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Turkish, unlike many Indo-European languages, contains no articles at all! Surprisingly simple,
right? Turkish does have its own little quirks that will make it a challenge.
Word Order
For example: Ben gazete okurum. Literally “I newspaper read.”, meaning, “I read
newspapers.”
Verb Tenses
The Turkish language does distinguish between a “present continuous” and a “simple
present” tense. In this lesson, we have included the “simple present” form of a few verbs, but
this will be taught later in greater detail. This means that there is a difference in the sentences:
Be careful while you are translating, because this does make a difference, just like in English!
Pronouns
Singular Plural
Siz behaves just like vous in French, serving both as you (plural) and you (formal).
Articles
There are no articles in Turkish! The number one (bir) is sometimes used to distinguish
between the/a(n). However, if a noun is in the subject position, there is no way to tell! Cool,
right? This being said, if the noun is in the object position, Turkish does distinguish between
the/a(n). In this lesson, we will only use a(n) in the object position, but we will teach you in the
Accusative skill how to do it the other way.
Commands
Forming the informal imperative form in Turkish is extremely simple. All you have to do is use
the root form of the verb. More information about the formal imperative can be found in the
skill “to be.” Here are the two verb in this lesson in their dictionary (infinitive) and informal
imperative forms: