Turkish speaker difficulties in English

This page is for IELTS candidates whose first language is Turkish. Turkish and English are built in very different ways, so the same mistakes keep appearing in Turkish speakers' Speaking and Writing: missing articles and plurals, the verb in the wrong place, wrong tenses, and sounds that do not exist in Turkish. Read the problems once, then do one lesson a day and go round the series again. Every lesson practises the same problems with new sentences.

Pronunciation

th: tongue tip touching the back of the top teeth

Makes you sound more natural.

Why it happens: Turkish has no /θ/ or /ð/, so your tongue grabs the nearest sounds it knows: t and d (some speakers use s and z). The most common English words (the, this, that, they, there) all begin with /ð/, so the habit shows up in almost every sentence you say.

Put the tip of your tongue lightly on the back of your top front teeth and let the air flow past it. /θ/ has no voice (think, three, month, both); /ð/ has voice (the, this, brother, together). Do not stop the air: t and d are stops, th is a stream. Fix the little words first (the, this, that, they, them), because you say them most.

• Not Tree weeks ago I started a new job. (tree = three), but Three weeks ago I started a new job.
• Not Dey go to the market every Saturday. (dey = they), but They go to the market every Saturday.
• Not I have a bat every evening. (bat = bath), but I have a bath every evening.
• Not My broder lives in Bursa. (broder = brother), but My brother lives in Bursa.

How to make it: Touch the back of your top front teeth lightly with the tip of your tongue. When you practise slowly, you can let the tip show a little between your teeth. For /θ/ (think) push air out over the tongue with no voice. Keep it flowing: do not stop it like a t. For /ð/ (this) do exactly the same, but switch your voice on and feel the buzz. Pull the tongue back in at once and go straight to the next sound.

v and w are different sounds

Big effect on being understood.

Why it happens: Your Turkish v is gentle, and next to back vowels it drifts toward English /w/. There is also no letter w in your alphabet, so you may say w words with a soft v, and listeners hear vine for wine or vest for west.

For /v/, teeth touch the lower lip, air squeezes through and your voice buzzes. For /w/, round your lips as for "oo", keep the teeth apart, and glide straight into the vowel. Common w words: we, was, were, what, when, where, which, with, would, work, world. In British English wh- is also /w/: where, while, white.

• Not Ven I was young, I lived near a river. (ven = when), but When I was young, I lived near a river.
• Not I vork in an office downtown. (vork = work), but I work in an office downtown.
• Not My uncle sells vine in a small shop. (vine = wine), but My uncle sells wine in a small shop.
• Not We moved to the vest of the city. (vest = west), but We moved to the west of the city.

How to make it: For v: rest your top teeth on your lower lip. Push air through and switch your voice on. You should feel a buzz on your lip. For w: round your lips tightly like "oo", with your teeth apart, then open into the next vowel. Check in a mirror: you see teeth for v, only lips for w.

Do not say every letter: /ə/, silent letters and r

Makes you sound more natural.

Why it happens: Turkish is spelled almost exactly as it sounds, so every letter gets its own full sound. You read English the same way: full vowels in every syllable, silent letters said aloud (lis-ten), and an r wherever one is written. English shrinks or drops much of what is written.

In a word only the stressed syllable has a full vowel. In the other syllables the vowel shrinks to a short, lazy /ə/, whatever letter is written: about, doctor, banana (/bəˈnɑːnə/). Some letters are not said at all: listen, island, answer, climb, Wednesday. In British English r is only said before a vowel, so teacher, car, word end without an r sound. When you meet a new word, ask first: which syllable is strong? The rest is quick.

• Not I was born on a Wen-nes-day. (three syllables, d said), but I was born on a Wednesday. (two syllables: WENZ-day)
• Not She is a good teach-er-r. (strong r at the end), but She is a good teacher. (ends in a weak /ə/, no r)
• Not I live on an is-land. (s said), but I live on an island. (s is silent: EYE-lund)
• Not I ate a ba-NAH-NAH. (every vowel full), but I ate a banana. (buh-NAH-nuh)

How to make it: For /ə/ relax your jaw, tongue and lips completely. It is the laziest and shortest sound in English. Make the strong syllable big (longer, louder) and let the others shrink around it. For the British r (before a vowel): pull your tongue back and up without touching the roof of your mouth, and round your lips a little. Do not tap or roll it. At the end of a word (car, teacher) do not say any r: just finish the vowel.

English vowels: long and short, wide and narrow

Big effect on being understood.

Why it happens: Turkish has fewer vowels than English and no long-short contrast, so pairs that English listeners hear as different words can sound identical coming from you: feel and fill, sat and set, pull and pool, law and low.

