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Practicality vs. Theory – Useful Turkish Sentence Patterns

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Grammar is definitely a must when you want to learn a language properly. However, it takes some time to have good command of this crucial factor. Unfortunately, life doesn’t wait for anyone. You might be in a foreign country now, and need to ask for directions or the time—you might even need to know where the closest hospital is. 

Theory doesn’t help much when you need to communicate effectively. This is where practicality kicks in. And by “practicality,” I mean certain patterns you can use in daily conversations.

In this article, we’ll show you ten different Turkish sentence patterns. We’ll start with an easy Turkish sentence pattern and move on to more complex ones. Most of the sentences that you’ll hear, write, or speak will follow these basic sentence patterns. Until you have a good grasp of grammar, the examples provided here will help you understand the basic Turkish sentence structure and sentence patterns.

Sentence Patterns

They’ll not only help you express yourself better and fulfill your needs more quickly in daily life, but they’ll also enable you to speak Turkish sooner and serve as a foundation on which you can build your grammar knowledge.

Let’s get started with some Turkish sentence examples.

Log in to Download Your Free Cheat Sheet - Beginner Vocabulary in Turkish Table of Contents
  1. Sentences Linking Two Nouns
  2. Describing Things
  3. Possession and Ownership
  4. Expressing “Want”
  5. Expressing Needs
  6. Expressing Obligations
  7. Likes and Dislikes
  8. How to Request Something
  9. Asking for Permission
  10. Question Patterns
  11. More Practice with TurkishClass101.com

1. Sentences Linking Two Nouns

Sentence Patterns

This is an easy Turkish sentence pattern, where two nouns are linked to each other.

 TurkishEnglish
1Dan benim erkek arkadaşım(dır).“Dan is my boyfriend.”
2Mary İngilizce öğretmeni(dir).“Mary is an English teacher.”
3Şu büyük ev arkadaşımın eviydi.“That big house was my friend’s house.”
4Bu kitap babamın doğum günü hediyesiydi.“This book was my father’s birthday gift.”
5Ablamın en sevdiği oyuncağı bu bebek(tir).“My elder sister’s favorite toy is this doll.”

Please note that the third person singular pronoun doesn’t have to take the “to be” suffix; you can leave it blank. That’s why I’ve put the suffix in parentheses. You’ll encounter some more of these throughout the article.

Let’s see how you can make variations of this Turkish sentence pattern:

In all of the sentences, you can replace the subject with anything you want. For example: annem (“my mother”); bu araba (“this car”); şu kısa boylu çocuk (“that short child”).

1. In this example, erkek arkadaşım (“my boyfriend”) can be replaced with: öğretmenim (“my teacher”); babam (“my father”); ev arkadaşım (“my roommate”).

2. In the second example, İngilizce öğretmeni(dir) can be replaced with any other occupation: mühendistir (“is an engineer”); teknisyendir (“is a technician”); öğrencidir (“is a student”).

2. Describing Things

Sentence Components

Describing people, places, things, and so on, is something we do a lot in our daily lives. There’s also an easy Turkish sentence pattern you can use to do this. Here are some examples of how to form Turkish sentences using adjectives.

1- People

Would you like to tell others what you think about the people in your life? Here you are: below are some Turkish sentence patterns you can use:

 TurkishEnglish
1Kızım çok güzel(dir).“My daughter is very pretty.”
2Mark çok akıllı(dır).“Mark is very smart.”
3Rock Hudson çok yakışıklıy.“Rock Hudson was very handsome.”
4Sinemada gördüğümüz çift gerçekten çok mutlu(dur).“The couple we saw at the cinema is really very happy.”
5Bana aldığın hediye benim için çok değerli.“The present you bought me is very precious to me.”
One Girl Pulling Another Girl’s Hair

You can replace the subject with any name or noun, and then you can replace the adjective accordingly.

2- Places

How about describing places in Turkish? You can use the following Turkish sentence patterns when you need to talk to someone about a certain place:

 TurkishEnglish
1Bu ev çok büyük(tür).“This house is very big.”
2Benim odam çok karanlık(tır).“My room is very dark.”
3Bu cadde çok kalabalık(tır).“This street is very crowded.”
4Bahçemiz muhteşemdi.“Our garden was gorgeous.”
5Sana gösterdiğim bina çok eski(dir).“The building I showed you is old.”

