kalabalık
“kalabalık” — overcrowded in Turkish. Adjective, level A1, topic — transport. The word works as a noun too — "a crowd", which is how the course knows it. About jam-packed places people say tıklım tıklım. In a live sentence: “Sabah otobüsleri çok kalabalık” — The morning buses are very overcrowded. You can hear how it sounds right here. One of 15 words in the set “transport” in the Turkish course.
In short
| Written in Turkish | kalabalık |
| Translation | overcrowded |
| Part of speech | adjective |
| Level | A1 |
- kalabalıkovercrowded
Why it looks that way
The word works as a noun too — "a crowd", which is how the course knows it. About jam-packed places people say tıklım tıklım.
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.
- Sabah otobüsleri çok kalabalıkThe morning buses are very overcrowded
Nearby words: transport
Bus, metro, taxi, stop, station. These are words you need to recognize in writing — off a departure board and off a sign.
- metrometroForeign only in looks: it takes ordinary endings with a linking y between vowels — metroya ("to the metro"), metroyla ("by metro").
- otobüsbusA French word dragged through Turkish harmony. The final s doubles before a vowel: otobüse, otobüsle. The stop is otobüs durağı.
- taksitaxiTo call one is taksi çağırmak, the meter is taksimetre. The request "to the airport" comes out as havalimanına, lütfen — the -a/-e case and no verb.
- istasyonstationBoth a train station and a metro or commuter stop. The grand railway terminal gets the word gar — Haydarpaşa Garı.
- şofördriverş is "sh", both ö rounded: shur-FUR
- durakbus stopFrom durmak, "to stand". The course knows the izafet otobüs durağı, in which the k softens into ğ.
- yolcupassengerFrom yol, "road": both a passenger and a traveler. The journey of the same root is yolculuk.
- koltukseatOne word for the armchair at home, which the course already knows, and the seat on the bus. In case forms the k softens: koltuğa.
- tutamakhandrailFrom tutmak, "to hold". The staircase banister is called differently — tırabzan.
- kontrolörticket inspectorA French loanword: -ör ignores harmony and stays whatever the root.
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “transport”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “overcrowded” in Turkish?
The word works as a noun too — "a crowd", which is how the course knows it. About jam-packed places people say tıklım tıklım.
- How do you say “passenger” in Turkish?
From yol, "road": both a passenger and a traveler. The journey of the same root is yolculuk.
- How do you say “taxi” in Turkish?
To call one is taksi çağırmak, the meter is taksimetre. The request "to the airport" comes out as havalimanına, lütfen — the -a/-e case and no verb.
- How do you say “ticket inspector” in Turkish?
A French loanword: -ör ignores harmony and stays whatever the root.
- How do you say “bus stop” in Turkish?
From durmak, "to stand". The course knows the izafet otobüs durağı, in which the k softens into ğ.
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 “overcrowded” in Turkish?
«kalabalık». In a live sentence: “Sabah otobüsleri çok kalabalık” — The morning buses are very overcrowded. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Adjective, level A1, from the set “transport”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
The word works as a noun too — "a crowd", which is how the course knows it. About jam-packed places people say tıklım tıklım. 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.