Learn the pairs one by one. /iː/ is long and tight (seat), /ɪ/ is short and relaxed (sit). /æ/ (sat) needs a wide open mouth, /e/ (set) is half open. /ɔː/ (law) is one steady round vowel, /əʊ/ (low) moves. /uː/ (pool) is long with tight lips, /ʊ/ (pull) is short. /ʌ/ (cup) is short and central, not the vowel of cap. In care, pair, wear the vowel is /eə/, not the vowel of day.

• Not I will fill happy tomorrow. (fill = feel), but I will feel happy tomorrow.
• Not We sat the table for dinner. (sat = set), but We set the table for dinner.
• Not Please pool the door. (pool = pull), but Please pull the door.
• Not The new low bans cars in the centre. (low = law), but The new law bans cars in the centre.

How to make it: For long vowels (/iː/, /uː/, /ɔː/) hold the sound for two beats and keep your tongue and lips still. For short vowels (/ɪ/, /ʊ/) say them in half the time, with relaxed lips. For /æ/ drop your jaw as if yawning; for /e/ open only half as much. For /əʊ/ start with rounded lips and slide them closer. /ɔː/ does not move.

Two consonants together: no extra vowel

Big effect on being understood.

Why it happens: Turkish words do not begin with two consonants, so your mouth adds a helper vowel: before the cluster (ispeak) or inside it (puhlan). English listeners then hear an extra syllable and may lose the word.

English starts words with two or even three consonants: speak, stop, sky, play, blue, grow, friend, street, spring. Say them as one quick burst with no vowel before or inside. Count syllables by vowels, not by letters: sport has one, support has two. For s + consonant, start the hiss and go straight on. For consonant + l or r (play, bread), touch the first consonant lightly and slide into the l or r.

• Not My isister plays isport. (extra vowel before sport), but My sister plays sport.
• Not She is my best fi-riend. (vowel inside friend), but She is my best friend.
• Not We need a puh-lan for the trip. (vowel inside plan), but We need a plan for the trip.
• Not I will estudy medicine. (extra vowel before study), but I will study medicine.

How to make it: Start the hiss /s/ with your tongue tip just behind your top teeth. Add no vowel: jump straight to the next consonant (s-t, s-p, s-k). For play, blue, grow, friend: touch the first consonant lightly and go straight to l or r. Tap once on the table per vowel. Street gets one tap, not two.

Final sounds, -ed and -s

Big effect on being understood.

Why it happens: Turkish b, d and c (the /dʒ/ sound) lose their voice at the end of a word, and g hardly occurs there, so bed can sound like bet and bag like back. You may also leave off the endings -ed and -s, or add a vowel and turn them into a syllable of their own.

Keep your voice on to the end of b, d, g, v, z and /dʒ/: cab, bed, bag, love, buzz, age. A good clue: the vowel before a voiced ending is longer (bed is longer than bet). Past -ed is a syllable /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted, needed), a quick /t/ after other voiceless sounds (walked, watched) and a quick /d/ after voiced sounds (played, lived). Plural and third-person -s works the same way: /s/ (maps), /z/ (dogs), /ɪz/ after hissing sounds (buses, watches).

• Not I put my laptop in my bak. (bag said as back), but I put my laptop in my bag.
• Not I stayed in bet all morning. (bed said as bet), but I stayed in bed all morning.
• Not She wal-ked to the station. (two syllables), but She walked to the station. (one syllable: walkt)
• Not Two buse go to my village. (-es not said), but Two buses go to my village.

How to make it: Keep your voice on to the end of b, d, g: put a finger on your throat and feel it buzz. Do not add a puff or a vowel after the sound. Just stop cleanly. Make the vowel longer before a voiced ending: bed is long, bet is short. For -ed and -s, find the last sound of the word first: voiceless, voiced, or one of t, d, s, z, sh, ch, j.

Word stress: not always on the last syllable

Big effect on being understood.

Why it happens: Most Turkish words are stressed on the last syllable, so you lean on the end of English words too (hospiTAL), or give every syllable the same weight. A wrongly stressed word is often harder for a listener to recognise than a wrong sound.

Every English word with two or more syllables has one strong syllable: longer, louder and higher, with a full vowel. The others are short and weak. There are patterns. Many two-syllable nouns are stressed at the start (DOCtor, VILlage). Words ending in -tion, -sion, -ic, -ity are stressed on the syllable before the ending (eduCAtion, ecoNOMic, uniVERsity), and so are words ending in -ology or -ography (techNOlogy, geOgraphy). Stress moves when the word changes: eCOnomy, ecoNOMic. Look up the stress when you learn a word.

