Learn Turkish Sentence Structure, Word Order, And Syntax Rules

Besides learning the alphabet and the basic grammar rules, understanding Turkish sentence structure is a crucial step to using the language like a native speaker. The official Turkish word order is subject–object–verb, which can be a difficult adjustment for native English speakers. Plus, you will often hear the word order in spoken Turkish altered to create new meanings or particular emphasis. This lesson aims to break these details down and make the rhythm and syntax of Turkish feel more natural to you. By the end of this post, you should know how to form sentences in Turkish and how to alter the word order to sound like a native speaker!

Basic Word Order in Turkish

Let’s start with reviewing the standard sentence structure in English, which is subject—verb—object (SVO). As an example, here is a simple sentence following that word order:

• He (subject) is opening (verb) the door (object).

However, Turkish syntax follows a subject–object–verb word order (SOV). That same sentence with proper Turkish grammar structure becomes:

• He–the door–he is opening.
• O kapıyı açıyor.

If you’re learning Turkish from English as your native language, placing the verb at the end is a difficult adjustment. I recommend practicing this new structure by reading sentences backward. Over time, you will get used to listening from the end of a sentence to build the proper meaning.

Outside of this basic word order, you should officially construct the other sentence elements in Turkish like this: Subject – Time – Place – Indirect Object – Direct Object – Verb Modifier – Verb. So, a more complex sentence that follows this structure might look like the following:

• O dün gece evde bana kitabı verdi. (He–last night– at home– to me– the book– he gave.)
• English word order: Last night, he gave the book to me at home.

Turkish Sentence Structure: 5 Rules To Follow

Putting aside that basic Turkish grammar structure, let’s dive deeper into the official rules that can help you build more complex sentences. Similar to other grammar topics, the goal is to familiarize yourself with these rules enough so that they become an instinct. And, as always in language learning, use active and passive listening so that you can hear how native speakers use the language!

1. Verbs Go at The End of a Sentence

While it may seem weird to your English brain that a verb would go last in a sentence, 45 percent of languages follow this structure. There are even languages like Arabic and Welsh that use a verb-subject-object order (VSO). So, annoying as it may be, adjusting to a new order is part of wiring your brain to a new language.

I will teach you the exceptions in Turkish for when a verb does not come at the end of a sentence at the end of this lesson. However, for now, let’s just examine a few that highlight this fundamental Turkish syntax rule:

Turkish	Literal Translation	English
Oraya gidiyorum.	To there–I am going.	I am going there.
Eve gitmek istiyorum.	to home–to go–I am wanting.	I want to go home.
O seni sevmiyor.	He–you–he is not loving.	He does not love you.
O seni seviyor mu?	He–you–is he loving?	Does he love you?

As you can see from that last example, sentences will often end with the question particle (mi, mı, mu, mü), either with or without a personal suffix attached. Lastly, remember that many Turkish sentence constructions use the personal suffix at the end in place of a separate verb, for example:

Turkish	Literal Translation	English
Sen mutlusun.	You–happy–you are.	You are happy.
Çok güzelsin.	Very–beautiful–you are.	You are very beautiful.
O üzgün müydü?	He–upset–was he?	Was he upset?

While there are variations do not put the verb at the end, I recommend starting with the official order before overly relying on those modifications. Plus, you will pick up on those naturally over time.

2. Subjects Are Usually Optional

English never leaves out the subject of a sentence, even in casual speaking. However, to sound like a native Turk, you can almost always leave out the subject in Turkish sentences, since the verbs already make that information clear:

• Kapıyı açıyor. (He is opening the door.)
• Kapıyı açıyorum. (I am opening the door.)

There is nothing grammatically incorrect with leaving the subject in, and there are situations where saying it will help provide more emphasis or clarification, especially if you vocally stress the subject. As I will show you in the last section, Turks sometimes place the subject last in a sentence to further emphasize it:

• Kapıyı açıyorum ben. (In English, something like It is I opening the door type of meaning)

3. Adjectives Go Before Nouns

The placement of adjectives in Turkish is particularly easy to learn because it is the same as English—they go before the noun that they modify:

• kırmızı araba (the red car)
• yeni araba (the new car)
• yeni bir araba (a new car)
• iki yeni araba (two new cars)
• taze ekmek (the fresh bread)

Did you notice how the number placement changed? Usually, the number would go before the adjective, as in iki yeni araba (two new cars). However, bir (one) can also mean a in Turkish. In that construction, the adjective comes first followed by bir before the noun:

• eski bir araba (an old car)
• beyaz bir araba (a white car)

Also note that putting the adjective after the noun makes them into a proper sentence for third-person conjugations:

• Araba kırmızı. (The car is red.)
• Araba yeni. (The car is new.)
• Ekmek taze. (The break is fresh.)

So, be careful to make sure you put adjectives before a noun if you don’t want to imply the default to be meaning in the third person. Let’s examine a few examples of longer sentences that use adjectives:

Turkish	Literal Translation	English
Ben taze ekmek yiyorum.	I–fresh–bread–I am eating.	I am eating the fresh bread.
Yeni bir bilgisayar aldım.	New–a–computer–I bought.	I bought a new computer.
Iki yeni bilgisayar aldı.	Two–new–computer–he bought.	He bought two new computers.

4. Adverbs Go Before Verbs

In case it has been a while since your grammar classes, remember that adverbs modify verbs. You can usually find the adverb in a sentence by asking yourself how the verb action was done. For example, if someone is walking, ask how are they walking, which might help you find adverbs like slowly, quickly, loudly, quietly, etc.

