KnowledgeHive

You’ve started learning Turkish? Süper! So you’ve probably already learned a few phrases for “hello” and “goodbye,” as well as the most important words like “thank you” and “please.” But what about Turkish verbs? Well, you might be wondering which ones to start with.

We’ve put together a guide to the 20 most common verbs in Turkish for you, together with their conjugation in the present tense and useful examples. But first, we have a handy infographic for the first five most common Turkish verbs.

The 20 Most Common Turkish Verbs

1. yapmak — to make, to do

Example: Ne yapıyorsun? (“What are you doing?”)

Heads up! There’s another verb that means “to make” or “to do”: etmek. It’s used, for example, in the expression, Teşekkür ederim (“Thank you,” lit. “I make thank”).

2. gitmek — to go

Example: Türkiye’ye gidiyoruz. (“We’re going to Turkey.”)

Heads up! Like with etmek, the “t” in gitmek is softened to a “d” when the present tense ending -İyor is added.

3. gelmek — to come

Example: Sen de gel! (“Come with!”)

Hint: If you leave off the ending -mek/-mak in the infinitive, you get the singular imperative form, e.g. Gel! (“Come!”) or Git! (“Go!”).

4. almak — to take, to buy, to get

Example: Ekmek de al! (“Buy bread too!”)

Hint: When you want to be polite and order something, just remember the form alabilir miyim (“could I get”). You can add it to the end of your request, e.g. Bir bira alabilir miyim lütfen? (“Could I get a beer, please?”)

5. istemek — to want

Example: Ben döner istiyorum. Sen ne istiyorsun? (“I want a döner. What do you want?”)

Heads up! Personal pronouns (ben, sen, etc.) are only used when you want to emphasize them. Otherwise, leave them out, or it won’t sound natural.

6. çalışmak — to work

Example: Bugün çalışmıyorum. (“I’m not working today.”)

Did you notice that the verb is negated here? The “m” from the negation “me/ma” is added to the verb stem, and after that comes the present tense ending.

7. bilmek — to know, to be able to

Example: Bilmiyorum. (“I don’t know.”)

8. konuşmak — to speak

Example: Kimle konuşuyorsun? (“Who are you talking to?”)

9. okumak — to read, to study, to go to school

Example: Gazete okuyor. (“He/she is reading the newspaper.”)

10. sevmek — to like, to love

Example: Seni seviyorum. (“I love you.”)

11. demek — to say, to mean

Example: Bu ne demek? (“What does that mean?”)

12. düşünmek — to think, to consider

Example: Çok düşünüyorsun. (“You think too much.”)

13. yemek — to eat

Example: Ne yiyoruz? (“What are we eating?”)

14. içmek — to drink

Example: Çay içiyoruz. (“We’re drinking tea.”)

15. başlamak — to begin

Example: Film saat kaçta başlıyor? (“What time does the movie start?”)

16. olmak — to be, to become, to happen

Example 1: Ne oluyor? (“What’s happening here?”)

Example 2: Ne oldu? (“What happened?”)

Heads up! In the second example, the verb olmak is in the past tense. You should remember this phrase if you’re a curious person.

17. söylemek — to say, to sing

Example: Bu şarkıyı kim söylüyor? (“Who sings this song?”)

18. yatmak — to lie down, to go to bed

Example: Ben yatıyorum, iyi geceler! (“I’m going to bed, goodnight!”)

19. oturmak — to sit, to live

Example: Nerede oturuyorsunuz? (“Where do you (pl.) live?”)

20. sormak — to ask

Example: Çok soru soruyorsun! (“You ask too many questions!”)