• Not hosPItal, but HOSpital
• Not touRIST, but TOUrist
• Not dangeROUS, but DANgerous
• Not universiTY, but uniVERsity

How to make it: Find the strong syllable first and say only that one: HOS... then add the rest. Make it longer, louder and a little higher. Make the other syllables short and quiet, with a weak /ə/ or /ɪ/. Tap the table on the strong syllable as you say the word.

Sentence stress and weak words

Makes you sound more natural.

Why it happens: Turkish syllables come out at an even pace, so you give every English word the same weight, including the little ones, and you tend to stress the question word. To English ears this sounds slow and the important words do not stand out.

English has a beat. The important words (nouns, main verbs, adjectives, adverbs) are strong: longer and clearer. The small words are weak: short and quiet, with a shrunken vowel: to /tə/, of /əv/, and /ən/, can /kən/, was /wəz/, for /fə/. In a normal question the main stress comes at the end (Where are you GOing?), not on the question word. You can move the stress to the word that carries the contrast: No, my BROTHER works there (not my sister). Strong beats come at a steady pace, so weak words between them are squeezed.

• Not WHERE are you going?, but Where are you GOing?
• Not We-went-to-the-mar-ket-on-Sat-ur-day (every syllable equal), but We WENT to the MARket on SATurday.
• Not I need /tuː/ go home. (to said full), but I need /tə/ go home. (to is weak)
• Not A pair /ɒf/ shoes. (of said full), but A pair /əv/ shoes. (of is weak)

How to make it: Choose the words that carry the meaning and say them louder, longer and a little higher. Say the small words fast and quietly, almost swallowing them: /tə/, /əv/, /ən/. Tap the table on each strong word. The gap between taps stays about the same, however many weak words come between. In a question, put the main stress on the last important word, not on the question word.

Joining words and contractions

Makes you sound more natural.

Why it happens: In Turkish you finish one word before you start the next, so English chains like turn off, pick it up, did you come out as separate careful words. Native speakers join them, so fast English is hard to follow and your own speech sounds choppy. Contractions (I'll, they're, wouldn't) are often missed in listening or said as two full words.

When a word ends in a consonant sound and the next one begins with a vowel, join them: turn_off sounds like tur-noff, pick_it_up like pi-ki-tup. A written r that is silent at the end of a word is said when a vowel follows: far_away, her_idea. Did you often becomes /dɪdʒə/, would you /wʊdʒə/, don't you /dəʊntʃə/. A contraction is one quick beat: I'll /aɪl/, they're /ðeə/, we've /wiːv/. Learn the meaning too: 'd can be would or had.

• Not Please turn - off the light. (a gap between the words), but Please tur-noff the light. (joined)
• Not Did - you see my message? (two full words), but Dijoo see my message? (joined)
• Not I will go there tomorrow. (two full words), but I'll go there tomorrow. (one beat)
• Not It is far (stop) away. (gap, no r), but It is fa-raway. (the r joins the next vowel)

How to make it: Slide the last consonant of a word straight onto the vowel of the next word, as if they were one word. Do not stop the air or leave a pause between the words. Say contractions as one quick beat: I'll, they're, we've. Practise slowly at first, then speed up until the phrase sounds like one long word.

Intonation: questions, lists and sounding interested

Makes you sound more natural.

Why it happens: Turkish stresses question words and often ends every clause with a falling voice before starting again, so a long answer sounds like separate statements. Pitch can also stay narrow, which sounds bored in English even when you are not.

Use pitch the English way. Statements and wh- questions end with a fall (What do you study?). Yes/no questions rise (Do you live near the sea?). In a list, rise on every item except the last, which falls. In a long sentence keep the voice up between clauses and fall only when the thought is finished. To sound interested, start higher and use a wider range on the key word: That's GREAT! A fall followed by a small rise shows you have more to say: I like the CITY (but...).

• Not Do you live near the sea? ↘ (falling), but Do you live near the sea? ↗ (rising)
• Not What do you study? ↗, but What do you study? ↘
• Not bread↘ milk↘ cheese↘, but bread↗ milk↗ cheese↘
• Not That's great. (quiet and flat), but That's GREAT! (higher start, wide fall)

How to make it: Think of your voice as a line going up and down. Draw it in the air as you speak. For a fall: start on the strong word and let your pitch drop to a low, relaxed note. For a rise: lift your pitch on the last strong word and keep it up. For interest: start a few notes higher than usual and make the key word big.

Grammar

a, an, the: do not leave them out

Why it happens: Turkish has no word for the and often no word for a, so a sentence feels complete without them. You also meet the opposite problem: you add the to general ideas.