3- Things

We use so many different adjectives when talking about objects, food, feelings, etc. These are some examples of the Turkish sentence construction you can use to describe things:

 TurkishEnglish
1Bu kolye çok uzun.“This necklace is very long.”
2Bu koltuk hiç rahat değil(dir).“This armchair is not comfortable at all.”
3Sınav gerçekten zordu.“The exam was really hard.”
4Tatlı çok lezzetliydi.“The dessert was delicious.”
5Dün aldığın gömlek çok şık.“The shirt you bought yesterday is very trendy.”

3. Possession and Ownership

We frequently talk about what we have or what we own. Here are some examples of the Turkish language sentence structures for talking about possession and ownership:

 TurkishEnglish
1Büyük bir ailem var.“I have a big family.”
2Bir evim ve iki arabam vardı.“I had a house and two cars.” (“I owned a house and two cars.”)
3Hiç vaktim yok.“I don’t have any time.”
4Senin beğendiğin o kitap bende yok.“I don’t have that book you liked.”
5Alışveriş merkezine yürüme mesafesinde bir ofisim var.“I have an office within walking distance of the shopping center.”

4. Expressing “Want”

In our daily lives, we often talk about the things we want or the activities we want to do. Following are some Turkish sentence patterns that will help you express what you want (and what you don’t want):

 TurkishEnglish
1Bir fincan kahve istiyorum.“I want a cup of coffee.”
2Bir soru sormak istiyorum.“I want to ask a question.”
3Şu adrese gitmek istiyorum.“I want to go to this address.”
4Seninle konuşmak istemiyorum.“I don’t want to talk to you.”
5Deniz kenarında bir ev istiyorum.“I want to have a house by the seaside.”
6En yakın hastanenin nerede olduğunu öğrenmek istiyorum.“I want to know where the closest hospital is.”
A Man Trying to Decide between an Apple or Cake

Let’s see how you can make variations of this Turkish sentence pattern:

1. In this example, bir fincan kahve (“a cup of coffee”) can be replaced with: bir dilim ekmek (“a slice of bread”); bir şişe şarap (“a bottle of wine”); bir bardak süt (“a glass of milk”).

2. – 5. The object is placed at the beginning, followed by the infinitive form of the verb that describes the action you want to do, and then the conjugated form of the verb istemek (“to want”).

5. Expressing Needs

Knowing how to express your needs in a foreign language is very important, especially in emergencies.

Here are five Turkish sentence patterns about needs that will be useful in your daily conversations:

 TurkishEnglish
1Bir kaleme ihtiyacım var.I need a pen.”
2Bir eczane bulmam lazım.“I need to find a pharmacy.”
3Pratik yapmam gerek.I need to practice.”
4Burada olmana gerek yok.“You don’t need to be here.”
5Ayılmak için bir fincan kahveye ihtiyacım var.I need a cup of coffee to get sober.”

6. Expressing Obligations

There are many times when we need to tell people what we have to do. Here are some useful Turkish sentences for beginners:

 TurkishEnglish
1İşe gitmeliyim.I must go to work.”
2Tuvaleti kullanmak zorundayım.I have to use the restroom.”
3Hemen bir doktor bulmalıyım.I must find a doctor immediately.”
4Sigara içmemelisin.“You mustn’t smoke.”
5Toplantının sonuna dek kalmak zorunda değilsin.You don’t have to stay until the end of the meeting.”

7. Likes and Dislikes

There are so many things (or people) that we like or dislike in life. One way or the other, we frequently talk about these likes and dislikes. Now, let’s see which Turkish sentence patterns can help us express these two feelings.

A Girl Staring in Horror at a Piece of Broccoli
 TurkishEnglish
1Köpekleri çok severim.I like dogs a lot.”
2Seni beğeniyorum.I like you.”
3Türkçe öğrenmeyi seviyorum.I like learning Turkish.”
4Futbol oynamayı sevmiyorum.I don’t like playing soccer.”
5Annemin aldığı elbiseyi beğenmedim.I didn’t like the dress my mother bought.”

