Once you advance past the most basic Turkish phrases and concepts, you are ready to start quizzing yourself on grammar and Turkish vocabulary for beginners. I designed the following Turkish language quiz games to cover tons of material in the A1-A2 levels, and I’m confident it will help you learn Turkish more quickly. The vocabulary test shuffles between 400 plus Turkish beginner words, and the grammar tests serve as a good test to see how developed your knowledge of beginner Turkish grammar is.
What Level Is Your Turkish?
The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) categorizes language proficiency into six levels: A1 (beginner), A2 (elementary), B1 (intermediate), B2 (upper intermediate), C1 (advanced), and C2 (proficient). Each level represents a step up in ability, from basic communication to near-native fluency.
Therefore, these Turkish quizes for beginners cover the A1 and A2 levels, which assumes you have familiarity with the following grammar concepts in Turkish, including how they should be altered to follow vowel harmony rules:
| CEFR Level | Grammar Concepts |
|---|---|
| A1 | Alphabet & Sounds, Vowel Harmony, Locative Case (-da), There is/are (var/yok), Pronoun Suffixes, Present Continuous Tense (-iyor), Comitative/Instrumental Case (-la / ile), Ablative & Dative Case (-dan & -a), Accusative Case (i), Possessives, Past Tense (-di), Future Tense (-acak), Imperative |
| A2 | All A1 concepts + Adjectives, Past continuous (-iyordu), Longer possessives, Present simple (-ar -ir -r), Before & After + Verb, Obligation (malı/meli), Necessity (lazım & gerek), Can & Can’t (-abil), Past Tense (-miş), Reported Speech, Optative |
Beginner Vocabulary Turkish Quiz Game: Test Your Level
The following free Turkish quiz, although only ten questions, draw from a beginner vocabulary list of almost four hundred common beginner words. After working through the quiz, hit the restart button on the bottom to generate a new random selection of vocabulary words to test yourself.
Loop the test many times to improve your retention and speed!
Pro Tip: Are you taking a trip to Turkey (Türkiye) soon? If so, be sure to brush up on these Turkish words and phrases for tourists!
Basic Turkish Grammar Quiz: A1 Level
This basic Turkish quiz tests your beginner grammar knowledge, assuming you already have a solid grasp on basics like the alphabet. I purposefully made many of the answers subtle so that you can make sure you are implementing the correct grammar concepts related to vowel harmony, buffer letters, suffixes, consonant mutation, etc. So, if an answer looks correct, double check all of the choices to make sure it’s the right one!
If you find yourself getting many of the questions wrong, open up a new tab with our ultimate Turkish grammar guide and review the rules that you might be forgetting. Anyone at an A1 level should be able to get all or most of these correct.
Pro Tip: Besides understanding grammar concepts, be sure to see them used in the context of dialogues/conversations!
Question 1: I am drinking water.
Explanation:
- Subtle mistake (a): “Ben su içiyor” omits the first-person suffix (-um), making it grammatically incomplete.
- Correct (b): “Ben su içiyorum” uses the present continuous tense (-Iyor) with the correct first-person to-be suffix (-um) and vowel harmony.
- Incorrect (c): “Ben su içtim” uses the past tense (-di), incorrect for a present action.
- Incorrect (d): “Ben su içersin” uses the second-person imperative suffix (-sin), incorrect for “I.”
Question 2: The dog is in the garden.
Explanation:
- Subtle mistake (a): “Köpek bahçada” violates vowel harmony; “bahçe” takes -de, not -da.
- Incorrect (b): “Köpek bahçeyi” uses the accusative case (-i), implying a direct object, which is incorrect.
- Correct (c): “Köpek bahçede” uses the locative case (-da) correctly, with -de matching the vowel harmony of “bahçe” (e).
- Incorrect (d): “Köpek bahçe” lacks the locative suffix, making it incomplete.
Question 3: This is my house.
Explanation:
- Correct (a): “Bu benim evim” uses the possessive pronoun (benim) and possessive suffix (-im) correctly for “my house.”
- Subtle mistake (b): “Bu benim ev” omits the possessive suffix (-im), making it incomplete.
- Incorrect (c): “Bu ben evim” uses the wrong pronoun form (ben instead of benim), which is ungrammatical.
- Incorrect (d): “Bu evim benim” reverses the word order, which is unnatural and incorrect.
Question 4: I went to the market.
Explanation:
- Subtle mistake (a): “Pazara gitim” omits a consonant in the past tense suffix (-tim), violating vowel harmony and spelling.
- Incorrect (b): “Pazara gidiyorum” uses the present continuous (-iyor), incorrect for a past action.
- Incorrect (c): “Pazara giderim” uses the aorist tense (-ar), implying a habitual action, not a single past event.
