LingoflyBuildings and premises in Turkish
22 words in Turkish on the topic “buildings and premises”: lokanta — canteen, dükkân — shop, istasyon — station, pazar — street market. 22 words can be played from recordings.
22 words on the topic
- lokantacanteenSimple, unpretentious food — a lunch counter or an inexpensive eatery. The pricier kind of place is called restoran.
- dükkânshopA small shop, a street-front store. The chain grocery is market, the mall is AVM.
- istasyonstationBoth a train station and a metro or commuter stop. The grand railway terminal gets the word gar — Haydarpaşa Garı.
- pazarstreet marketThe same word means "Sunday": the neighborhood market was set up on Sundays and the day took its name from it. To speak of the day, people say pazar günü.
- 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
- marketgrocery storeThe corner shop. The big one is süpermarket, and the tiny counter shop is a bakkal.
- hastanehospitalhasta is "a sick person", -hane "a house": "the house of the sick". The same -hane in eczane and postane.
- ofisofficeFrom French office. The boss's room has its own name — müdür odası, with oda, "room".
- üniversiteuniversityTo study at one is üniversitede okumak, with the same okumak as "to read".
- okulschoolA word invented in the 1930s language reform, from okumak, "to read". It is younger than its first pupils.
- postanepost officeposta is the mail as a service, postane the branch office. The same -hane ("house") as in eczane and hastane.
- otogarbus stationAssembled from oto and gar; the sign carries the full şehirlerarası otobüs terminali.
- iskelepierOne word for a pier, a berth and scaffolding. The ferry leaves iskeleden, "from the pier".
- döviz bürosuexchange officeA link: büro becomes bürosu. döviz is "currency", as in döviz kuru.
- hayvanat bahçesizooA link: bahçe becomes bahçesi. Literally "garden of animals"; hayvanat is an old Arabic-style plural of hayvan.
- sirkcircusA French loanword: it refuses harmony and takes its tail by the last vowel — sirk becomes sirke.
- itfaiyefire stationBoth the station and the whole service; the firefighter is itfaiyeci.
- oto yıkamacar washNo possessive tail: yıkama is a verbal noun from yıkamak, and the sign is written the same way.
- seyahat acentesitravel agencyA link: acente becomes acentesi. seyahat is "a journey" — hence seyahat çeki too.
- ana caddemain streetcadde is the wide street, sokak the smaller one. ana stands as a modifier, no tail.
- bilet gişesiticket boothA link: gişe becomes gişesi. gişe is the little window people sit behind; a shop's till is kasa.
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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
lokanta — canteen. Simple, unpretentious food — a lunch counter or an inexpensive eatery. The pricier kind of place is called restoran.
dükkân — shop. A small shop, a street-front store. The chain grocery is market, the mall is AVM.
istasyon — station. Both a train station and a metro or commuter stop. The grand railway terminal gets the word gar — Haydarpaşa Garı.
pazar — street market. The same word means "Sunday": the neighborhood market was set up on Sundays and the day took its name from it. To speak of the day, people say pazar günü.
Test yourself
First by ear — the way you will meet the word in conversation. Click the speaker and pick the translation.
- What is this word?
It is lokanta — canteen.
- What is this word?
It is hastane — hospital.
- What is this word?
It is döviz bürosu — exchange office.
- What is this word?
It is bilet gişesi — ticket booth.
- What is this word?
It is market — grocery store.
Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “canteen” in Turkish?
Simple, unpretentious food — a lunch counter or an inexpensive eatery. The pricier kind of place is called restoran.
- How do you say “hospital” in Turkish?
hasta is "a sick person", -hane "a house": "the house of the sick". The same -hane in eczane and postane.
- How do you say “exchange office” in Turkish?
A link: büro becomes bürosu. döviz is "currency", as in döviz kuru.
- How do you say “ticket booth” in Turkish?
A link: gişe becomes gişesi. gişe is the little window people sit behind; a shop's till is kasa.
- How do you say “grocery store” in Turkish?
The corner shop. The big one is süpermarket, and the tiny counter shop is a bakkal.
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
Where to go and what is done there. These words are read off a sign more often than they are spoken.
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.
- 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.
- Study spread over days wins not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “canteen” in Turkish?
«lokanta». Simple, unpretentious food — a lunch counter or an inexpensive eatery. The pricier kind of place is called restoran. It is one of 22 words in the set “buildings and premises” — the rest are in the table above.
How many words for buildings and places do you need to start?
The whole set on this page is 22 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, 22 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.