The 81 most common Turkish verbs

These are the 81 verbs among the 500 most common Turkish words, in the order a corpus of everyday writing says you will meet them.

Meanings are given in English on this page. In the app they appear in your own language, translated on your device.

#WordTypeMeaning
3olmakVerbsto become, come to exist, come into being
7etmekVerbsto do; to make
15yapmakVerbsto make; to build, construct, fashion; to create
20gelmekVerbsto come, move closer
26vermekVerbsto give
27istemekVerbsto want, desire, wish
30almakVerbsto take
41gitmekVerbsto go
46çıkmakVerbsto leave, exit, quit, get out
50görmekVerbsto see, watch
51bilmekVerbsto know, be informed of, be aware of; to understand
57bakmakVerbsto look (at), gaze
62kalmakVerbsto remain, be left; to be left over
68geçmekVerbsto pass, pass through, pass over, cross
77bulunmakVerbsto be found
78söylemekVerbsto say, to tell
85başlamakVerbsto begin, to start
89edilmekVerbspassive of etmek: to be done
100sevmekVerbsto love
101yaşamakVerbsto live
102yazmakVerbsto write, write down, inscribe
103çalışmakVerbsto work
105yemekVerbsto eat
114atmakVerbsto throw, cast, fire
125bulmakVerbsto find
127girmekVerbsto enter, to go in
142düşünmekVerbsto think
152varmakVerbsto arrive; to reach a location
154kullanmakVerbsto use, to utilize, to employ
171bırakmakVerbsto let go, release, relinquish
178konuşmakVerbsto speak, to talk, to use verbal language
179göstermekVerbsto show, to display
181çekmekVerbsto pull
184beklemekVerbsTo wait for, to await
201anlamakVerbsTo understand, to comprehend, to get
202ölmekVerbsto die
209dönmekVerbsto turn
211yapılmakVerbspassive of yapmak: to be/become done or made
214yapılanVerbspresent participle of yapılmak
219izlemekVerbsto follow
223verilmekVerbspassive of vermek: to be given
226getirmekVerbsto bring
229inmekVerbsto go down, come down, descend
235durmakVerbsto stop
244gerekmekVerbsto be necessary, be needed, be required
246anmakVerbsto make mention of, to commemorate
251kazanmakVerbsto win, gain, acquire
260okumakVerbsto read
267düşmekVerbsto fall, fall down
273anlatmakVerbsto tell
275kullanılmakVerbspassive of kullanmak: to be/become used
276aramakVerbsto seek, to look for, to search
280alınmakVerbsto be taken
284tutmakVerbsto hold; to take hold of; to grip; to grab
293katılmakVerbsto join
298duymakVerbsto hear
299oynamakVerbsto play, amuse oneself, fool around
314denmekVerbspassive of demek: to be called
317öğrenmekVerbsto learn, study, master
320bitmekVerbsto end, to finish
321kaybetmekVerbsto lose
330sanmakVerbsto suppose, think, reckon, assume
338sormakVerbsto ask, to ask about, to inquire
339unutmakVerbsto forget
344açmakVerbsto open
357koymakVerbsto put
358inanmakVerbsto believe, have faith
359geçirmekVerbsTo take or carry something from one place or side to
362kurmakVerbsto assemble
363sağlamakVerbsto provide, ensure, supply
366sürmekVerbsTo operate a wheeled vehicle; to drive, to ride
391korumakVerbsto protect, to shield
412açıklamakVerbsto explain
422dinlemekVerbsto listen, hear
429olmaVerbssecond-person singular negative imperative of olmak
437değildirVerbsis not
444oturmakVerbsto sit
454oluşmakVerbsto arise, to come into existence
478çıkarmakVerbsto remove
488içmekVerbsto drink, to swallow a liquid
494taşımakVerbsto carry, carry away

All 500 A1 words are on this page, free, with no sign-up.

The rest of the list

  • A2A2 Beginner: 500 more wordssokak · hissetmek · başarı · dilemek · ziyaret
  • B1B1 Intermediate: 750 more wordshuzur · kurtulmak · düğün · kamu · düzey
  • B2B2 Upper intermediate: 750 more wordskartal · istatistik · öğle · göç · alınma

A2 to B2 are part of Oqou Pro, in the app, where you can also send any word straight into spaced review and meet it again on the day you are about to forget it.

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Where this comes from

The order is measured: it comes from how often each word appears in a large corpus, counted across all the forms of a word rather than each form separately, so a verb is ranked where you really meet it. The band edges are a convention rather than a measurement. Nothing says word 501 is harder than word 500; the levels are cut where established graded reader series cut theirs.

wordfreq 3.1 (frequency order) + en.wiktionary via kaikki.org (part of speech, gender, gloss). Corpus read on 2026-09-16.

Questions

Where does the order come from?

From how often each word appears in a large corpus of everyday writing. Frequency is counted across all the forms of a word and attributed to the dictionary form, so a verb is ranked where a reader really meets it rather than being spread thinly over a dozen endings.

Why are these lists shorter than the ones with 5,000 or 10,000 words?

Because past about 2,500 a frequency rank stops meaning much. Rank 6,000 in a web corpus is not a harder word, it is a word that happens to be common in journalism. Established graded reader series top out near 2,500 headwords for the same reason.

Is every word in the list a real dictionary word?

Yes. Every headword is checked against the language's own Wiktionary entry, which is where the part of speech, the gender and the meaning come from. That check is what removes the proper nouns, single letters and corpus noise that raw frequency lists are full of.

Do I need the app?

Not for this page. The A1 list is free here and free in the app. A2 to B2 are part of Oqou Pro, and the app is also where a word can go from a list into a review queue, which is the part a page cannot do.

Has a native speaker checked these?

Not yet. The frequency order and the part of speech are mechanical, and the meanings come from a dictionary rather than being written by hand, but nothing here has been through native review. If you spot a meaning that is technically right and practically useless, we would like to hear about it.