apartman
“apartman” — apartment building in Turkish. Noun, level A1, topic — home and things. Listings announce flats exactly this way: "3+1" tells locals more than square meters do. In a live sentence: “Apartmanın önünde bekliyorum” — I am waiting in front of the building. You can hear how it sounds right here. One of 194 words in the set “home and things” in the Turkish course.
In short
| Written in Turkish | apartman |
| Translation | apartment building |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
- apartmanapartment building
What it is
A mid-rise block of five to eight floors, with a kapıcı (caretaker) attached and a shared balcony-court. Flats are counted by rooms plus living room: "2+1" means two bedrooms and a lounge. Addresses go by the building's name, not a number.
This word does not reduce to a translation: the thing it names is not part of everyday life here, so a “translation” would end up a description in brackets. The easiest way to learn it is together with its surroundings — where you meet it and what it is for.
Why it looks that way
Listings announce flats exactly this way: "3+1" tells locals more than square meters do.
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- Apartmanın önünde bekliyorumI am waiting in front of the building
Nearby words: home and things
Room, key, water, electricity. You will need them on your first day in a rented flat.
- evhome"To home" is eve, "at home" is evde. Direction and place take different endings.
- daireapartmentA flat in a building — this is the word in every rental ad. daire is also "a circle" in geometry.
- odaroomThe root of "odalisque" — "the woman of the room". Flats are counted by rooms: "2+1" means two rooms and a living room.
- mutfakkitchenBoth the room and the cuisine: Türk mutfağı is "Turkish cuisine". The k in the middle softens into ğ.
- banyobathroomItalian bagno. Both the room and the washing itself: banyo yapmak is "to take a bath".
- balkonbalconyA French loanword — Turkish has hundreds like it: balkon, asansör, kuaför, şoför.
- katfloor (story)Both a floor of a building and a layer: kat kat is "in layers". The ground floor is usually zemin kat — "on the ground".
- asansörelevatorö with rounded lips, tongue as for "e": a-san-SUR
- merdivenstairsThe staircase in the building and a step ladder alike. merdivenle is "by stairs", on foot.
- masatableFrom Greek. masada is "on the table": the same -da ending as in the familiar evde.
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “home and things”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “apartment building” in Turkish?
Listings announce flats exactly this way: "3+1" tells locals more than square meters do.
- How do you say “floor (story)” in Turkish?
Both a floor of a building and a layer: kat kat is "in layers". The ground floor is usually zemin kat — "on the ground".
- How do you say “room” in Turkish?
The root of "odalisque" — "the woman of the room". Flats are counted by rooms: "2+1" means two rooms and a living room.
- How do you say “table” in Turkish?
From Greek. masada is "on the table": the same -da ending as in the familiar evde.
- How do you say “balcony” in Turkish?
A French loanword — Turkish has hundreds like it: balkon, asansör, kuaför, şoför.
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- 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.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “apartment building” in Turkish?
«apartman». In a live sentence: “Apartmanın önünde bekliyorum” — I am waiting in front of the building. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A1, from the set “home and things”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Listings announce flats exactly this way: "3+1" tells locals more than square meters do. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how it sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.