Turkish A2: Basics

Time arrives at this level. You can report what happened and announce what you mean to do. Sentences get longer because they join up: the first linking words — and, but, because, when — come into play.

The vocabulary covers daily life — work, housing, travel, health, weather. Anything unfamiliar is still hard, anything familiar runs smoothly.

Sounds, the simple sentence and numbers3

Nouns, cases, pronouns and adjectives7

Nouns

A2The possessive constructionThe owner takes the genitive, the possession the possessive ending — both sides are marked.A2Compound nouns with -iTurkish coffee, bus stop: only the second word gets an ending.

The cases

A2The genitive: whoseThe genitive names the owner and almost always comes before a possession with a possessive ending.A2With ile: with, and, byThe word “ile” means “with” and likes to attach itself as an ending.A2The order of the endingsFirst the plural, then the possessive, then the case — the order is fixed.

Pronouns

A2Pronouns with case endingsPronouns take the same case endings as nouns — with three small quirks.

Adjectives and adverbs

A2Bigger and biggest: “daha” and “en”A word in front instead of an ending — and the “than” is the ablative.

Postpositions2

Postpositions

A2For, like, until: “için”, “gibi”, “kadar”Three postpositions you need every day — a noun before them has no ending, a pronoun does.A2Before, after, since: “önce”, “sonra”, “beri”An event in the ablative, a length of time with no ending — and the time word comes after.

Present, past and future6

The present: -iyor and the aorist

A2The aorist: what is always trueHabits, facts, offers — depending on the stem, with “-r”, “-ar” or “-ır”.A2The aorist: negatives, questions, polite requestsNegative in “-mez”, question with “mi” — and the question is the polite request.A2The thirteen short verbs with “-ir”One-syllable stems take “-ar” or “-er” — except thirteen common ones, which take “-ır”.

The past

A2The reported past in “-miş”For what you did not see, but heard or worked out.A2What was going on: “-iyordu”The present in “-iyor” pushed into the past — for the background of a story.

The future: “-ecek”

A2The future in “-ecek”Stem, “-ecek”, person — for plans, predictions and promises.

Moods and verb forms6

Commands, wishes and conditions

A2The optative: “gideyim” and “gidelim”For “shall I?”, “let me” and “let’s” — two forms you need every day.A2Must and should with “-meli”One ending for obligation and advice — and the trap with “don’t have to”.

Verb forms

A2Can and may with “-ebil”A piece between stem and tense turns “I do” into “I can do”.A2Cannot with “-eme”In the negative of “can” the “bil” disappears — what is left is “-eme-”.A2The infinitive in “-mek” and its casesThe infinitive is a noun — and takes whatever case the next verb requires.A2Need and must: “lazım” and “gerek”Two words for “necessary” — the person sits on the verb in front, not on “lazım”.

Clauses and linking words2

Subordinate clauses: converbs and participles

A2“-ip”: and thenTwo actions one after the other — only the last verb carries tense and person.

Linking sentences

A2Because and so: “çünkü”, “bu yüzden”Supplying the reason afterwards, or announcing the result — two words, two directions.

Word lists at level A2

Lists: 18 · words: 714

Reading texts at level A2

Sentences from this level’s topics

Bu sokağın adı ne?What is the name of this street?

Eskiden öğretmendim.I used to be a teacher.

Komşunun köpeği çok büyük.The neighbour’s dog is very big.

Kahvaltıda portakal suyu içiyorum.I drink orange juice at breakfast.

Practise level A2 only