns and differences with clear comparisons and examples. A. Like in English, we use capital letters (büyük harfler): 1. To begin sentences Example: Ben Türkçe öğreniyorum. → I’m learning Turkish. 2. For the names of people, places, nationalities, languages, institutions, holidays, etc. Examples: Arhan Demir Jane Page Türkiye İngiltere Türk

For learners looking to master Turkish grammar from beginner (A1) to upper-intermediate (B2) step by step Turkish grammar relies heavily on suffixes , which can be confusing — especially for speakers of European languages like English. That's why mastering them is essential for anyone learning Turkish . easy Turkish Grammar with answers 1 (A1–A2) and 2 (B1–B2 ) make this challenge easier by teaching suffixes in a learner-friendly way. They use a unique colour-coded system t

Turkish has eight vowels: Aa, Ee, Iı, İi, Oo, Öö, Uu , and Üü . In this lesson, we’ll learn how to pronounce each vowel in the following order, in pairs, and make comparisons for better understanding. 1. Turkish Vowels: A and E A A has a similar sound to the English u in up or but . Example Turkish words with A: adam → man baba → father araba → car E E has a similar sound to the English e in bed or alphabet . Example Turkish words with E: el → hand elma → apple alfabe → a

Turkish grammar heavily relies on suffixes. They often replace what English expresses through separate words, such as auxiliary verbs (to show tense, person, or mood) and prepositions (to show place, time, or direction).  Look at the example below to see how Turkish suffixes correspond to English words, and vice versa: Karı m a çiçek al acağ ım . → I will buy flowers for my wife. A single Turkish word with one or more suffixes can sometimes correspond to a whole phrase,

In Turkish, the standard word order is SOV : Subject + Object + Verb. This post explains basic sentence structure, how to add qualifiers, and how to construct compound and complex sentences. Adding Qualifiers: Nouns, Adjectives, Adverbs With nouns, adjectives or quantifiers we can qualify subjects and objects. To qualify verbs, we use adverbs. As a rule of thumb, the qualifiers come before what they qualify. Time and Place in Turkish Sentences Sentences with further informati

This post features a page from the Turkish Case Suffixes  lesson in my book easy Turkish Grammar with answers 1 (A1–A2) . In the book, all suffixes are shown in the same colours throughout the book, with a clear colour legend on every page, as you can see in the image. This helps you follow each suffix easily. 👉 Check out the book here .

In Turkish, we add the ablative case suffix -den / -dan , which usually corresponds to the English preposition from , to the name of a place, area, container, substance etc, or to the name of a person to say: 1. where someone or something starts, leaves, or comes from Examples: Bizim trenimiz 2. peron dan kalkıyor. → Our train departs from platform 2. Sabah ev den 7.00’de çıkıyorum. → I leave home at 7.00 in the morning. Öykü hafta sonu Isparta ’dan dönüyor. → Öykü is ret

In Turkish, the locative case suffix -de / -da  indicates location in place and time . If the word it is attached to ends in a hard...

In Turkish, the dative case suffix -e / -a indicates the recipient (indirect object) of an action, direction, or goal. If the word it...