The learning path
All 90 grammar topics in the order in which they support one another — numbered from 1 to 90.
Your progress at a glance
Each petal is a category: easy topics on the inside, hard ones on the outside. Tap a petal to see only its topics.
Where are you right now?
- A1Introducing yourself, asking questions, saying everyday things.
- Words first · 9Words first · 8The Turkish alphabetTwenty-nine letters, and each always sounds the same.
- Words first · 8Words first · 8Dotted i and dotless ıTwo different letters — in small letters and in capitals.
- Words first · 6Words first · 6The soft gA letter you hardly hear — it lengthens or links the vowels.
- Words first · 7StressMostly at the end of the word, and with every ending the stress moves on.
- Words first · 8Two-way vowel harmony: e or aThe last vowel of the word decides whether an ending gets an e or an a.
- Words first · 4Four-way vowel harmony: i, ı, ü or uMany endings have four forms, and the last vowel picks one of them.
- Words first · 6Words first · 6Assimilation: -de or -teAfter a hard consonant, the d of an ending becomes t and the c becomes ç.
- Words first · 6Buffer consonants: y, s and nWhen two vowels meet at an ending, a y, s or n goes in between.
- Words first · 6Words first · 6The verb goes at the endWhatever else is in the sentence — the verb comes last.
- Words first · 4The cases at a glanceWhere English says “in”, “to” or “from”, Turkish adds an ending.
- Words first · 2No article, no genderA Turkish noun has no gender and no word for “the”; “bir” means “a”.
- Words first · 8Words first · 8The cardinal numbersTens before units, as written — and no plural after a number.
- Words first · 4The personal pronounsSix pronouns, one word for he, she and it — and mostly you leave them out.
- Words first · 4“To be” as an endingThere is no verb for “to be” — an ending on the noun or adjective says it.
- Words first · 6The present in “-iyor”Stem, “-iyor”, person ending — for everything going on now or firmly planned.
- Words first · 7And, but, or: “ve”, “ama”, “ya da”The three linking words work almost as in English — with two exceptions.
- Words first · 7The accusative: the definite objectThe object only gets the ending when it is definite — “the book”, not “a book”.
- Words first · 9The plural with -ler and -larOne ending for all nouns — and none at all after a number.
- Words first · 8There is and have: “var” and “yok”Two words for “present” and “not present” — with them you say “there is” and “I have”.
- Words first · 9Telling the time“Half” counts from the hour before, and “past” and “to” need a case.
- Words first · 8The definite past in “-di”Stem, “-di”, short person ending — for everything you have experienced yourself.
- Words first · 8On, under, next to: the place wordsFirst the thing, then the place with an ending: “the table’s top-on”.
- Words first · 6The imperative: “gel!” and “gelin!”The bare stem for “sen”, “-in” for “siz” — and “lütfen” for politeness.
- Words first · 9The dative: where to and to whomWith -e or -a you show the direction and the receiver.
- Words first · 6sen or siz: familiar or polite youTurkish has two words for “you” — and the polite one is also the plural.
- Words first · 3The adjective comes first and stays the sameBefore the noun with no ending at all, after the noun as a statement — and “a” goes in between.
- Words first · 7Words first · 7Everyday set phrasesA set phrase for every situation — and usually a set reply to it.
- Words first · 2The question particle “mi”A yes–no question needs a little word with four forms, written separately.
- Words first · 2My, your, his as an endingThe “my”, “your”, “his” is an ending on the noun.
- Words first · 1The locative: where something isWith -de or -da you say where something is — and also when.
- Words first · 3Question wordsA question word stands where the answer would stand, and needs no question particle.
- Words first · 1Questions and negatives with “-iyor”The “not” is inside the verb; the question is a separate word after it.
- Words first · 1Too, also: “de” and “da”A little word after what it refers to — written separately and never with t.
- Words first · 9Dates, months and days of the weekDay, month, year with plain numbers — no “th” and no “on”.
- Words first · 2bu, şu, o: this, that, that over thereThree degrees of distance, where English mostly manages with “this” and “that”.
- Words first · 2The apostrophe with namesAn apostrophe goes before the ending of a name — and almost nowhere else.
- Words first · 5The ablative: where from and of whatWith -den or -dan you say where something comes from.
- Words first · 1Negation with “değil”A sentence with “to be” is negated with a word of its own, which carries the person ending.
- A2Talking about what happened and saying what comes next.
- Words first · 7Softening: p, ç, t, k become b, c, d, ğBefore an ending that starts with a vowel, hard consonants at the end of a word go soft.
- Words first · 3Can and may with “-ebil”A piece between stem and tense turns “I do” into “I can do”.
- Words first · 8The aorist: what is always trueHabits, facts, offers — depending on the stem, with “-r”, “-ar” or “-ır”.
- Words first · 3The genitive: whoseThe genitive names the owner and almost always comes before a possession with a possessive ending.
- Words first · 8The reported past in “-miş”For what you did not see, but heard or worked out.
- Words first · 2For, like, until: “için”, “gibi”, “kadar”Three postpositions you need every day — a noun before them has no ending, a pronoun does.
- Words first · 5The optative: “gideyim” and “gidelim”For “shall I?”, “let me” and “let’s” — two forms you need every day.
- Words first · 4The possessive constructionThe owner takes the genitive, the possession the possessive ending — both sides are marked.
- Words first · 2Cannot with “-eme”In the negative of “can” the “bil” disappears — what is left is “-eme-”.
