You will compare yanıt/cevap (answer), konuk/misafir (guest), neden/sebep (reason) and kara/siyah (black). The aim is to replace a word without accidentally changing the sense or breaking an expression.
The idea
Check the intended sense, the sentence role and the surrounding words before replacing a synonym. Cevap, misafir and sebep are of Arabic origin; siyah is of Persian origin. Their Turkish counterparts in the table are also in use today. Origin alone does not make a word formal or old-fashioned: cevap and yanıt can both name an answer to a question. As a noun, neden can match sebep; as a question word, it means “why”.
| Turkish-origin word | Loanword |
|---|---|
| yanıt | cevap |
| konuk | misafir |
| neden | sebep |
| kara | siyah |
Examples
- Konuklar akşam bahçede toplandı.The guests gathered in the garden in the evening.
- Bu soruya henüz yanıt gelmedi.No answer to this question has arrived yet.
- Bu hatanın nedenini birlikte araştırıyoruz.We are investigating the cause of this mistake together.
- Misafirler için üst kattaki odayı hazırladık.We have prepared the upstairs room for the guests.
- Cevabınızı yarına kadar bekliyoruz.We are waiting for your answer until tomorrow.
- Gecikmenin sebebini toplantıdan sonra öğrendik.We learned the reason for the delay after the meeting.
- Siyah mont kapının yanında asılı.The black jacket is hanging next to the door.
- Kara haberi sabah aldık.We received the sad news in the morning.
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Watch out
Do not replace words mechanically in fixed expressions. Kara and siyah can both name the colour black, but kara haber means distressing news; siyah haber does not preserve that established expression. Learn the phrase together with its meaning.
Try it yourself
Replace cevap with the word meaning “answer”. Bu soruya henüz ___ gelmedi. (yanıt / konuk)
Show answer or example answer
yanıt
yanıt: the sentence needs an answer to a question, so this preserves the sense of cevap. Konuk would refer to a person visiting.
Replace konuklar with a form of misafir, keeping the plural. ___ akşam bahçede toplandı. (misafir)
Show answer or example answer
misafirler
misafirler: the visitors remain plural. The last vowel of misafir is i, so its plural uses -ler, unlike konuklar with -lar.
Ask why the people addressed arrived so early. Choose one word. ___ bu kadar erken geldiniz? (neden / sebep)
Show answer or example answer
neden
neden: the speaker is asking why the listeners arrived early. Sebep names a reason but cannot stand alone as “why” in this question.
Complete the expression for sad news, not a colour. ___ haberi sabah aldık. (kara / siyah)
Show answer or example answer
kara
kara: the speaker received distressing news, not news of a particular colour. The established phrase is kara haber.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Replace cevap with the word meaning “answer”. Bu soruya henüz ___ gelmedi. (yanıt / konuk)
Replace konuklar with a form of misafir, keeping the plural. ___ akşam bahçede toplandı. (misafir)
Ask why the people addressed arrived so early. Choose one word. ___ bu kadar erken geldiniz? (neden / sebep)
Complete the expression for sad news, not a colour. ___ haberi sabah aldık. (kara / siyah)
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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Write two versions of a short invitation, using konuk in one and misafir in the other. Then write one sentence about a black object and one about bad news. Explain which substitution works and which does not.