8. How to Request Something

Another set of Turkish phrases you need to know are those for making requests. These can take the form of sentences or questions.

1- In sentence form

The following example sentences will show you how to word your requests:

 TurkishEnglish
1Lütfen otur.“Please sit down.”
2Lütfen beni dinle.“Please listen to me.”
3Soruma cevap ver lütfen.“Answer my question, please.”
4Lütfen toplantıya geç kalma.“Please don’t be late to the meeting.”
5Senden sessiz olmanı rica ediyorum.“I’m requesting you to be quiet.”

2- As a question

I’m sure these example sentences will give you an idea of how to ask people what you want them to do (or not do).

 TurkishEnglish
1Ayağa kalkabilir misin lütfen?“Can you stand up, please?”
2Işıkları söndürebilir misin lütfen?“Can you turn off the lights, please?”
3Ödevini yapabilir misin lütfen?“Can you please do your homework?”
4Pencereyi kapatabilir misin lütfen?“Can you close the window please?”
5Rica etsem kapıyı açabilir misin lütfen?“May I request you to open the door, please?”

9. Asking for Permission

Here’s how to make Turkish sentences for asking permission:

 TurkishEnglish
1İçeri girebilir miyim?“May I come in?”
2Bir bardak su alabilir miyim lütfen?“May I get a glass of water, please?”
3Telefon numaranı alabilir miyim?“May I get your phone number?”
4Toplantıya katılabilir miyim?“May I join the meeting?”
5Bir soru sorabilir miyim?“May I ask a question?”

10. Question Patterns

Have you ever thought about how many questions you ask a day? I’m pretty sure you haven’t. I haven’t either, but I’m just guessing and the answer is probably “many.” There are “what,” “when,” “where,” “how,” “why,” and other types of questions. In this section, we’ll show you examples of how to form the most commonly used questions.

A Woman Trying to Understand What a Man Is Saying

1- What?

Below are some example questions:

 TurkishEnglish
1Bu nedir?“What is this?”
2Adın ne?“What is your name?”
3Ne oldu?“What happened?”
4Ne dedin?“What did you say?”
5Dün Türk restoranında sipariş ettiğin içecek neydi?“What was the drink you ordered at the Turkish restaurant yesterday?”

2- What Time? / When?

Here are some patterns you can use: 

 TurkishEnglish
1Saat kaç?“What time is it?”
2Saat kaçta geleceksin?“At what time will you come?”
3Toplantı ne zaman?“When is the meeting?”
4Uçak ne zaman kalkacak?“When will the plane take off?”
5Ne zaman gideceksin?“When will you go?”

3- Where?

Below are some examples:

 TurkishEnglish
1Nerelisin?“Where are you from?”
2Tuvalet nerede?“Where is the restroom?”
3Postane nerede?“Where is the post office?”
4Dün işten sonra nereye gittin?“Where did you go after work yesterday?”
5Nerede yemek yemek istersin?“Where would you like to eat?”

4- Other Questions

Here are some more examples for other types of questions: 

 TurkishEnglish
1Havaalanına nasıl gidebilirim?“How can I go to the airport?”
2Bu halı kaç para?“How much is this carpet?”
3Neden sordunuz?“Why did you ask?”
4Kaç tane bilet alacaksın?“How many tickets will you buy?”
5Otobüsten hangi durakta inmeliyim?“At which stop should I get off of the bus?”

11. More Practice with TurkishClass101.com

How does it feel to know at least ten Turkish sentence patterns? Do you think you’ll be able to express your needs, likes, and dislikes better? Will you be able to ask the most pressing questions? I’m sure you’ll do better than you’ve done in the past!

How about doing even better than today? All you need to do is visit TurkishClass101.com and utilize all of our free resources, including our dictionary!

You can also download the app for free and use it wherever you are.

Don’t forget that there’s also MyTeacher, the premium TurkishClass101 service that you can use to practice the Turkish sentence structure and sentence patterns with a private teacher.

Please don’t neglect to share your experience with us about the services offered at TurkishClass101.com!

Happy learning!

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