Basic words in Turkish

314 words Turkish words on the topic “basic words”: evet — yes, hayır — no, iyiyim — I am fine, iyi — good. 314 words can be played from recordings.

Updated September 1, 2026 · Lingofly

314 words on the topic

How it sounds in a sentence

A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.

What is worth knowing about these words

evet — yes. Plain agreement, no fine print. Mind the gesture that can replace it: head tipped back with a quick tongue click means "no", even though from afar it looks like a nod.

hayır — no. Turks often sweeten a refusal with a tongue click and a small upward nod — that little package is a "no" too.

iyiyim — I am fine. "iyi" ("good") plus "-yim" ("I"): literally "I am good". The verb "to be" is just an ending here.

iyi — good. One word serves as adjective and adverb alike: iyi bir kitap is "a good book", iyi uyudum is "I slept well". English needs two words where Turkish makes do with one.

Test yourself

First by ear — the way you will meet the word in conversation. Click the speaker and pick the translation.

What is this word?
It is evet — yes.
What is this word?
It is ama — but.
What is this word?
It is kapalı — closed (on a sign).
What is this word?
It is bozuk — broken.
What is this word?
It is on iki — twelve.

Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.

How do you say “yes” in Turkish?
Plain agreement, no fine print. Mind the gesture that can replace it: head tipped back with a quick tongue click means "no", even though from afar it looks like a nod.
How do you say “but” in Turkish?
The most common "but". The bookish one is fakat; the conversational booster is ama yani. It opens the second clause, as in English.
How do you say “closed (on a sign)” in Turkish?
kapı is "door", kapalı is "with the door shut". Hence also Kapalıçarşı — Istanbul's Covered Bazaar.
How do you say “broken” in Turkish?
bozmak is "to spoil". bozuk para is "small change", literally "broken money".
How do you say “twelve” in Turkish?
A dozen is düzine, but at the market people just say on iki. And the golden rule of Turkish counting: after a number the noun stays singular — on iki yumurta, never yumurtalar.

How to learn the set instead of just reading it

Yes, no, good, bad, very. The small change of a language — and no sentence assembles without it.

A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.

Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many times
Adesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
This holds not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many times
Mawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.

Frequently asked

How do you say “yes” in Turkish?

«evet». Plain agreement, no fine print. Mind the gesture that can replace it: head tipped back with a quick tongue click means "no", even though from afar it looks like a nod. It is one of 314 words in the set “basic words” — the rest are in the table above.

How many basic words do you need to start?

A dozen is enough. The set of 314 words on this page covers nearly every everyday case on the topic — but it is best taken a few at a time, not all at once.

Is there audio?

Yes, 314 words on this page can be played — click the speaker next to the word. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.

Basic words in Turkish

314 words on the topic

How it sounds in a sentence

What is worth knowing about these words

Test yourself

How to learn the set instead of just reading it

Frequently asked

How do you say “yes” in Turkish?

How many basic words do you need to start?

Is there audio?

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