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Verbs in Turkish

23 words in Turkish on the topic “verbs”: istiyorum — I want, seviyorum — I love, gitmek — to go, yemek — to eat. 23 words can be played from recordings.

Updated September 1, 2026 · Lingofly

23 words on the topic

  • istiyorum
    I want
    The verb goes last: bir kahve istiyorum is literally "one coffee [I] want".
  • seviyorum
    I love
    Covers both food and people — one word for "like" and "love". Seni seviyorum is "I love you".
  • gitmek
    to go
    The infinitive always ends in -mek or -mak, by vowel harmony.
  • yemek
    to eat
    The same word, unchanged, works as the noun "food, dish": yemek yemek is "to eat food", and that is not a typo.
  • içmek
    to drink
    Turkish "drinks" a cigarette too: sigara içmek is to smoke. Soup is often "drunk" as well — çorba içmek, though çorba yemek is also said.
  • okumak
    to read
    The same word means "to study somewhere": üniversitede okuyorum is "I study at university", literally "I read".
  • konuşmak
    to speak
    The mutual tail -ş lives inside it: konuşmak is to talk with each other, to converse. To say something is söylemek; to speak a language is Türkçe konuşmak.
  • çalışmak
    to work
    Also "to study, to prepare": sınava çalışıyorum is "I am preparing for the exam". Said of machines too — çalışmıyor, "it is not working".
  • yaşamak
    to live
    To live in the sense of exist, and to live somewhere. But "to reside at an address" a Turk says with oturmak, literally "to sit": burada oturuyorum.
  • var
    there is
    A whole verb "to be present" in three letters. It goes at the end: su var mı? is "is there water?". With a possessive it means "to have": param var — "I have money".
  • yok
    there is not
    The partner of var: "not present". No separate negation needed — it is a word of its own, and it doubles as the short "no" in a reply.
  • öğrenmek
    to learn
    To learn and to find out at once: Türkçe öğreniyorum is "I am learning Turkish", yeni öğrendim is "I just found out". To teach someone is öğretmek.
  • seçmek
    to choose
    The root of seçim, 'elections'. The word ends in -mek because the last vowel of the root is e.
  • ders çalışmak
    to study
    çalışmak ("to work") plus ders: "to work on lessons" — how Turkish says "to study".
  • ezberlemek
    to memorize
    ezber is "learned by heart": ezbere biliyorum is "I know it by heart". Plain "to remember" is hatırlamak.
  • görmek
    to see
    ö with rounded lips, as in German schön: gur-MEK
  • duymak
    to hear
    One word for "hear" and "feel": acı duymak is "to feel pain". saygı duymak ("to respect") is assembled the same way.
  • uyumak
    to sleep
    a y sits between the two u's: u-yu-MAK
  • taşımak
    to carry
    ş is "sh", both ı dotless: ta-shuh-MAK
  • koymak
    to put
    Turkish does not split "put", "place" and "set" — all koymak. What matters is that the spot takes the directional ending -a/-e: masaya koy.
  • kırmak
    to break
    both ı dotless: kuhr-MAK
  • inşa etmek
    to build
    ş is "sh": in-SHAH et-MEK
  • sıcak tutmak
    to keep warm
    ı dotless, c as "j" in "jam": suh-JAK tut-MAK

Download the word set (CSV) · Open the printable sheet

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How it sounds in a sentence

A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.

What is worth knowing about these words

istiyorum — I want. The verb goes last: bir kahve istiyorum is literally "one coffee [I] want".

seviyorum — I love. Covers both food and people — one word for "like" and "love". Seni seviyorum is "I love you".

gitmek — to go. The infinitive always ends in -mek or -mak, by vowel harmony.

yemek — to eat. The same word, unchanged, works as the noun "food, dish": yemek yemek is "to eat food", and that is not a typo.

Test yourself

First by ear — the way you will meet the word in conversation. Click the speaker and pick the translation.

  1. What is this word?

  2. What is this word?

  3. What is this word?

  4. What is this word?

  5. What is this word?

Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.

  1. How do you say “I want” in Turkish?

  2. How do you say “to work” in Turkish?

  3. How do you say “to memorize” in Turkish?

  4. How do you say “to build” in Turkish?

  5. How do you say “to read” in Turkish?

How to learn the set instead of just reading it

I want, I can, I am going, I know. The verb holds a sentence together: a few of the most frequent ones cover more everyday talk than a long list of nouns.

A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.

Frequently asked

How do you say “I want” in Turkish?

«istiyorum». The verb goes last: bir kahve istiyorum is literally "one coffee [I] want". It is one of 23 words in the set “verbs” — the rest are in the table above.

How many verbs do you need to start?

The whole set on this page is 23 words, but there is no need to start with all of it: the words you will need in the next few days are enough. Take them a few at a time — five to seven new ones per session.

Is there audio?

Yes, 23 words on this page can be played — click the speaker next to the word. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.

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