A1 · beginner
38 of 42 topics in the course so far
| Topic | Forms | In brief |
|---|---|---|
| The alphabet and how it sounds | ||
| Vowel harmony | -lar / -ler, -ı / -i / -u / -ü | |
| When an ending turns voiceless | -da → -ta, -dan → -tan, -dı → -tı | |
| Consonant softening | k → ğ, p → b, t → d, ç → c | |
| The vowel that drops out | ||
| The plural | -lar / -ler | |
| Personal and demonstrative pronouns | ben, sen, o · bu, şu, o | |
| Here and there | burası, şurası, orası | not in the course yet |
| “To be” as an ending | -(y)ım, -sın, -dır… | |
| Questions and “not” | mı, değil | |
| There is, there isn’t | var, yok | |
| Question words | kim, ne, nerede, kaç, hangi… | |
| Where: the locative Where to and where from |
-da / -de -(y)a, -dan |
Where, where to and where from |
| Whom? What? The accusative | -(y)ı | |
| Mine, yours, and whose | -(ı)m, -(s)ı · -(n)ın | |
| Noun pairs: izafet | -(s)ı | |
| Where exactly: words for place | altında, yanında, önünde… | |
| The suffix -ki A1–A2 | -ki, -daki | |
| With whom, and how | ile, -(y)la | |
| Which case a verb takes | ||
| The dictionary form, and “not” | -mak / -mek, -ma | |
| The present tense | -(ı)yor | |
| Telling someone, and “let it…” | gel!, gelin!, -sın | |
| “Let’s” and “let me” A1–A2 | -(y)alım, -(y)ayım | |
| “I want to” and “I love doing” | -mak istemek, -mayı sevmek | |
| The past tense A1–A2 | -dı | |
| The future tense A1–A2 | -(y)acak | |
| The aorist: always and usually | -(a/ı)r | |
| Can, can’t, and “May I?” A1–A2 | -(y)abil, -(y)ama, -(y)abilir miyim? | |
| With and without | -lı, -sız | |
| The suffix -lık | -lık / -lik | not in the course yet |
| Comparing: daha and en | -dan daha, en | |
| Numbers, and first, second, third | bir, iki… birinci | |
| Telling the time | Saat kaç? Saat kaçta? | |
| Days, months and seasons | ||
| When, and how often | dün, bugün, bazen… | |
| And, but, or, because | ve, ama, ya da, çünkü | |
| Before and after A1–A2 | -dan önce, -dan sonra | |
| From… till… A1–A2 | -dan … -(y)a kadar | |
| Since, and for how long A1–A2 | -dan beri, -dır | not in the course yet |
| In my view, in Turkish | -ca, -(y)a göre | |
| Someone, everyone, no one A1–A2 | biri, herkes, kimse | not in the course yet |
A2 · elementary
14 of 20 topics in the course so far
| Topic | Forms | In brief |
|---|---|---|
| The past you heard about | -mış | |
| “Was”, and “was, they say” | -(y)dı, -(y)mış | |
| The -dır of signs and the news | -dır | |
| Need to | -mak lazım, -mak gerek | |
| Must | -malı / -meli | not in the course yet |
| Have to | -mak zorunda | not in the course yet |
| “If”, and “I wish” | -sa / -se, keşke | not in the course yet |
| Doing it with each other | -(ı)ş | not in the course yet |
| Like, and as much as | gibi, kadar | |
| For, and in order to | için, -mak için, -mak üzere | |
| So that someone does | -ması için | |
| Words that come in pairs | hem… hem, ne… ne, ya… ya | |
| So, that’s why | bu yüzden | |
| The participle in -an | -(y)an | not in the course yet |
| An action as a noun | -ma, -mak, -(y)ış | |
| Before doing, after doing | -madan önce, -dıktan sonra | |
| Somebody’s words: diye | diye | |
| One thing, then the next A2–B1 | -(y)ıp | |
| Without doing A2–B1 | -madan, -mayıp | |
| Doubled-up adjectives A2–B1 | kıp-, ter-, sap-… | not in the course yet |
B1 · intermediate
3 of 22 topics in the course so far
| Topic | Forms | In brief |
|---|---|---|
| Adverbs in -ca A2–B1 | -ca / -ce | |
| While doing: -arak and -a -a A2–B1 | -(y)arak, -(y)a -(y)a | not in the course yet |
| Doubled words A2–B1 | not in the course yet | |
| The passive A2–B1 | -ıl, -ın | not in the course yet |
| The participles -dık and -acak A2–B1 | -dık, -(y)acak | not in the course yet |
| Because of, and thanks to A2–B1 | yüzünden, sayesinde | |
| Because: -dığı için and -dan dolayı A2–B1 | -dığı için, -dan dolayı | not in the course yet |
| “Was doing”: the past continuous | -(ı)yordu | not in the course yet |
| “Used to” | -(a/ı)rdı | not in the course yet |
| “Was going to” | -(y)acaktı | not in the course yet |
| When, and while | -(y)ken, -ınca, -dığında | not in the course yet |
| The more you… | -dıkça | not in the course yet |
| Although | -masına rağmen | not in the course yet |
| Saying that: -dığını, -acağını | -dığını, -(y)acağını | not in the course yet |
| “If” in every tense | -ırsa, -dıysa, -acaksa | not in the course yet |
| “If only”, and what might have been | -saydı, keşke | not in the course yet |
| “Should have” | -malıydı | not in the course yet |
| The causative: getting it done | -dır, -t | not in the course yet |
| Myself, and each other | kendi, birbiri | not in the course yet |
| “Rather than” | -maktansa, -mayı tercih etmek | not in the course yet |
| Passing on a request | -masını söylemek | |
| Even, only, however | bile, yalnız, lakin | not in the course yet |
Where the levels come from
A1, A2 and B1 are steps on the CEFR, the European scale of language levels. It describes what you can do in a language: introduce yourself, order a tea, tell someone how your weekend went. It’s the same scale for every language, so it has no grammar list. Syllabuses and coursebooks draw those up, and they don’t always agree.
We checked two sources: the Turkish Ministry of National Education’s curriculum for foreign pupils (“Yabancılara Türkçe Öğretimi Programı”), and Hülya Pilancı and Olcay Saltık’s paper on the grammar of levels A1 and A2 for adults. For A2 and B1 we looked at other topic lists as well. Where one puts a topic at A1 and another at A2, the table says so: “A1–A2”. So it’s a map, not an exam. If a B1 topic comes easily to you early, so much the better.