A singular countable noun always needs a word in front of it: a / an / the / my / this. Use a / an for a job or for something mentioned for the first time. Use the when your listener knows exactly which one. Use no article for general ideas and plurals (I enjoy music) and for most place names (I visited Rome).

• Not My brother is pharmacist., but My brother is a pharmacist.
• Not I bought laptop yesterday., but I bought a laptop yesterday.
• Not The tourism is important for my country., but Tourism is important for my country.
• Not I stayed in the Antalya for a week., but I stayed in Antalya for a week.

Plural -s after numbers and many

Why it happens: In Turkish the noun stays in its basic form after a number: the number already tells the listener it is more than one. English insists on -s every time. You may also add -s to nouns that English treats as uncountable.

After two, five, twenty, many, several, a few, a lot of the noun takes -s: five books, many students. The same is true in one of the .... Some nouns have no plural, so never write them with -s: information, advice, homework, furniture, equipment, research.

• Not She has two sister., but She has two sisters.
• Not There are twenty student in my class., but There are twenty students in my class.
• Not I read five book last month., but I read five books last month.
• Not He gave me useful advices., but He gave me useful advice.

be, have and there is / there are

Why it happens: Turkish can describe a person or thing with no verb at all, and says “have” as “my X exists”. So English am / is / are, have and there is are easy to skip or to mix up.

Every English sentence needs a verb. With an adjective or noun use be: The weather is cold. My sister is a nurse. For what someone owns, use have / has. To say that something exists for the first time, use there is / there are: There is a market near my house. If both people already know the thing, make a normal sentence instead: The receptionist was not at the desk.

• Not The weather very cold today., but The weather is very cold today.
• Not In my city have a lot of traffic., but In my city there is a lot of traffic.
• Not There was not the receptionist at the desk., but The receptionist was not at the desk.
• Not I am two brothers., but I have two brothers.

he, she, it, and never drop the subject

Why it happens: Turkish has one word for he, she and it, and the verb ending already shows who is acting. So you may leave out I / he / they, forget my, his, her, or choose he and she wrongly.

Every clause needs its own subject: I, you, he, she, it, we, they, even after when, because or and. he is a man, she is a woman, it is a thing, idea or animal. Put my, his, her, our before the things people own. his / her follows the owner, not the thing: a man's phone is his phone.

• Not My aunt is a pilot. He flies to Berlin., but My aunt is a pilot. She flies to Berlin.
• Not When arrived at the airport, I could not find the gate., but When I arrived at the airport, I could not find the gate.
• Not Cem missed her train., but Cem missed his train.
• Not Is very difficult to find a flat here., but It is very difficult to find a flat here.

The verb goes in the middle, not at the end

Why it happens: In Turkish the verb comes last and a description comes before what it describes. In English the verb comes straight after the subject. This is most visible in long sentences, when you build them in Turkish order and translate piece by piece.

Build English sentences in this order: subject + verb + object + place + time. The verb never goes at the end. Words like always, usually, never go after be but before other verbs: She is always busy. I never eat breakfast. A pronoun object goes between the two parts of a phrasal verb: I threw it away.

• Not My father the newspaper reads every morning., but My father reads the newspaper every morning.
• Not We on Sundays to the market go., but We go to the market on Sundays.
• Not I threw away it., but I threw it away.
• Not She always is polite., but She is always polite.

who / which / that: describe the noun after it

Why it happens: Turkish puts the whole description in front of the noun, with no word like who. English does the opposite: the noun comes first and a clause follows. So you may skip the link word, or add an extra pronoun to rescue the sentence.

Say the noun, then a link word, then the description. Use who for people, which / that for things, where for places. The link word already stands for the noun, so do not repeat it: the film which I watched, not which I watched it. A preposition can stay at the end: the village I grew up in.

• Not I have a neighbour works as a pilot., but I have a neighbour who works as a pilot.
• Not The film which I watched it was boring., but The film which I watched was boring.
• Not The restaurant which we ate was cheap., but The restaurant where we ate was cheap.
• Not The village I grew up is very small., but The village I grew up in is very small.

Prepositions: in, on, at, to, with, by

Why it happens: Turkish puts an ending on the noun where English uses a separate word. When you translate the ending, you have to guess which English word fits, and sometimes you leave it out.

Time: at a clock time, on a day or date, in a month, year or season. After go, fly, travel + a place, use to (but not before home: go home). With arrive use in a city or country and at a smaller place: arrive in Ankara, arrive at the station. For purpose use to + verb. Use with for a tool and by for transport. by a deadline means “no later than”.

