Buildings and premises in Turkish
22 words Turkish words on the topic “buildings and premises”: lokanta — canteen, dükkân — shop, istasyon — station, pazar — street market. 22 words can be played from recordings.
22 words on the topic
- lokantacanteenSimple, unpretentious food — a lunch counter or an inexpensive eatery. The pricier kind of place is called restoran.
- dükkânshopA small shop, a street-front store. The chain grocery is market, the mall is AVM.
- istasyonstationBoth a train station and a metro or commuter stop. The grand railway terminal gets the word gar — Haydarpaşa Garı.
- pazarstreet marketThe same word means "Sunday": the neighborhood market was set up on Sundays and the day took its name from it. To speak of the day, people say pazar günü.
- bankabankDo not confuse with banko — that is a counter, a desk in an office. Both words are Italian, but in Turkish they split into two.
- eczanepharmacyc sounds like "j" in "jam": ej-za-NE
- marketgrocery storeThe corner shop. The big one is süpermarket, and the tiny counter shop is a bakkal.
- hastanehospitalhasta is "a sick person", -hane "a house": "the house of the sick". The same -hane in the familiar eczane and postane.
- ofisofficeFrom English. The boss's room has its own name — müdür odası, with the familiar oda.
- üniversiteuniversityTo study at one is üniversitede okumak, with the same okumak as "to read".
- okulschoolA word invented in the 1930s language reform, from okumak, "to read". It is younger than its first pupils.
- postanepost officeposta is the mail as a service, postane the branch office. The same -hane ("house") as in eczane and hastane.
- otogarbus stationAssembled from oto and gar; the sign carries the full şehirlerarası otobüs terminali.
- iskelepierOne word for a pier, a berth and scaffolding. The ferry leaves iskeleden, "from the pier".
- döviz bürosuexchange officeAn izafet: büro becomes bürosu. döviz is "currency" — the course already knows döviz kuru.
- hayvanat bahçesizooAn izafet: bahçe becomes bahçesi. Literally "garden of animals"; hayvanat is an old Arabic-style plural of hayvan.
- sirkcircusA French loanword: it refuses harmony and takes its tail by the last vowel — sirk becomes sirke.
- itfaiyefire stationBoth the station and the whole service; the firefighter is itfaiyeci.
- oto yıkamacar washNo possessive tail: yıkama is a verbal noun from yıkamak, and the sign is written the same way.
- seyahat acentesitravel agencyAn izafet: acente becomes acentesi. seyahat is "a journey" — hence seyahat çeki too.
- ana caddemain streetcadde is the wide street, sokak the smaller one. ana stands as a modifier, no tail.
- bilet gişesiticket boothAn izafet: gişe becomes gişesi. gişe is the little window people sit behind; a shop's till is kasa.
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.
- Köşedeki lokanta çok ucuzThe eatery on the corner is very cheap
- Karşıdaki dükkân yediye kadar açıkThe shop across the street is open until seven
- Tren istasyona giriyorThe train is pulling into the station
- Salı günü mahallede pazar kuruluyorOn Tuesdays the market works in the neighborhood
- Banka öğlen kapanıyorThe bank closes at noon
- Nöbetçi eczane nerede?Where is the round-the-clock pharmacy?
What is worth knowing about these words
lokanta — canteen. Simple, unpretentious food — a lunch counter or an inexpensive eatery. The pricier kind of place is called restoran.
dükkân — shop. A small shop, a street-front store. The chain grocery is market, the mall is AVM.
istasyon — station. Both a train station and a metro or commuter stop. The grand railway terminal gets the word gar — Haydarpaşa Garı.
pazar — street market. The same word means "Sunday": the neighborhood market was set up on Sundays and the day took its name from it. To speak of the day, people say pazar günü.
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 lokanta — canteen.
- What is this word?
It is hastane — hospital.
- What is this word?
It is döviz bürosu — exchange office.
- What is this word?
It is bilet gişesi — ticket booth.
- What is this word?
It is market — grocery store.
Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “canteen” in Turkish?
Simple, unpretentious food — a lunch counter or an inexpensive eatery. The pricier kind of place is called restoran.
- How do you say “hospital” in Turkish?
hasta is "a sick person", -hane "a house": "the house of the sick". The same -hane in the familiar eczane and postane.
- How do you say “exchange office” in Turkish?
An izafet: büro becomes bürosu. döviz is "currency" — the course already knows döviz kuru.
- How do you say “ticket booth” in Turkish?
An izafet: gişe becomes gişesi. gişe is the little window people sit behind; a shop's till is kasa.
- How do you say “grocery store” in Turkish?
The corner shop. The big one is süpermarket, and the tiny counter shop is a bakkal.
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
Where to go and what is done there. These words are read off a sign more often than they are spoken.
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 “canteen” in Turkish?
«lokanta». Simple, unpretentious food — a lunch counter or an inexpensive eatery. The pricier kind of place is called restoran. It is one of 22 words in the set “buildings and premises” — the rest are in the table above.
How many words for buildings and places do you need to start?
A dozen is enough. The set of 22 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, 22 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.