You will turn adjectives and nouns into abstract nouns such as güzellik (beauty) and doktorluk (the profession of doctor), and choose the right one of four shapes.
The idea
Add -lik, -lık, -luk or -lük to an adjective or a noun to name a quality, a state or a profession: güzel gives güzellik (beauty), arkadaş gives arkadaşlık (friendship), doktor gives doktorluk (the profession of doctor). The vowel follows the last vowel of the word: e i give -lik, a ı give -lık, o u give -luk, ö ü give -lük. The l never changes, even after k, t or p. Before a suffix that starts with a vowel, the final k softens to ğ: güzelliği, doktorluğu.
| Last vowel | Suffix | Example | With a vowel ending |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | -lık | sağlık | sağlığı |
| ı | -lık | yalnızlık | yalnızlığı |
| o | -luk | doktorluk | doktorluğu |
| u | -luk | dostluk | dostluğu |
| e | -lik | güzellik | güzelliği |
| i | -lik | iyilik | iyiliği |
| ö | -lük | gözlük | gözlüğü |
| ü | -lük | kötülük | kötülüğü |
Examples
- Çocukluğum köyde geçti.My childhood was spent in the village.
- Bu şehrin güzelliğini çok seviyorum.I love the beauty of this city very much.The final k of güzellik softens to ğ before the vowel of the accusative ending: güzelliği.
- Ablam öğretmenlikten emekli oldu.My older sister retired from teaching.Öğretmen is the teacher, the person; öğretmenlik is the profession of being one. The ending turns a person into a job.
- güzelliğimizour beautygüzelliğ-lik / -lık / -luk / -lük: quality, state, jobimiz-imiz / -ımız / -umuz / -ümüz: our
- doktorluğuhis or her work as a doctordoktorluğ-lik / -lık / -luk / -lük: quality, state, jobu-i / -si: his, her, its
- arkadaşlıklarfriendshipsarkadaşlık-lik / -lık / -luk / -lük: quality, state, joblar-ler / -lar: the plural suffix
- öğretmenliktenfrom the teaching professionöğretmenlik-lik / -lık / -luk / -lük: quality, state, jobten-den / -dan / -ten / -tan: from, out of
- çocukluğumdain my childhoodçocukluğ-lik / -lık / -luk / -lük: quality, state, jobum-im / -ım / -um / -üm / -m: myda-de / -da / -te / -ta: in, at, on
- Arkadaşlık zaman ister.Friendship takes time.
- Doktorluk zor bir meslek.Being a doctor is a hard profession.
- Komşumuzun iyiliği çok büyüktü.Our neighbour's kindness was very great.
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Watch out
A word with -lik names the quality or the job, not the person: a doctor is a doktor, and doktorluk is the profession. Babam doktorluk is wrong; say Babam doktor. Remember the softening too: güzellikı is wrong, the word is güzelliği.
Try it yourself
Add the suffix to güzel (beautiful) to name the quality: beauty.
Show answer or example answer
güzellik
güzellik: the last vowel of güzel is e, a front vowel, so the ending is -lik; the l does not change.
Add the suffix to doktor (doctor) to name the profession: being a doctor.
Show answer or example answer
doktorluk
doktorluk: the last vowel is o, back and rounded, so the ending is -luk; the word names the profession, not the person.
Add the suffix to yalnız (alone) to name the state: loneliness.
Show answer or example answer
yalnızlık
yalnızlık: the last vowel ı is back and unrounded, so the ending is -lık.
Add the possessive ending -i to güzellik: his or her beauty.
Show answer or example answer
güzelliği
güzelliği: the possessive -i starts with a vowel, so the final k of güzellik softens to ğ.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Add the suffix to güzel (beautiful) to name the quality: beauty.
Add the suffix to doktor (doctor) to name the profession: being a doctor.
Add the suffix to yalnız (alone) to name the state: loneliness.
Add the possessive ending -i to güzellik: his or her beauty.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the parts in order to build this word: our beauty
Tap the parts in order to build this word: his or her work as a doctor
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Take five adjectives or nouns you know, such as iyi, kötü, dost, yalnız and kardeş, and write the abstract noun for each. Underline the last vowel before you choose the shape. Then write one sentence in which one of them takes a possessive ending, and check the k.