Adverbs in English can change location, although they are more commonly found after the verb. For example, He is eating quickly, or She is sleeping quietly. The common giveaway for an adverb in English is the -ly suffix. For Turkish, there is a similar conversion of adjectives to adverbs with the following suffixes: -ca, -çe, or -ça. Often, Turkish speakers will omit the adverb suffix and instead repeat the adjective twice, giving a similar adverbial meaning. In either case, once you have your adverb, it goes before the verb that it modifies. Here are a few examples:

• Sessizce yiyor. (He is eating quietly.)
• Yavaşça yürüyor. (She is walking slowly.)
• Çok çabukça yürüyorsun. (You are walking so quickly.)
• Çabuk çabuk yürüyorsun. (You are walking quickly.)

You will sometimes see an adverb construction in Turkish without repetition or the -ca suffix, however, you can spot that it is not an adjective because it will still come before the verb:

• Güzel yemek yaptın. (You made beautiful food.)
• Yemek güzel yaptın. (You made food beautifully.)

5. Indirect Objects Before Direct Objects

Turkish puts indirect objects before the direct objects. So, you will have to reverse your instinct from English, which puts indirect objects after direct objects. Instead of a sentence order like I gave the book to him, Turkish uses this order: I–to him–the book–I gave (Ben ona kitabı verdim). Let’s examine a few examples of this rule, as well as some complex sentences that combine all five rules:

Turkish	Literal Translation	English
Ona bir hediye aldın mı?	To him–a gift–did you buy?	Did you buy a gift for him?
Ben sana kitabı vermek istemiyorum.	I–to you–the book–to give–I am not wanting.	I don’t want to give you the book.
Ben dün evde bir kitap okuyordum.	I–yesterday–at home–a book–I was reading.	I was reading a book at home yesterday.
Ben dün evde ilginç bir kitap okuyordum.	I–yesterday–at home–an interesting book–I was reading.	I was reading an interesting book at home yesterday.
Dün evde ilginç kitabı çabukça okuyordum.	Yesterday–at home–interesting–the book–quickly–I was reading.	I was reading the interesting book quickly at home yesterday.
Dün gece restoranda okuduğum ilginç kitabı ona verdim.	Last night–at the restaurant–that I read–interesting–the book–to him–I gave.	I gave him the interesting book that I read last night at the restaurant.

Altering Turkish Word Order For Emphasis

If you have learned any other languages, then you probably know that almost no rules get followed all the time. Turkish grammar rules are fairly consistent, especially compared to English. However, when it comes to the word order in Turkish, you will see tons of variation, especially in more casual spoken Turkish. While this can be frustrating for a beginner learner, remember that language rules emerge from culture and communication styles. Yes, people will understand you if you follow the rules above all the time. But if you want to sound like a native Turkish speaker, understanding these nuances and word order exceptions is crucial!

Firstly, switching the placement of the subject from the beginning to another location will emphasize it, especially since subjects are already optional. Secondly, putting a time word towards the end of a sentence, either before or after a verb, will emphasize that the time is important. Generally, placing anything towards the end of a sentence will emphasize it. Lastly, putting the direct object and verb earlier in the sentence can emphasize the direct object. These rules are confusing written out, so here are a few examples:

Official Order	Altered Turkish Word Order	Translation	Explanation
Annem yarın geleceğinizi söyledi.	Annem söyledi yarın geleceğinizi.	My mom told me you will be coming tomorrow.	The second example implies “My mom already said this/I already know this.”
Hep birlikte pikniğe gideceğiz.	Pikniğe hep birlikte gideceğiz.	We are going to the picnic all together.	The second example emphasizes all together as being the important feature.
Ben ona hediyeyi verdim.	Ona hediyeyi ben verdim.	I gave the gift to him.	The second example implies “It is I who gave the gift to him.”

Let’s further illustrate these nuances by changing the word order several times within one Turkish sentence:

Turkish	English
Ben bugün kardeşimi konsere götürdüm.	I took my brother to the concert today.
Bugün kardeşimi konsere ben götürdüm.	It is I who took my brother to the concert today. (nobody else took him)
Kardeşimi konsere bugün götürdüm.	It was today that I took my brother to the concert. (not another day)
Bugün kardeşimi götürdüm ben konsere.	It was my brother that I took to the concert. (not another person)

What is the takeaway? I would say that the Turkish language structure makes the ends of sentences the most important, probably because that is where the verbs go. Because of this, switching a word from its typical place toward the end of a sentence will make that word more important. However, that is not a hard and fast rule since there are many exceptions. Ultimately, using vocal stress and intonation while speaking, whether in the proper word order or not, will be your best bet for communicating a specific meaning.

This classic dialogue from a Seinfeld episode comes to mind, as it highlights how vocal intonation can radically change the meaning of a sentence, in this case, whether or not Jerry was invited to a party:

Turkish Syntax Summary

In summary, the official word order in Turkish sentences is Subject – Time – Place – Indirect Object – Direct Object – Verb Modifier – Verb. However, unlike some of the stricter grammar rules, Turkish word order is extremely fluid, especially in more casual communication. Expect to see lots of variation in situations like text messages and social media. You should especially listen for different constructions in colloquial spoken Turkish, along with which words the speaker emphasizes with intonation. When in doubt, think about how flexibly you use your native language to capture the right subtleties.

Lastly, if you want my advice, don’t stress too much about word order and grammar structure at the beginning of learning. If you have patience, much of this nuance will eventually feel natural to you as you immerse yourself in Turkish speaking and listening.

If you have any comments or suggestions, let me know what you think below or send an email to: [email protected]