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Turkish Consonant Mutation and Buffer Letters Cheat Sheet

Most "irregular" Turkish forms are not irregular at all: they follow a few sound rules that apply when suffixes meet the end of a word. A suffix d hardens to t after a voiceless consonant (kitapta), a final p, ç, t, k softens before a vowel (kitabı, ağacı), some vowels drop (şehir → şehri) and buffer letters stop two vowels from touching (arabayı, arabası, arabanın).

This sheet lists each rule with a one-line explanation, the conditions under which it applies and generated examples, including the tricky one-syllable words that do not soften (top → topu) and the ones that do (renk → rengi). Keep it next to the noun case and possessive charts: together they explain almost every spelling change you will see.

Tip: choose "Save as PDF" as the printer to keep a copy on your phone or tablet.

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Turkish Consonant Mutation and Buffer Letters Cheat Sheet

Hardening, softening, vowel drop, doubling and the buffer letters y · n · s · ş

TurkLogic · A1–A2

The voiceless consonants: FıSTıKÇı ŞaHaP → f · s · t · k · ç · ş · h · p

After these eight letters a suffix-initial d becomes t and c becomes ç; at the end of a word, p ç t k often soften before a vowel.

1 · Hardening: d → t, c → ç

kitap → kitapta · ağaç → ağaçtan · otobüs → otobüste · yap- → yaptı · konuş- → konuştu · kitap → kitapçı · süt → sütçü

Affects -DA, -DAn, -DI, -DIk, -CI, -CA … whenever the word ends in a voiceless consonant.

2 · Softening: p ç t k → b c d ğ

RuleWord+ vowelmy …+ consonant
p → bkitapkitabıkitabımkitapta
ç → cağaçağacıağacımağaçta
t → dkanatkanadıkanadımkanatta
k → ğçocukçocuğuçocuğumçocukta
nk → ngrenkrengirengimrenkte

Usually no softening in one-syllable words: top → topu, saç → saçı, süt → sütü, at → atı

Common exceptions that do soften: renk → rengi, kalp → kalbi, uç → ucu, dip → dibi

Verbs: only a few soften: git- → gidiyor, et- → edecek, tat- → tadıyor; most do not: anlat- → anlatıyor, sat- → satacak

3 · Vowel drop

Some two-syllable nouns lose their last vowel before a vowel-initial suffix (not before a consonant):

şehir → şehri (şehirde) · oğul → oğlu (oğulda) · ağız → ağzı (ağızda) · burun → burnu (burunda) · isim → ismi (isimde) · akıl → aklı (akılda)

4 · Doubling

A few one-syllable Arabic loanwords double the final consonant before a vowel:

hak → hakkı · his → hissi · sır → sırrı

5 · Irregular stems

su → suyu, suyum, suyun · ne → neyi, neye

6 · Buffer letters: keeping two vowels apart

LetterUsed …Examples
ybetween two vowels: accusative, dative, instrumental, verb suffixesarabayı, arabaya, arabayla, okuyacak
ngenitive after a vowel; case after a 3rd-person possessivearabanın, arabasını, evinde
s3rd-person possessive after a vowelarabası, kedisi, kahvesi
şdistributive numbers after a vowelikişer, altışar, yedişer
Ithe reverse case: a linking vowel after a consonant (possessives, -(I)yor)kitabım vs. arabam · evimiz vs. arabamız
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Consonant Changes & Buffers: FAQ

Which consonants soften in Turkish?

p → b, ç → c, t → d and k → ğ (nk → ng) at the end of a word when a vowel-initial suffix follows: kitap → kitabı, ağaç → ağacı, kanat → kanadı, çocuk → çocuğu, renk → rengi. Most one-syllable words and many loanwords do not soften: top → topu, saç → saçı, süt → sütü.

What is the FıSTıKÇı ŞaHaP rule?

It is a mnemonic for the eight voiceless consonants f, s, t, k, ç, ş, h, p. After them, a suffix beginning with d becomes t (kitapta, gitti) and a suffix beginning with c becomes ç (kitapçı, sütçü).

Which buffer letter should I use?

y in most cases (arabayı, arabaya, arabayla, okuyacak), n in the genitive (arabanın), s in the 3rd-person possessive (arabası) and ş in distributive numbers (ikişer, altışar).

How do I save the consonant changes & buffers as a PDF?

Click "Print / Save as PDF", then choose "Save as PDF" (or "Microsoft Print to PDF") as the printer. The site header, menus and buttons are removed automatically, and the sheet fits A4 and US Letter paper. On a phone, use the share menu and choose Print.

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