• Not The exam starts in nine o'clock., but The exam starts at nine o'clock.
• Not She travelled Berlin by plane., but She travelled to Berlin by plane.
• Not I use my phone for take photos., but I use my phone to take photos.
• Not You must apply until 1 March., but You must apply by 1 March.

Questions and negatives need do / does / did

Why it happens: Turkish makes a question by adding a small particle and makes a negative by changing the verb ending, with no helper verb. So you may write English questions as statements, or put not straight before the main verb.

Negative: do / does / did + not + base verb. Question: question word + do / does / did + subject + base verb. The helper carries the tense and the -s, so the main verb stays simple: Why did he leave? She doesn't work. In a tag question repeat the helper: You live here, don't you? Inside a sentence (I don't know where he lives) the order is normal again.

• Not I no like cold weather., but I don't like cold weather.
• Not What time you finished work?, but What time did you finish work?
• Not Does he plays the guitar?, but Does he play the guitar?
• Not You work here, isn't it?, but You work here, don't you?

Present simple for habits and states, not -ing

Why it happens: The Turkish -iyor tense covers habits, facts and “right now”, so you use English be + -ing for all of them.

Some verbs describe a state, not an action, and never take -ing: know, like, love, want, need, prefer, understand, believe, agree. For routines and facts use the present simple: I walk to work every day. Keep be + -ing for what is happening now or this week: I am revising for my test.

• Not I am liking this song., but I like this song.
• Not I am walking to work every day., but I walk to work every day.
• Not They are believing him., but They believe him.
• Not I am preferring tea to coffee., but I prefer tea to coffee.

for / since with have done; finished time = simple past

Why it happens: Turkish uses a present tense for “how long” and has no separate for / since. It also has a past form that is easy to translate as had done, so you use it for events that are simply finished.

Started in the past and still true now: have / has + past participle. Use for + a length of time (for two months) and since + a starting point (since June). A finished time word (yesterday, last year, in 2015, ago) needs the simple past. Use had done only when one past event happened before another past event.

• Not I work in this company since June., but I have worked in this company since June.
• Not I am living here for two months., but I have lived here for two months.
• Not We had gone to Izmir last summer., but We went to Izmir last summer.
• Not I had called him yesterday evening, but he did not answer., but I called him yesterday evening, but he did not answer.

Join your ideas, and commas

Why it happens: In Turkish speech you can put short clauses side by side with no link word, and you may put a comma after the subject. A Turkish because word can also begin a separate sentence.

Link two ideas with and, but, so, because, although, not just a comma. A because clause is only part of a sentence; it must stay attached: The road was closed because there was an accident. Do not put a comma after the subject or after that. Put a comma after an opening clause: Although it was late, we kept working.

• Not The shop was closed, I went home., but The shop was closed, so I went home.
• Not My mother, teaches maths., but My mother teaches maths.
• Not The road was closed. Because there was an accident., but The road was closed because there was an accident.
• Not She explained that, the lift was broken., but She explained that the lift was broken.

The passive: was built, is being built

Why it happens: The Turkish passive is a single ending, so you reach for another English pattern when you need it, often be + -ing. You may also make a passive from verbs that cannot have one.

Passive = be + past participle: The stadium was built in 2004. Present perfect: has / have been built. In progress now: is / are being built. Do not write was building when the subject receives the action. Verbs such as happen, take place, occur have no passive.

• Not The stadium was building in 2004., but The stadium was built in 2004.
• Not New hospitals are building in my city., but New hospitals are being built in my city.
• Not The festival was taken place in July., but The festival took place in July.
• Not Many forests have cut down., but Many forests have been cut down.

will, and the right tense after if

Why it happens: Turkish often uses a plain present form for predictions and promises, and its “if” ending does not separate a real possibility from an imagined one the way English tenses do. So you may leave out will, put will after if, or choose the wrong tense for an imagined situation.

Predictions and promises: will + base verb. Real possibility: if + present simple, will + verb; never put will or would after if. Imagined situation now or later: if + past simple, would + verb, and use were for I / he / she: If I were taller, I would play basketball.

• Not Take an umbrella, otherwise you get wet., but Take an umbrella, otherwise you will get wet.
• Not If it will be sunny tomorrow, we will go to the beach., but If it is sunny tomorrow, we will go to the beach.
• Not If I would be taller, I would play basketball., but If I were taller, I would play basketball.
• Not Wait here and I bring the car., but Wait here and I will bring the car.

Sources

Problems chosen with reference to Learner English (Swan & Smith, 2nd edn, Cambridge University Press), chapter on Turkish speakers by Ian Thompson. Explanations and examples are IELTS Laboratory’s own, with extra points from IELTS teaching experience.