You will learn what ğ does inside a word and read words such as dağ and değil correctly. No recording is attached to this lesson, so it teaches through spelling and mouth position.
The idea
The letter ğ never starts a word and has no hard sound of its own. After a back vowel (a ı o u) it lengthens the vowel or leaves only a faint breath: dağ, yağmur. After a front vowel (e i ö ü) it is a light y-glide, with the tongue rising towards the palate: değil, düğün.
| Vowel before ğ | Words |
|---|---|
| a ı o u | dağ, yağmur, ağır, sığır, doğru, buğday |
| e i ö ü | değil, eğer, diğer, öğle, düğün, düğme |
Examples
- Dağda kar yağıyor.It is snowing on the mountain.
- Öğretmen bugün gelmiyor.The teacher is not coming today.
- Bu cevap doğru değil.This answer is not correct.
- Eğer yağmur yağarsa eve gideriz.If it rains, we go home.
- Diğer kapı açık.The other door is open.
- düğünweddingAfter ü, the ğ is a light y-glide, with no g in it.
- sağright (side); also “alive”At the end of a word after a back vowel, ğ is silent: it only holds the a longer.
- yağmurrainBefore a consonant the ğ is not heard as a letter: the a is simply held long.
- değilis notBetween e and i, the ğ is a light y-glide, not a g.
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
Do not say a g: dağ does not end in a g sound, and değil is not de-gil. The written letter matters too, because a plain g is always a real g, as in göz, so dag is simply a misspelling.
Try it yourself
Type the whole word for “mountain”.
Show answer or example answer
dağ
dağ: at the end you hear a long a and no g, which is exactly what ğ writes after a back vowel.
Type the whole word that means “is not”.
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değil
değil: between e and i you hear a light y, not a g, and that glide is written ğ.
Type the whole word for “rain”.
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yağmur
yağmur: the a is held long before m and no g is heard, so the gap takes ğ.
Type the whole word for “teacher”.
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öğretmen
öğretmen: after the front vowel ö you hear a soft glide instead of a g, so the letter is ğ.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Type the whole word for “mountain”.
Type the whole word that means “is not”.
Type the whole word for “rain”.
Type the whole word for “teacher”.
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 dağ, sağ and değil aloud, then write each with ğ. For every word, note which vowel stands before the ğ and decide: long vowel, or y?