- Correct (d): “Pazara gittim” uses the past tense (-di) and dative case (-a) correctly for “to the market.”
Question 5: I will eat dinner.
Explanation:
- Subtle mistake (a): “Akşam yemeği yiyecek” omits the first-person suffix (-im), making it incomplete.
- Correct (b): “Akşam yemeği yiyeceğim” uses the future tense (-acak) with the correct first-person suffix (-im).
- Incorrect (c): “Akşam yemeği yiyorum” uses the present continuous (-iyor), incorrect for a future action.
- Incorrect (d): “Akşam yemeği yedim” uses the past tense (-di), incorrect for a future action.
Question 6: There is a book on the table.
Explanation:
- Subtle mistake (a): “Masada bir kitap varım” incorrectly adds a first-person suffix (-ım) to “var,” which doesn’t take personal endings.
- Incorrect (b): “Masada bir kitap yok” uses “yok,” meaning “there isn’t,” which contradicts the sentence.
- Correct (c): “Masada bir kitap var” uses the locative case (-da) and “var” correctly for “there is.”
- Incorrect (d): “Masada bir kitap” omits “var,” making it incomplete.
Question 7: Come here!
Explanation:
- Subtle mistake (a): “Buraya geler” adds an incorrect suffix (-er), violating imperative formation.
- Incorrect (b): “Buraya gidiyorsun” uses the present continuous second-person (-sun), not an imperative.
- Incorrect (c): “Buraya gittin” uses the past tense (-di), incorrect for a command.
- Correct (d): “Buraya gel” uses the imperative form correctly with the dative case (-a) for “here.”
Question 8: I come from Turkey.
Explanation:
- Subtle mistake (a): “Türkiye’dan geliyorum” violates vowel harmony; the suffix should be -den, not -dan, for “Türkiye.”
- Correct (b): “Türkiye’den geliyorum” uses the ablative case (-dan), proper vowel harmony (-den) and first-person suffix (-im) for “I am coming from.”
- Incorrect (c): “Türkiye’yeim” uses the dative case (-ya), incorrect for origin.
- Incorrect (d): “Türkiye’im” uses a possessive suffix, implying “my Turkey,” which is incorrect.
Question 9: My friend is at school.
Explanation:
- Subtle mistake (a): “Arkadaşım okulade” violates vowel harmony; “okul” takes -da, not -de.
- Incorrect (b): “Arkadaşım okulu” uses the accusative case (-u), implying a direct object, which is incorrect.
- Correct (c): “Arkadaşım okulda” uses the possessive suffix (-ım) and locative case (-da) correctly.
- Incorrect (d): “Arkadaşım okul” omits the locative suffix, making it incomplete.
Question 10: I saw the cat.
Explanation:
- Subtle mistake (a): “Kedi gördüm” omits the accusative suffix (-i). This would be correct for seeing any cat but incorrect for a definite direct object, aka seeing a specific cat.
- Incorrect (b): “Kediyi görüyorum” uses the present continuous (-iyor), incorrect for a past action.
- Incorrect (c): “Kediyi görürüm” uses the aorist tense (-ar), implying a habitual action, not a single past event.
- Correct (d): “Kediyi gördüm” uses the accusative case (-i) for “the cat” and past tense (-di) correctly.
A2 Level Turkish Langauge Grammer Test
These Turkish language example sentences are a bit trickier and introduce more of the concepts outlined in the A2 CEFR level. Read carefully and be sure you are following all of the grammer rules!
Question 1: I was reading a book yesterday.
Explanation:
- Subtle mistake (a): “Dün bir kitap okurdum” uses the aorist (-ar), implying a habitual action, not a specific ongoing one.
- Correct (b): “Dün bir kitap okuyordum” uses the past continuous tense (-iyordu) correctly for an ongoing past action.
- Incorrect (c): “Dün bir kitap okuyorum” uses the present continuous (-iyor), incorrect for a past action.
- Incorrect (d): “Dün bir kitap okudum” uses the simple past (-di), implying a completed action, not an ongoing past action.
Question 2: This house is very beautiful.
Explanation:
- Subtle mistake (a): “Bu ev çok güzeldir” adds the copula (-dir), which is unnecessary in this simple descriptive sentence.
- Incorrect (b): “Bu ev güzel çoktur” uses incorrect word order and adds an unnecessary copula (-tur).
- Correct (c): “Bu ev çok güzel” uses the adjective “güzel” correctly with the intensifier “çok” in the right word order.
- Incorrect (d): “Bu ev güzel çok” has incorrect word order, placing “çok” after “güzel.”
Question 3: I go to work every morning.
Explanation:
- Correct (a): “Her sabah işe gidiyorum” uses the present continuous (-iyor) with the first-person suffix (-im) which is appropriate in this context, even for habitual action.
