sıfır
“sıfır” — zero in Turkish. Numeral, level A1, topic — basic words. both ı dotless and hushed: SUH-fuh. In a live sentence: “Sıcaklık sıfırın altına düştü” — The temperature fell below zero. You can hear how it sounds right here. One of 314 words in the set “basic words” in the Turkish course.
In short
| Written in Turkish | sıfır |
| Translation | zero |
| Part of speech | numeral |
| Level | A1 |
- sıfırzero
How to pronounce it
both ı dotless and hushed: SUH-fuh
Why it looks that way
Arabic — and the ancestor of the English word "cipher" too. In a match score it is iki sıfır, "two zero"; phone numbers are dictated digit by digit.
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.
- Sıcaklık sıfırın altına düştüThe temperature fell below zero
Nearby words: basic words
Yes, no, good, bad, very. The small change of a language — and no sentence assembles without it.
- evetyesPlain agreement, no fine print. Mind the gesture that can replace it: head tipped back with a quick tongue click means "no", even though from afar it looks like a nod.
- hayırnoTurks often sweeten a refusal with a tongue click and a small upward nod — that little package is a "no" too.
- iyiyimI am fine"iyi" ("good") plus "-yim" ("I"): literally "I am good". The verb "to be" is just an ending here.
- iyigoodOne word serves as adjective and adverb alike: iyi bir kitap is "a good book", iyi uyudum is "I slept well". English needs two words where Turkish makes do with one.
- kötübadö — pucker your lips as for "oo" and say "e" as in "bed": kö-tü
- çok iyivery well"çok" means "very" and always stands right before the word it boosts, just like English "very".
- veandAn Arabic conjunction, often replaced in live speech by the tail -le/-la: annemle babam is "mom and dad". In a list ve appears only before the last item.
- amabutThe most common "but". The bookish one is fakat; the conversational booster is ama yani. It opens the second clause, as in English.
- yarımhalfdotless ı: ya-RUHM
- Bana gerek yokI do not need itLiterally "I have no need" — with the familiar yok. The polite refusal for a pushy seller.
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “basic words”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “zero” in Turkish?
Arabic — and the ancestor of the English word "cipher" too. In a match score it is iki sıfır, "two zero"; phone numbers are dictated digit by digit.
- How do you say “and” in Turkish?
An Arabic conjunction, often replaced in live speech by the tail -le/-la: annemle babam is "mom and dad". In a list ve appears only before the last item.
- How do you say “I am fine” in Turkish?
"iyi" ("good") plus "-yim" ("I"): literally "I am good". The verb "to be" is just an ending here.
- How do you say “I do not need it” in Turkish?
Literally "I have no need" — with the familiar yok. The polite refusal for a pushy seller.
- How do you say “very well” in Turkish?
"çok" means "very" and always stands right before the word it boosts, just like English "very".
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 “zero” in Turkish?
«sıfır». both ı dotless and hushed: SUH-fuh. In a live sentence: “Sıcaklık sıfırın altına düştü” — The temperature fell below zero. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Numeral, level A1, from the set “basic words”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Arabic — and the ancestor of the English word "cipher" too. In a match score it is iki sıfır, "two zero"; phone numbers are dictated digit by digit. 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.