You may recognise otel or futbol before studying them. Use that familiarity to form a hypothesis, then check the Turkish spelling and the meaning in the sentence. This lesson focuses on recognition, not a long vocabulary list.
The idea
Compare sounds as well as letters: French chauffeur corresponds to şoför, and ascenseur to asansör. In these two words, French -eur corresponds to Turkish -ör. French station appears as istasyon, with an initial i. These are clues in established words, not a formula for creating Turkish words. A borrowed stem can mix back and front vowels: keep both vowels in otel and attach Turkish suffixes to that form.
| Source (fr: French; en: English) | Turkish |
|---|---|
| hôtel (fr) | otel |
| train (fr) | tren |
| chauffeur (fr) | şoför |
| ascenseur (fr) | asansör |
| station (fr) | istasyon |
| football (en) | futbol |
Examples
- Bu otel oldukça sessiz.This hotel is quite quiet.
- Tren bugün çok kalabalık.The train is very crowded today.
- Şoför burada bizi bekliyor.The driver is waiting for us here.
- Yeni asansör henüz çalışmıyor.The new lift is not working yet.
- İstasyon bu sokağın sonunda.The station is at the end of this street.
- Babam her pazar futbol oynuyor.My father plays football every Sunday.
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 carry the source spelling into Turkish: otel has no initial h, and futbol has only one final l. Nor should you add a vowel before every consonant group: tren starts with tr. Familiarity alone does not prove that every meaning of the source word is available in Turkish.
Try it yourself
Choose the standard Turkish spelling for driver: şoför or şöför.
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şoför
şoför: the standard spelling has o in the first syllable and ö in the second. The alternative repeats the rounded front vowel where the written word requires o.
Write the Turkish word for lift corresponding to French ascenseur.
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asansör
asansör: the prompt asks for a lift. The final sound sequence is written ör; keeping the French letters eur would not give the Turkish spelling.
The train stops here. Write the Turkish form corresponding to French station.
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istasyon
istasyon: a place where the train stops is the station. This word needs its initial dotted i; the neighbouring word tren does not need an extra vowel.
Complete with otel: We are staying at this hotel. Write only the missing word.
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otelde
otelde: the missing word says where we are staying. The last vowel of otel is e and its final l is voiced, giving -de; this common noun needs no apostrophe.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Choose the standard Turkish spelling for driver: şoför or şöför.
Write the Turkish word for lift corresponding to French ascenseur.
The train stops here. Write the Turkish form corresponding to French station.
Complete with otel: We are staying at this hotel. Write only the missing word.
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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Compare three pairs in the table and mark the letters that change. Use one Turkish word in a sentence about a location, then follow the linked locative lesson to check its suffix.