- Words first · 1The past of “to be”An ending with d turns “I am” into “I was”.
- Words first · 9First, two each, one and a half“-inci” for first, “-er” for each, and two words for “half”.
- Words first · 3The aorist: negatives, questions, polite requestsNegative in “-mez”, question with “mi” — and the question is the polite request.
- Words first · 2The future in “-ecek”Stem, “-ecek”, person — for plans, predictions and promises.
- Words first · 4With ile: with, and, byThe word “ile” means “with” and likes to attach itself as an ending.
- Words first · 3Pronouns with case endingsPronouns take the same case endings as nouns — with three small quirks.
- Words first · 2Bigger and biggest: “daha” and “en”A word in front instead of an ending — and the “than” is the ablative.
- Words first · 8“-ip”: and thenTwo actions one after the other — only the last verb carries tense and person.
- Words first · 6Because and so: “çünkü”, “bu yüzden”Supplying the reason afterwards, or announcing the result — two words, two directions.
- Words first · 2The infinitive in “-mek” and its casesThe infinitive is a noun — and takes whatever case the next verb requires.
- Words first · 5What was going on: “-iyordu”The present in “-iyor” pushed into the past — for the background of a story.
- Words first · 4Before, after, since: “önce”, “sonra”, “beri”An event in the ablative, a length of time with no ending — and the time word comes after.
- Words first · 7Must and should with “-meli”One ending for obligation and advice — and the trap with “don’t have to”.
- Words first · 7Compound nouns with -iTurkish coffee, bus stop: only the second word gets an ending.
- Words first · 4The thirteen short verbs with “-ir”One-syllable stems take “-ar” or “-er” — except thirteen common ones, which take “-ır”.
- Words first · 1The order of the endingsFirst the plural, then the possessive, then the case — the order is fixed.
- Words first · 5Need and must: “lazım” and “gerek”Two words for “necessary” — the person sits on the verb in front, not on “lazım”.
- B1Explaining how things connect, giving reasons, reporting.
- Words first · 5“-ince”: when, as soon asFirst one thing, then straight away the other — often also: because of the first.
- Words first · 9“-di” or “-miş”: there or notThe same past, two sources — and Turkish makes you name one.
- Words first · 3If …: the condition with “-se”The “if” does not come first, but as an ending on the verb of the clause.
- Words first · 6Words first · 6Having something done: the causativeA piece inside the verb turns “do” into “have done” — and “end” into “finish”.
- Words first · 10“-erek”: by, while doingHow something happens or by what means — and “olarak” for “as”.
- Words first · 7kendi: self, ownOne word for “myself”, “yourself” and “own” — with a possessive ending.
- Words first · 5That and so that: “ki”A “that” in English order — written separately and not to be confused with the ending “-ki”.
- Words first · 1“-ken”: while, asTwo things at the same time — and “as a child”, “when you are ill”.
- Words first · 7The ending -dir: fact and assumptionThe same ending sounds official on a sign and like “probably” or “surely” in conversation.
- Words first · 2The past perfect in “-mişti”What was already over when something else happened in the past.
- Words first · 4Yesterday’s future: “-ecekti”Planned but did not happen — or very nearly happened.
- Words first · 6Postpositions with a fixed caseEach of these postpositions requires its own case — dative or ablative.
- Words first · 4If I had come …: the condition with “-seydi”For what could have been, but was not — with “-ardı” in the main clause.
- Words first · 6The passive: “-il”, “-in”, “-n”Instead of “be done”, a piece inside the verb — and usually instead of “one” or “people” too.
- Words first · 8Which case after which verbMany verbs take a case you would not expect from English.
- Words first · 5Adverbs: “-ce”, doubling and intensifyingThe adjective itself, with an ending, said twice or intensified — four ways to say “how”.
- Words first · 3Before and after: “-meden önce”, “-dikten sonra”Before, after and “without” — each a fixed form with a postposition.
- Words first · 4Even and whereas: “bile” and “ise”Two little words after the word they mean: one heightens, one contrasts.
- Words first · 6The participle in “-en”: the man who comesInstead of “the man who is waiting” you say “the waiting man” — and everything comes before the noun.
- Words first · 3benimki and evdeki: the ending -kiWith -ki “my” becomes “mine” and “in the house” becomes “the one in the house”.
- Words first · 2What someone says: “dedi” and “diye”What was said stays as it was; after it comes “dedi” or “diye” and the verb.
- Words first · 1The participle in “-dik”: the book I am readingIf someone other than the noun does the action, “-dik” comes with a possessive ending — it says who.
- Words first · 3Used to: the aorist in the pastAorist plus “-di”: for old habits and for a polite “would”.
- If only …: wishes with “keşke”One word for the wish, one ending for the time: “-se” for now, “-seydi” for the past.
- Words first · 6Oneself and each other: “-in” and “-iş”One piece in the verb for “oneself”, another for “each other”.
- Words first · 2That, because, when: “-diğini”, “-diği için”A whole clause becomes a noun — add a case or a postposition, and it means “that”, “because” or “when”.
The finish: the whole grammar
90 topics, from the first sentences to the finishing touches.
How to read the path. Every dot is a grammar topic; a click opens it. The colour of a dot is its category, the colour of the path is the difficulty — green and easy at the top, berry red and hard at the bottom. Within a level the categories follow one another, but you need not take them in order: you can work on a tense and on a topic from another category side by side.
On every topic page you can note how well it has sunk in — understood or not sure yet. The path shows it here and highlights the next open topic.
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