Turkish vowels come in two harmony groups. The last vowel in a word controls which vowel you use in many suffixes.
The Two Groups
| Group | Vowels | Feel |
|---|---|---|
| Back | a ı o u | said toward the back of the mouth |
| Front | e i ö ü | said toward the front of the mouth |
Note: Turkish has two “i” sounds: i (dotted) and ı (dotless). They belong to different groups.
| VOWEL | SOUND | TYPE |
|---|---|---|
| A | BACK | |
| I | BACK | |
| O | BACK | |
| U | BACK | |
| E | FRONT | |
| İ | FRONT | |
| Ö | FRONT | |
| Ü | FRONT |
The Simple Rule
Find the last vowel in the word:
- If it is a ı o u, pick the back version of the suffix.
- If it is e i ö ü, pick the front version of the suffix.
That is the core of vowel harmony.
Plural: -lar / -ler
Plural uses -lar for back vowels and -ler for front vowels.
| Word | Last vowel | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| kitap (book) | a | kitaplar |
| okul (school) | u | okullar |
| araba (car) | a | arabalar |
| ev (house) | e | evler |
| şehir (city) | i | şehirler |
| göl (lake) | ö | göller |
Other Common Suffixes
Many suffixes have a two-way version (a/e) or a four-way version (ı/i/u/ü).
Two-way examples (a/e)
- -da / -de (in/at): evde, okulda
- -dan / -den (from): evden, okuldan
Four-way examples (ı/i/u/ü)
- -ım / -im / -um / -üm (my): kitapım, evim, okulum, gölüm
If the suffix has four vowel options, it still depends on the last vowel — just with a finer match.
If you can spot the last vowel quickly, most suffixes fall into place.
Photo by Roman Petrov on Unsplash