şehir
“şehir” — city in Turkish. Noun, level A1, topic — the city and its places. A Persian word. With endings the second syllable's vowel drops: şehir becomes şehre, şehrin. burun ("nose") and ağız ("mouth") behave the same way. In a live sentence: “İzmir büyük bir şehir” — Izmir is a big city. You can hear how it sounds right here. One of 83 words in the set “the city and its places” in the Turkish course.
In short
| Written in Turkish | şehir |
| Translation | city |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
- şehircity
Why it looks that way
A Persian word. With endings the second syllable's vowel drops: şehir becomes şehre, şehrin. burun ("nose") and ağız ("mouth") behave the same way.
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.
- İzmir büyük bir şehirIzmir is a big city
Nearby words: the city and its places
Street, square, pharmacy, bank. An address is built out of these, and an address is something you have to both say and understand.
- sokakstreetA small street. The avenue is cadde, printed larger on signs.
- 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
- sıraline (queue)both ı dotless: suh-RA
- trafik ışığıtraffic lighttrafik ışığı — dotless ı, silent ğ: tra-FEEK uh-shuh-UH
- bisikletbicycleFrench bicyclette. "To ride a bike" is bisiklete binmek — the same binmek as the bus and the plane
- otobüs durağıbus stop signdurmak is "to stand", durak the place of stopping. With the linker the k goes to ğ again: durak → durağı
- ulaşım kartıtransit cardulaşım kartı — ş is "sh", both ı dotless: u-la-SHUM kar-TUH
- güzergâhroutegüzergâh — round lips for ü, long â: guu-zer-GAA
- yaya geçidicrosswalkyaya is "on foot, a pedestrian"; geçmek "cross", geçit "crossing". With the linker the t voices to d: geçit → geçidi
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “the city and its places”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “city” in Turkish?
A Persian word. With endings the second syllable's vowel drops: şehir becomes şehre, şehrin. burun ("nose") and ağız ("mouth") behave the same way.
- How do you say “bus stop sign” in Turkish?
durmak is "to stand", durak the place of stopping. With the linker the k goes to ğ again: durak → durağı
- How do you say “pharmacy” in Turkish?
The Persian tail -hane ("house, establishment") wore down to -ane: ecza ("medicines") plus house. hastane ("hospital") and postane ("post office") are built the same way.
- How do you say “crosswalk” in Turkish?
yaya is "on foot, a pedestrian"; geçmek "cross", geçit "crossing". With the linker the t voices to d: geçit → geçidi
- How do you say “bicycle” in Turkish?
French bicyclette. "To ride a bike" is bisiklete binmek — the same binmek as the bus and the plane
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 “city” in Turkish?
«şehir». In a live sentence: “İzmir büyük bir şehir” — Izmir is a big city. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A1, from the set “the city and its places”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
A Persian word. With endings the second syllable's vowel drops: şehir becomes şehre, şehrin. burun ("nose") and ağız ("mouth") behave the same way. 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.