Introduction to Turkish: Lesson 4

Plurals

In Turkish, most plurals are regular.

-lar = if the word’s last vowel is a, ı, o or u

-ler = if the word’s last vowel is e, i, ö or ü

Some words of Arabic origin end in -at and you need to add the suffix -ler.

The word for clock is saat.

The word for mountain is dağ.

The word for reality is hakikat.

Let’s pluralise the words.

?dağ|dağlar

?adam|adamlar

?kadın|kadınlar

?masa|masalar

?sandalye|sandalyeler

?saat|saatler

?hakikat|hakikatler

Pronouns

The word for I is ben.

The word for familiar you is sen.

The word for he, she and it is o.

The word for we is biz.

The word for polite or plural you is siz.

The word for they is onlar.

Verbs

In Turkish, almost all verbs are regular. You will learn how to form infinitives and the present continuous tense.

Infinitives

-mak = if the word’s last vowel is a, ı, o or u

-mek = if the word’s last vowel is e, i, ö or ü

The word for tell is söyle-

The word for drink is iç-

The word for eat is ye-

The word for do is yap-

The word for come is gel-

Let’s try.

?to tell|söylemek

?to drink|içmek

?to eat|yemek

?to do|yapmak

?to come|gelmek

If you remove the infinitive suffix, you’ll find the stem.

Present Continuous Tense

-ıyor = if the stem’s first vowel is a or ı and last letter or vowel is a or ı

-iyor = if the stem’s first vowel is e or i and last letter or vowel is e or i

-uyor = if the stem’s first vowel is o or u and last letter or vowel is a or ı

-üyor = if the stem’s first vowel is ö or ü and last letter or vowel is e or i

You need to change a into ı or u, and e into i or ü when forming the present continuous tense (This rule applies if a or e is the last letter of the verb stem). If the stem ends in a consonant, you don’t need to change any letter, you simply add the suffix.

The suffix for ben is -um

The suffix for sen is -sun

There is no suffix for o

The suffix for biz is -uz

The suffix for siz is -sunuz

The suffix for onlar is -lar if they are people, and no suffix if they are animals, plants or inanimate. But the suffix can be left out even talking about people.

Let’s conjugate the verb söylemek (using the pronoun).

?I tell|ben söylüyorum

?you (singular) tell|sen söylüyorsun

?he/she/it tells|o söylüyor

?we tell|biz söylüyoruz

?you (polite/plural) tell|siz söylüyorsunuz

?they (people) tell|onlar söylüyorlar

?they (non-people) tell|onlar söylüyor

And now, let’s conjugate gelmek.

?I come|ben geliyorum

?you (singular) come|sen geliyorsun

?he/she/it comes|o geliyor

?we come|biz geliyoruz

?you (polite/plural) come|siz geliyorsunuz

?they (people) come|onlar geliyorlar

?they (non-people) come|onlar geliyor

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