Complete Turkish Language course for Beginners A1

Turkish alphabet (Turkish: Türk alfabesi) is a Latin-script alphabet used for writing the Turkish language, consisting of 29 letters, seven of which (Ç, Ş, Ğ, I, İ, Ö, Ü) have been modified from their Latin originals for the phonetic requirements of the language. This alphabet represents modern Turkish pronunciation with a high degree of accuracy and specificity. Mandated in 1928 as part of Atatürk's Reforms, it is the current official alphabet and the latest in a series of distinct alphabets used in different eras.

In this video you will learn the better alphabet with an example for each letter.

One of the most basic concepts essential to the Turkish language is vowel harmony - that is, changing vowels in words so that the language flows more smoothly. Vowel harmony can be one of the most intimidating parts of Turkish for beginners but with a little practice, quickly becomes second nature

They are divided into two groups and for groups :

The rule is as follows:

• If the last vowel in the word is a, ı, o, or u: use the a form.

• If the last vowel in the word is e, i, ö, or ü: use the e form

The rule is as follows:

• If the last vowel in the word is e or i: use the i form.

• If the last vowel in the word is a or ı: use the ı form.

• If the last vowel in the word is o or u: use the u form.

• If the last vowel in the word is ö or ü: use the ü form

Formation of plural nouns is fairly easy in Turkish.

To make words plural, add –ler or –lar to the word, according the vowel in the last syllable.

If the vowel in the last syllable is an E-dotted vowel it gets –ler,

if it is an A-undotted vowel it gets –lar

You can add suffix Li Lı Lu Lü to any noun of countrie or city !

When you meet a new person in Turkey, they might ask you Nerelisiniz? which is the equivalent of "Where do you come from?" or ‘Where are you from?

Numbers in turkish

Ordinal numbers (“first, second, third, etc”) are made by adding a suffix to the cardinal number.

The suffix is a variant of -inci congruent with Turkish vowel harmony:

We will learn the names of different colours in Turkish.

making questions mi-mı-mu-mü

To make a sentence interrogative, in English this can be done with an interrogative pronoun (WHERE are you ?) or by changing the order of the sentence :
- Why am I doing silly ?
- I'm doing something silly
- Am I doing something silly ?

In Turkish you can use an interrogative pronoun, or in other cases you have to add the "question-word " mi, mı, mu, mü
Like in :

bu bir kitap - bu bir kitap mı ? (is this a book ?)
bu güzel - bu güzel mi ? (is this nice ?)
bu benim - bu benim mi ? (is this mine ?)

Turkish questions may be either a linguistic expression used to make a request for information, or else the request itself made by such an expression. Usually it starts with why, how, where, when ... e...

In Turkish there are several ways of asking a question:

1. Wh Questions:

In Turkish this kind of questions start with different question words. For example:

Who: Kim What: Ne When: Ne zaman Why: Niçin, Neden

Where: Nereye, nerede, nerede

Şu that [nearby] →
plural şunlar those [between]

Şu signifies something "near by" or "between" the speakers.

Şu also means "that which follows" →
şu tavsiye the following recommendation.

Care must be taken using şu and its extensions:
It is also used in a derogatory sense

In Turkish, "var" and "yok" are used to express the presence and absence of things. There are no direct English equivalents so understanding these concepts are important in learning Turkish. "Var" and "yok" are generally placed at the end of the sentence. There are four cases to be considered:

1. Positive - Var

2. Negative - Yok

3. Positive Question - Var mı

4. Negative Question - Yok mu

The locative case is used to indicate the place where the action occurs. It can also be used to indicate the time the action occurs. The locative case marker in Turkish is “-de/-da/-te/-ta” which is usually “in/at/on” in English

In this lesson, we will learn how to say things like "I am in the street" or "He is in the room". Are you ready?

If the last vowel of a word is:

"a/ı" → use the "ı" ending. "e/i" → use the "i" ending. "o/u" → use the "u" ending. "ö/ü" → use the "ü" ending

Suffixes

A letter or a group of letters that is added to the end of a word to modify its meaning.

In Turkish they are suffixed directly to the noun that they modify thus forming new complete words.

In English prepositions: in, on, of, by, etc. are placed separately in front of the word they modify.

In English we have many words which agglutinate (extend) to form other words.

argue can be modified with a suffix argu-meant.

Other suffixes produce argu-menta-tive, argu-ment-ative-ly

This is the way of Turkish.

This produces extended words with a different meanings.

Adding suffixes:

-da -de / -ta -te in on at
-dan -den / -tan -ten from