I can put the stress on the last syllable and move it onto -lar, not take the ^ mark for stress, tell kar from kâr, and write anne and teşekkür with double consonants.
Stress on the last syllable
Stress on the last syllable
Turkish writing has no stress marks. The stress usually falls on the last syllable of the word, where English often stresses the first: ki-tap — the stressed syllable is kitap.
The plural ending takes the stress for itself: ki-tap-lar — the stressed syllable is kitaplar.
Place names and some other words are not stressed at the end: in İstanbul the second syllable is stressed, İstanbul, not İs or bul; in Ankara and İzmir, the first; in şimdi (“now”), the first too, şimdi. The course will mark such words as they come.
Unstressed vowels sound just as clear as stressed ones: Turkish never weakens a vowel to “uh”, and a final e is always said.
Common mistakes:
• NOT the stress on ki in kitap — the stressed syllable is tap.
• NOT the stress on İs or bul in İstanbul — the stressed syllable is tan.
Where the stress falls
| What kind of word | Word | By syllable | Stressed syllable |
|---|---|---|---|
| no ending | kitap | ki-tap | tap |
| with the plural ending | kitaplar | ki-tap-lar | lar |
| a city name | İstanbul | İs-tan-bul | tan |
| a city name | Ankara | An-ka-ra | An |
| a city name | İzmir | İz-mir | İz |
| the word for “now” | şimdi | şim-di | şim |
Lesson notes
Stress on the last syllable
Turkish writing has no stress marks. The stress usually falls on the last syllable of the word, where English often stresses the first: ki-tap — the stressed syllable is kitap.
The plural ending takes the stress for itself: ki-tap-lar — the stressed syllable is kitaplar.
Place names and some other words are not stressed at the end: in İstanbul the second syllable is stressed, İstanbul, not İs or bul; in Ankara and İzmir, the first; in şimdi (“now”), the first too, şimdi. The course will mark such words as they come.
Unstressed vowels sound just as clear as stressed ones: Turkish never weakens a vowel to “uh”, and a final e is always said.
Common mistakes:
• NOT the stress on ki in kitap — the stressed syllable is tap.
• NOT the stress on İs or bul in İstanbul — the stressed syllable is tan.
The ^ mark and double consonants
The vowels a, i, u sometimes carry the ^ mark (a circumflex). It is not a stress mark. It shows that the vowel is longer, or that the consonant before it — k, g, or l — is soft: kâğıt — paper, rüzgâr — wind, bekâr — single, unmarried.
Usually k, g, and l follow the vowel next to them on their own: next to a, ı, o, u they are hard (kapı), next to e, i, ö, ü soft, with the tongue forward (kedi). The mark is needed where the softness is unexpected: in kar (“snow”) the k is hard, in kâr (“profit”) it is soft.
The ^ mark changes the word: kar — kâr; hala (“aunt, father's sister”) — hâlâ (“still”). You can type the word without the mark: the answer still counts, and the answer key shows the right spelling. That's why such pairs are checked by choice.
Double consonants are held long and written with two letters: anne — mom, elli — fifty, teşekkür — thanks. English double letters are said short (funny); Turkish ones are not. Here the checker is strict: one letter instead of two is a mistake.
Common mistakes:
• NOT ane — anne: the n is held long and written twice.
• NOT the ^ mark as stress — it is about length and softness.