Common Turkish Verbs with English Meanings

Below is a short list of the most common Turkish verbs with their English meanings, taken from the book 200 Common Turkish Verbs in Context.

In the book, all verbs are presented in real-life contexts, along with:

• the case endings they require in sentences (as shown in the table below),

• real-life example sentences,

• brief grammar tips,

• word families,

• conjugation tables for the basic verb tenses,

• and exercises to practice.

  
  

👉 Visit our homepage to access sample pages, full book details, and available formats (e-book and print).

Turkish Verbs	English Meanings
olmak	1. to happen, occur 2. to be, become
-i yapmak	to do; to make
-e gitmek	to go (1. move/travel 2. attend 3. leave 4. do a particular activity)
-den/-e gelmek	to come (back)
-den/-e dönmek	1. to return (come back; go back) 2. to turn (direction)
-i beklemek -den beklemek	to wait for to expect (demand)
-e girmek -i girmek	to enter (1. place 2. competition/exam 3.profession/organisation) to enter (URL/password)
-e çıkmak     -den çıkmak   ile çıkmak	1. to go out 2. to go up/onto the top of something to leave (a place) to date someone
-e varmak	to arrive (get somewhere)
yatmak       -e/-de yatmak           ile yatmak	to go to bed to lie (flat position) to sleep with someone
uyumak uyanmak            -i uyandırmak	to sleep to wake up to wake someone up
kalkmak      -den kalkmak    ayağa kalkmak	1. to get up (after sleeping) 2. to leave (bus/train etc)  to get up (stand up) to rise to your feet
-e bakmak	1. to look (i. see ii. search)  2. to look after
-i görmek	to see
-i duymak	to hear
konuşmak   ile konuşmak          hakkında konuşmak	to talk, speak to talk with/to to talk about
-i dinlemek	to listen
-i okumak okumak  birine bir şey okumak	to read to study (a subject) at a university/school to read something to somebody
-i yazmak yazmak	to write; to type to have words on
demek birine bir şey demek	1. to say 2. to mean (i. have a meaning ii. intend to say something) to say something to someone
-i anlamak -den anlamak	to understand; to see to understand (fact/idea)
düşünmek bir şey yapmayı düşünmek	to think (use your mind to decide about something, form an opinion, or imagine something) to think about doing something
-i bilmek	to know (1. have information 2. skill/experience 3. be sure)
-e vermek	to give
-i almak       -den almak	1. to take 2. to get, receive to pick someone/something up
-i (satın) almak   birine bir şey almak bir şeyi 20/50 vb liraya almak	to buy to buy something for someone to buy something for 20/50 etc liras
-i satmak  satmak  birini satmak	to sell (1. offer sth for people to buy 2. give sth in return for money)  to be bought by people to sell someone out
-i kiralamak	to rent
-i sevmek bir şey yapmayı sevmek	to love; to like to love/like to do/doing something
-i istemek -den istemek	to want; to would like to ask someone for help/advice etc
-de çalışmak çalışmak [intransitive] bir makineyi çalıştırmak [transitive]	to work (do a job/an activity) to operate (machine/equipment) [intransitive] to operate a machine [transitive]
başlamak [intransitive]    -e başlamak -i başlatmak [transitive]	to start (happening) to start (doing something) to start (make something start happening)
durmak [intransitive] -i durdurmak [transitive]	to stop (not continue) to make someone/something not continue
bitmek [intransitive] -i bitirmek [transitive]	to finish [intransitive] to finish [transitive]
-i seyretmek (= izlemek)	to watch (look)
-i/-e söylemek yalan/doğru söylemek hikâye/masal/fıkra anlatmak	to tell to tell a lie/the truth to tell a story/joke (a funny story)
-e/-de oturmak -de oturmak	to sit  (1. in a chair etc 2. do nothing) to live (in a place/home)
yaşamak	1. to live 2. to be alive
ölmek -den ölmek -i öldürmek	to die to die of/from to kill; to murder