simit
“simit” — simit in Turkish. Noun, level A1, topic — food and drink. The grape molasses gives the color and a hint of sweetness, the sesame gives all the smell. In a live sentence: “Bir simit alayım” — I will take one simit. You can hear how it sounds right here. One of 186 words in the set “food and drink” in the Turkish course.
In short
| Written in Turkish | simit |
| Translation | simit |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
- simitsimit
What it is
A ring of braided dough dipped in grape molasses, rolled in sesame and baked until crisp. Sold from red carts on every corner. Cheaper than anything else, hence breakfast on the run.
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
The grape molasses gives the color and a hint of sweetness, the sesame gives all the smell.
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.
- Bir simit alayımI will take one simit
Nearby words: food and drink
A menu, a market, a shop sign, the question “what is this?”. Food is the most frequent subject of the first weeks and the safest excuse to start talking.
- kahvecoffeeThe Turkish word from which both "coffee" and "café" were brewed across the languages of Europe.
- çayteaDrunk from a tulip-shaped glass and offered everywhere, shops included.
- suwaterThe shortest word in the course and one of the few irregulars: "my water" is suyum.
- ekmekbreadSpelled and sounded exactly like the verb ekmek, "to sow". The collision is an accident — but the month ekim (October, sowing time) really does come from that verb.
- peynircheeseThe white brined cheese will be on the breakfast table without fail.
- etmeatTwo words in one spelling: et is "meat", but also the imperative of etmek ("to do") — dikkat et, "pay attention". Only the place in the sentence tells you which.
- balıkfishı dotless. The root of balıkçı — both "fisherman" and "fish shop": the tail -çı turns a thing into the person busy with it.
- salatasaladAn Italian loanword. The plain chopped-vegetable kind is çoban salatası — "shepherd's salad": tomato, cucumber, onion.
- çorbasoupLentil mercimek çorbası is served everywhere and at any hour.
- tuzsaltThe root of tuzlu ("salty") — the tail -lu "with something" — and tuzsuz ("salt-free") — the tail -suz "without". The -lı/-sız pair works across the whole language.
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “food and drink”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “simit” in Turkish?
The grape molasses gives the color and a hint of sweetness, the sesame gives all the smell.
- How do you say “fish” in Turkish?
ı dotless. The root of balıkçı — both "fisherman" and "fish shop": the tail -çı turns a thing into the person busy with it.
- How do you say “water” in Turkish?
The shortest word in the course and one of the few irregulars: "my water" is suyum.
- How do you say “salt” in Turkish?
The root of tuzlu ("salty") — the tail -lu "with something" — and tuzsuz ("salt-free") — the tail -suz "without". The -lı/-sız pair works across the whole language.
- How do you say “meat” in Turkish?
Two words in one spelling: et is "meat", but also the imperative of etmek ("to do") — dikkat et, "pay attention". Only the place in the sentence tells you which.
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 “simit” in Turkish?
«simit». In a live sentence: “Bir simit alayım” — I will take one simit. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A1, from the set “food and drink”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
The grape molasses gives the color and a hint of sweetness, the sesame gives all the smell. 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.