- Subtle mistake (b): “Her sabah işe gider” omits the first-person suffix (-im), making it incomplete.
- Incorrect (c): “Her sabah işe gidecektim” would mean “I was going to go.”
- Incorrect (d): “Her sabah işe gittim” uses the past tense (-di), incorrect for a habitual present action.
Question 4: I must finish this homework.
Explanation:
- Subtle mistake (a): “Bu ödevi bitirmeli” omits the first-person suffix (-yim), making it incomplete.
- Incorrect (b): “Bu ödevi bitiriyorum” uses the present continuous (-iyor), implying an ongoing action, not obligation.
- Incorrect (c): “Bu ödevi bitirdim” uses the past tense (-di), incorrect for a present obligation.
- Correct (d): “Bu ödevi bitirmeliyim” uses the obligation structure (malı + -im) correctly (with vowel harmony changes) for “must.”
Question 5: I need a new phone.
Explanation:
- Subtle mistake (a): “Yeni bir telefon ihtiyacım var” omits the dative suffix (-a), making it grammatically incomplete.
- Correct (b): “Yeni bir telefona ihtiyacım var” uses the necessity structure with possessive (-ım) and dative case (-a) correctly.
- Incorrect (c): “Yeni bir telefona ihtiyacım yok” uses “yok,” meaning “I don’t need,” which contradicts the sentence.
- Incorrect (d): “Yeni bir telefon lazımdır” uses the impersonal “lazım” with -dır, incorrect for a personal need. This would mean more like “a new phone is needed.”
Question 6: I can speak Turkish.
Explanation:
- Subtle mistake (a): “Türkçe konuşabilerim” incorrectly adds -er to the ability suffix, violating grammar rules.
- Incorrect (b): “Türkçe konuşuyorum” uses the present continuous (-iyor), implying an ongoing action, and fails to include the ability aspect (-abil).
- Correct (c): “Türkçe konuşabilirim” uses the ability structure (-abil) with the aorist (-ar) and first-person suffix (-im) correctly.
- Incorrect (d): “Türkçe konuştum” uses the past tense (-di), incorrect for a general ability.
Question 7: My partner’s family does not speak English.
Explanation:
- Subtle mistake (a): “Eşin ailesi Ingilizce konuşmuyor” is incomplete and would mean “the partner’s family doesn’t speak English.”
- Incorrect (b): “Eşimin aile Ingilizce konuşmuyor” lacks the suffix (-i) on the possessed word (aile).
- Incorrect (c): “O aile Ingilizce bilmiyor” would mean “That family doesn’t know English.”
- Correct (d): “Eşimin ailesi Ingilizce konuşmuyor” uses all of the correct possessives.
Question 8: Let him sleep!
Explanation:
- Subtle mistake (a): “O uyu” uses the second-person imperative, incorrect for “him.”
- Correct (b): “O uyusun” uses the third-person imperative (-sin) correctly for “let him sleep.”
- Incorrect (c): “O uyuyor” uses the present continuous (-iyor), not an imperative.
- Incorrect (d): “O uyudu” uses the past tense (-di), incorrect for a command.
Question 9: I want to go home.
Explanation:
- Subtle mistake (a): “Eve gitmek isterim” uses the aorist (-ar), implying a habitual desire, less appropriate for a specific wish.
- Incorrect (b): “Eve gidiyorum” uses the present continuous (-iyor) but leaves out the wanting aspect.
- Correct (c): “Eve gitmek istiyorum” uses the infinitive (-mak) with “istiyorum” correctly for expressing desire.
- Incorrect (d): “Eve gittim” uses the past tense (-di), incorrect for a present desire.
Question 10: After eating, I will rest.
Explanation:
- Subtle mistake (a): “Yemek yedikden sonra dinlenirim” is very close to correct, but it fails to implement the consonant mutation of (-den) becoming (-ten).
- Incorrect (b): “Yemek yiyorum ve dinleneceğim” uses the present continuous and lacks the “after” structure, breaking the sequence.
- Incorrect (c): “Yemek yedim ve dinlendim” uses the past tense (-di), incorrect for a future intention.
- Correct (d): “Yemek yedikten sonra dinleneceğim” uses the ablative (-dan) with “sonra” and future tense (-acak) correctly for “after eating.”
Final Thoughts
How were the quizzes? For the most part, vocabulary is just a matter of memorization the words, although in Turkish we must also get used to modifying them with suffixes depending on the context within a sentence. As you hear Turkish more often, you will more effortlessly recognize these words even if they are altered by the different grammatical cases.
If the grammar tests felt too difficult, I recommend reading the explanations and going over to our grammar guide to do a deeper dive into the grammar concept that you misunderstood.
And as always, please feel free to get in touch with me at [email protected] or leave a comment below!
