Verbs in Turkish
23 words Turkish words on the topic “verbs”: istiyorum — I want, seviyorum — I love, gitmek — to go, yemek — to eat. 23 words can be played from recordings.
23 words on the topic
- istiyorumI wantThe verb goes last: bir kahve istiyorum is literally "one coffee [I] want".
- seviyorumI loveCovers both food and people — one word for "like" and "love". Seni seviyorum is "I love you".
- gitmekto goThe infinitive always ends in -mek or -mak, by vowel harmony.
- yemekto eatThe same word, unchanged, works as the noun "food, dish": yemek yemek is "to eat food", and that is not a typo.
- içmekto drinkTurkish "drinks" a cigarette too: sigara içmek is to smoke. Soup is drunk as well — çorba içmek, not eaten.
- okumakto readThe same word means "to study somewhere": üniversitede okuyorum is "I study at university", literally "I read".
- konuşmakto speakThe mutual tail -ş lives inside it: konuşmak is to talk with each other, to converse. To say something is söylemek; to speak a language is Türkçe konuşmak.
- çalışmakto workAlso "to study, to prepare": sınava çalışıyorum is "I am preparing for the exam". Said of machines too — çalışmıyor, "it is not working".
- yaşamakto liveTo live in the sense of exist, and to live somewhere. But "to reside at an address" a Turk says with oturmak, literally "to sit": burada oturuyorum.
- varthere isA whole verb "to be present" in three letters. It goes at the end: su var mı? is "is there water?". Never confused with eating: "to eat" is yemek.
- yokthere is notThe partner of var: "not present". No separate negation needed — it is a word of its own, and it doubles as the short "no" in a reply.
- öğrenmekto learnTo learn and to find out at once: Türkçe öğreniyorum is "I am learning Turkish", yeni öğrendim is "I just found out". To teach someone is öğretmek.
- seçmekto chooseThe root of seçim, "elections". The infinitive ends in -mek because the last vowel of the root is e.
- ders çalışmakto studyThe familiar çalışmak ("to work") plus ders: "to work on lessons" — how Turkish says "to study".
- ezberlemekto memorizeezber is "learned by heart": ezbere biliyorum is "I know it by heart". Plain "to remember" is hatırlamak.
- görmekto seeö with rounded lips, as in German schön: gur-MEK
- duymakto hearOne word for "hear" and "feel": acı duymak is "to feel pain". The familiar saygı duymak ("to respect") is assembled the same way.
- uyumakto sleepthree vowels in a row, no glide between them: u-yu-MAK
- taşımakto carryş is "sh", both ı dotless: ta-shuh-MAK
- koymakto placeTurkish does not split "put", "place" and "set" — all koymak. What matters is that the spot takes the directional ending -a/-e: masaya koy.
- kırmakto breakboth ı dotless: kuhr-MAK
- inşa etmekto buildş is "sh": in-SHAH et-MEK
- sıcak tutmakto keep warmı dotless, c as "j" in "jam": suh-JAK tut-MAK
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
istiyorum — I want. The verb goes last: bir kahve istiyorum is literally "one coffee [I] want".
seviyorum — I love. Covers both food and people — one word for "like" and "love". Seni seviyorum is "I love you".
gitmek — to go. The infinitive always ends in -mek or -mak, by vowel harmony.
yemek — to eat. The same word, unchanged, works as the noun "food, dish": yemek yemek is "to eat food", and that is not a typo.
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 istiyorum — I want.
- What is this word?
It is çalışmak — to work.
- What is this word?
It is ezberlemek — to memorize.
- What is this word?
It is inşa etmek — to build.
- What is this word?
It is okumak — to read.
Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “I want” in Turkish?
The verb goes last: bir kahve istiyorum is literally "one coffee [I] want".
- How do you say “to work” in Turkish?
Also "to study, to prepare": sınava çalışıyorum is "I am preparing for the exam". Said of machines too — çalışmıyor, "it is not working".
- How do you say “to memorize” in Turkish?
ezber is "learned by heart": ezbere biliyorum is "I know it by heart". Plain "to remember" is hatırlamak.
- How do you say “to build” in Turkish?
An Arabic root plus etmek — "to do": half of Turkish verbs are assembled this way. In conversation people more often say yapmak, and the familiar inşaat is "a construction site".
- How do you say “to read” in Turkish?
The same word means "to study somewhere": üniversitede okuyorum is "I study at university", literally "I read".
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
I want, I can, I am going, I know. Twenty verbs cover more everyday sentences than two hundred nouns.
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 timesAdesope, 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 timesMawson & 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 “I want” in Turkish?
«istiyorum». The verb goes last: bir kahve istiyorum is literally "one coffee [I] want". It is one of 23 words in the set “verbs” — the rest are in the table above.
How many verbs do you need to start?
A dozen is enough. The set of 23 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, 23 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.