A1 · 35 words
I, you, who, where in Turkish
The personal pronouns, the words for my and your, and the question words every conversation starts with.
Practise this list
From these 35 words, as many per round as you like — up to all of them: first what is due today, then new ones. First you choose, then you fill the gap, then you write it yourself. Mistakes come back again shortly.
More about this list
Turkish has no grammatical gender: o means he, she and it. Most of the time you even leave the pronoun out, because the ending on the verb already shows the person — geliyorum on its own means “I am coming”. You say it when it is stressed or when two people are contrasted. For “my, your” Turkish adds an ending to the noun (evim, “my house”); benim in front only adds emphasis. And the question words do not move to the front as in English: they stand where the answer would stand, usually just before the verb.
The words
Pronoun (21)
benIPronounA1
Usually dropped: oturuyorum is enough. “to me” bana, “me” beni.
senyou (one person, familiar)PronounA1
With friends and family; with strangers siz. “to you” sana, “you” as object seni.
ohe, she, it; thatPronounA1
No gender: one word for he, she and it. Before an ending it takes n: onu, ona.
bizwePronounA1
sizyou (plural or polite)PronounA1
Both plural “you” and the polite form to one person.
onlartheyPronounA1
After onlar the verb may drop its -lar.
buthisPronounA1
Close to the speaker. Standing alone it takes n before an ending: bunu, bunda.
şuthat (one there)PronounA1
For something you are pointing at.
bunlarthesePronounA1
şunlarthose (there)PronounA1
benimmyPronounA1
The noun still carries its ending: benim telefonum. benim itself may be left out.
seninyour (one person)PronounA1
onunhis, her, itsPronounA1
No gender: “his” and “her” are the same word.
bizimourPronounA1
sizinyour (plural or polite)PronounA1
onlarıntheirPronounA1
herkeseverybodyPronounA1
The verb is singular, as in English: herkes geldi.
birisomebodyPronounA1
bir şeysomethingPronounA1
her şeyeverythingPronounA1
hiçbir şeynothingPronounA1
With a negative verb — the double negative is correct in Turkish.
Question word (14)
newhatQuestion wordA1
As a definite object: neyi; “what for, to what”: neye.
kimwhoQuestion wordA1
“whom” kimi, “to whom” kime.
kiminwhoseQuestion wordA1
neredewhereQuestion wordA1
nere with the locative; also nereye “where to” and nereden “where from”.
nereyewhere toQuestion wordA1
neredenwhere fromQuestion wordA1
ne zamanwhenQuestion wordA1
nasılhowQuestion wordA1
nedenwhyQuestion wordA1
Same meaning: niye and niçin.
niçinwhat for, whyQuestion wordA1
kaçhow manyQuestion wordA1
The noun after it stays singular: kaç kardeş. “What time is it?” saat kaç?
hangiwhichQuestion wordA1
ne kadarhow much, how longQuestion wordA1
nereliwhere from (origin)Question wordA1
Asks where someone is from; the answer takes -li: Hamburglu, İzmirli.
This list belongs to Basic words: numbers, pronouns, verbs — 16 lists and 674 words that can also be practised as a whole.