Turkish Suffix -li

The suffix -li is a powerful tool in Turkish. It creates countless adjectives, and once you learn to use it, your vocabulary will grow enormously. Let’s take a closer look at how it works.

It generally means having (the quality of), characterized by, or full of. We usually add it to nouns.

Note: The suffix -li follows vowel harmony, so it appears in four forms: -li, -lı, -lü, -lu.

Common Adjectives with -li

Examples of adjectives in -li:

• başarılı → successful

• dikkatli → careful

• yetenekli → skillful

• saygılı → respectful

• önemli → important

• yararlı → useful

• tehlikeli → dangerous

• değerli → valuable

• anlayışlı → understanding

• tecrübeli / deneyimli → experienced

• renkli → colorful

• çizgili → lined, striped

• lezzetli → tasty, delicious

• tuzlu → salty

• yağlı → oily, fatty

• şekerli → sugary, with sugar

• çikolatalı → with chocolate

• güneşli → sunny

• rüzgârlı → windy

• yağmurlu → rainy

• karlı → snowy

• bulutlu → cloudy

• sisli → foggy

• fırtınalı → stormy

-li Meaning With

In some cases, the suffix -li translates as with.

Examples of -li meaning "with":

• 10 katlı bir bina → a building with 10 floors

• bahçeli bir ev → a house with a garden

• iki odalı bir daire → a flat with two rooms

• silahlı bir adam → a man with a gun

Describing People with -li

We also use the suffix -li to describe people’s physical appearance.

Examples of adjectives in -li describing people:

• kısa ≠ uzun boylu bir kız → a short ≠ tall girl

• orta boylu bir aktör → an actor of medium height

• yeşil gözlü bir kadın → a green-eyed woman

• kızıl saçlı bir kız → a red-haired girl

• orta yaşlı bir iş insanı → a middle-aged businessperson

• bıyıklı / sakallı bir adam → a man with a moustache / beard

• geniş omuzlu ve kaslı bir adam → a broad-shouldered and muscular man

• siyahlı iki adam → two men (dressed) in black

• şık giyimli bir kadın → an elegantly dressed woman

Bonus Use of -li

We can also add it to the question word ne (neli).

Example:

A: Dondurmanı neli istersin? → What flavour ice cream would you like?

B: Limonlu ve çilekli. → Lemon and strawberry.

Practice

Translate the following phrases into Turkish using the pattern adjective + bir + noun (for example: a careful driver → dikkatli bir sürücü):

• a thoughtful person

• an ambitious student

• an elderly man with glasses

• a masked robber

• a chocolate cake

• a coffee with milk

• a patient teacher

Looking Ahead

We also have the suffix -siz, which is the opposite of -li and shows lack or absence. We will explore it in another post.

This lesson comes from my book Turkish Vocabulary Booster: Word Formation in Turkish. Discover more suffixes and expand your vocabulary by exploring the book, and you can also try the word formation quizzes.