Turkish grammar
89 explanations, ordered the way the course teaches them. Free to read, no account.
A1Beginner28 topics
- Vowel harmonyChoosing suffix vowels to harmonise with the last vowel of the stem
- Stem changes: consonant softening & vowel dropHow certain word-final consonants and hidden vowels shift before vowel-initial suffixes
- Personal (copular) suffixesPredicate suffixes that mark person on nominal predicatesfree conjugation drill
- Plural suffix -lArMaking nouns plural in Turkish
- Locative case: -DAMarking "in", "at", and "on" with -da / -de / -ta / -tefree conjugation drill
- Present continuous -(I)yorExpressing actions happening now and habitual routinesfree conjugation drill
- Verbal negation -mANegating verbs with -ma/-me
- Definite past -DIThe "dili" past: talking about events you witnessed or experienced directlyfree conjugation drill
- Future tense: -(y)AcAkExpressing future plans and intentions with -acak / -ecekfree conjugation drill
- Imperative (Emir)Giving commands and instructions in Turkish
- Question formationmı + WH-words
- Nominal negation with değilNegating nouns, adjectives, and locative predicates using değil + personal endings
- Existence and possession (var / yok)Saying there is / there isn't, and expressing what you have or don't have
- Accusative -(y)I for definite objectsMarking a direct object as specific and knownfree conjugation drill
- Ablative -DAn and dative -(y)AExpressing "from" and "to/for" with case suffixesfree conjugation drill
- Genitive-possessive constructionExpressing ownership and belonging with X-(n)In Y-(s)I
- Demonstrativesbu / şu / o, burası / şurası / orası
- Personal pronouns and their case formsben, sen, o and their case forms across all six persons
- Numbers and ordinalsCardinal numbers and the ordinal suffix -(I)ncI
- Possessive suffixes (İyelik ekleri)Marking ownership directly on the possessed nounfree conjugation drill
- Instrumental ile / -(y)lAExpressing "with" and "by" in Turkish
- -DAn önce / -DAn sonraExpressing "before" and "after" with the ablative case
- -DAn … -A kadarfrom … to / until
- Relativiser -ki / -DAkiTurning a locative or time phrase into a modifier
- -A göre, benceaccording to / in my opinion
- -DEn beri / -DIrsince / for — duration up to now
- Comparative (daha) and superlative (en)Comparing people and things in Turkish using daha and en
- Clock time and datessaat üçte, ikiyi beş geçe
A2Elementary28 topics
- Consonant doubling (gemination)How a small set of Arabic-origin nouns double their final consonant before a vowel suffix
- Reflexive & reciprocal pronounskendi and birbiri
- Distributive numerals -(ş)ArExpressing "… each" with birer, ikişer, üçer and more
- Indefinite noun compound (belirtisiz isim tamlaması)Combining two nouns where the first stays bare and the head takes -(s)I
- Suffix order & buffer consonants (y / n / s)How Turkish suffixes stack in a fixed order, and how buffer consonants prevent vowel clashes
- Optative / volitional -(y)AyIm / -(y)AlImExpressing "let me" and "let's" in Turkish
- Indefinite & quantifier pronounsbiri / herkes / hiçbir / kimse / hepsi
- Possessive + case stackingAdding case suffixes after possessive endings — and when to insert the buffer -n-free conjugation drill
- Evidential past -mIşReporting events you did not witness — hearsay, inference, and surprise
- Aorist -(I/A)rHabits, general truths, and offersfree conjugation drill
- Ability and necessity-(y)Abil and -mAlI
- Converbs-(y)Ip, -(y)ArAk, -mAdAn, -(y)A…-(y)A
- Temporal converbs: -mAdAn önce / -DIktAn sonraExpressing "before doing" and "after doing" with verb stems
- Verbal nouns: -mA / -mAk / -IşTurning verbs into nouns in Turkish
- Subject relative -(y)An / -(y)EnTurning a verb into a pre-nominal modifier: gelen adam — the man who came
- Similarity and equality: gibi and kadarExpressing "like" and "as … as" in Turkish
- Correlative conjunctionshem…hem, ne…ne, ya…ya, ister…ister
- Causal connectorsçünkü, bu yüzden, bu sebeple
- Derivational -CAmanner adverbs, language names
