You will set your lips and tongue for ö and ü and hear how they differ from o and u. No recording is attached to this lesson, so it teaches through spelling and mouth position.
The idea
ö is an e said with rounded lips, and ü is an i said with rounded lips. Say e, keep your tongue exactly there and push your lips forward as for o: that is ö. Start from i with the lips of u and you get ü. The tongue stays at the front; only the lips change.
| Letter | Tongue as for | Lips as for | Word | Word with o or u |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ö | e | o | kör | kor |
| ü | i | u | üç | uç |
| ö | e | o | göl | gol |
| ü | i | u | tür | tur |
| ö | e | o | köy | koy |
Examples
- Köyde üç göl var.There are three lakes in the village.
- Dün gül aldım.I bought a rose yesterday.
- Ördek gölde yüzüyor.The duck is swimming in the lake.
- üçthreeSay i, keep the tongue still and round the lips: ü. The tongue does not move back, as it would for u.
- uçtip, end
- körblind
- korember, glowing coal
Read-aloud uses a synthetic Turkish voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.
No Turkish device voice is available. You can still read the text.
Watch out
A plain o or u makes another word: kör (blind) is not kor (ember), and üç (three) is not uç (tip). Do not slide into a y before it either, as in English “you”: ü is one steady sound.
Try it yourself
Fill in the missing vowel to write the word for “blind”.
Show answer or example answer
kör
kör: the tongue is in the e position and the lips are rounded, which is ö; with o the word would be kor, an ember.
Fill in the missing vowel to write the word for “three”.
Show answer or example answer
üç
üç: the tongue is where it is for i and the lips are rounded, which is ü; with a back u you get uç, a tip.
Fill in the missing vowel to write the word for “lake”.
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göl
göl: the word for lake has a front, rounded ö; gol with a plain o is a goal in football.
Fill in the missing vowel to write the word for “rose”.
Show answer or example answer
gül
gül: a rose has ü, the tongue of i with the lips of u; the dots belong to the letter, and without them you would write u, a different letter.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Fill in the missing vowel to write the word for “blind”.
Fill in the missing vowel to write the word for “three”.
Fill in the missing vowel to write the word for “lake”.
Fill in the missing vowel to write the word for “rose”.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Keep your progress
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Say kör, kor, üç and uç aloud one after another, watching your lips in a mirror, and note which pair makes your tongue pull back.