- Reduplication intensifier (Pekiştirme)How Turkish intensifies adjectives by prefixing a modified copy of the stem
- Purpose / imminence: -mAk için, -mAk üzereExpressing "in order to", "so that", and "about to" in Turkish
- Reported speech (diye + dolaylı anlatım)Quoting and reporting what someone said, asked, or commanded
- Spatial postpositionsevin önünde, masanın üstünde
- Past & evidential copula on nominals-(y)DI and -(y)mIş on nouns, adjectives, and adverbials
- Focus clitics: dA "too/also" & bile "even"How to add "too", "also", "both…and", and "even" to a Turkish sentence
- Adjective suffixes -lI and -sIzExpressing "with" and "without" through productive adjective-forming suffixes
- Enumerator taneCounting discrete things: üç tane elma
- Adversative connectorsama, fakat, ancak, yalnız
B1Intermediate16 topics
- Open / real conditional -(I)rsAExpressing genuine future possibility with the aorist conditionalfree conjugation drill
- Past continuous -(I)yorduDescribing ongoing or habitual actions in the pastfree conjugation drill
- Conditional & wish: -sA / -sAydI / -(y)sAHypothetical wishes, past regrets, and real conditions in Turkish
- Obligation: -mAk zorunda / gerek / lazım / şartExpressing necessity and compulsion through lexical periphrasesfree conjugation drill
- Causative -DIr / -t / -Ir / -ArMaking someone do something — or causing something to happenfree conjugation drill
- Passive Voice: -Il / -In / -nHow Turkish demotes the subject and shifts focus to the action or object
- Reflexive -(I)n & the pronoun «kendi»How Turkish expresses «self» — through a closed set of verb stems and through the pronoun kendi
- Reciprocal -(I)ş & «birbiri»Expressing "each other" in Turkish
- Converb -(y)kenExpressing "while" or "when" with a simultaneous background clause
- Converb "since doing": -(y)AlI and -DIğIndAn beriExpressing elapsed time from a verbal event
- Non-subject relative clauses: -DIK / -(y)AcAK + possessiveHow to modify a noun with a clause where that noun is not the subject
- Suppletive copula ol-Expressing "be" and "become" across tenses and moods
- olarakas / in the capacity of
- Abstract postpositions (hakkında, yüzünden, sayesinde)Bare-noun complements with fixed possessive-marked forms
- Reason clauses with -DIğI / -(y)AcAğI içinExpressing "because" through nominalised verb clauses
- "When" clauses: -(y)IncA and -DIğIndATwo converb suffixes that translate "when" — one for sequential triggers, one for simultaneous background
B2Upper intermediate17 topics
- Aorist participle -Ar / -Ir / -mAz (adjectival)Using the aorist stem as a tenseless adjective before a noun
- Resultative participle -mIş (adjectival)Using -mIş before a noun to mean "having been …-ed" or "already …-ed"
- Converbs "until" and "without"-(y)IncAyA kadar / -AnA kadar & -mAksIzIn
- Compound past "hikâye" — copula -(y)DI on all tensesShifting any tense into the past with the copular suffix -(y)DIfree conjugation drill
- Compound evidential "rivayet" — copula -(y)mIş on all tensesAdding hearsay or inference to any tense with -(y)mIşfree conjugation drill
- Proportion -DIkçA & "as soon as" -Ar…-mAzExpressing "the more … the more" and "the moment …" in Turkish
- Duration: "throughout / as long as"süresince and -DIğI sürece
- Indirect statements (-DIK/-AcAK olduğunu söylemek)Reporting what someone said using nominalised verb clauses
- Indirect questions-Ip …-mADIğInI for yes/no; wh-word + -DIK/-AcAK for wh-questions
- Reported commands, requests & wishes-mAsInI istemek/söylemek
- Combined voice (birleşik çatı)Stacking reflexive, reciprocal, causative, and passive suffixes in a fixed order
- Concessive "although / despite"-DIğI hâlde, -mAsInA rağmen, and -A rağmen
- Rather than-mAktAnsA, -AcAğInA / -AcAğI yerde
- Formal conditionals-DIğI takdirde, -mAsI hâlinde / durumunda
- Aspectual compound verbs-(y)Iver, -(y)Ip dur/kal, -(y)Akal and related forms
- Generalizing / assumption copula -DIrExpressing probability and formal generalization with the copular suffix -DIr
- "As if": (sanki) …-mIş gibiExpressing hypothetical or counterfactual manner with -mIş gibi and -(I)yormuş gibi