12 common English mistakes Turkish speakers make

Most English mistakes Turkish speakers make do not come from carelessness but from carrying Turkish rules into English. Turkish has no articles, one pronoun “o” covers he, she, and it, “var” is a single word for there is or there are, and “to be” is usually a suffix rather than a separate word (öğretmen-im, “I am a teacher”). Learners who know these differences can catch their mistakes before they make them. Below are the 12 most common mistakes, their corrections, and why they happen.

1. Leaving out “to be”

The Turkish sentence “Kardeşim çok uzun.” has no separate verb, but in English a sentence with an adjective or a noun cannot be built without am, is, or are: “My brother is very tall.”, “The shops are closed.” Repeating the short forms aloud (“he's”, “they're”) helps you stop dropping the word when you speak.

2. Forgetting the article

Turkish often leaves out “bir”, but in English a singular countable noun cannot stand alone: “a job”, “an idea”, “the bus”. You can find which one comes when, with examples, in a, an, or the: articles in English.

3. Mixing up he and she

The single Turkish pronoun “o” becomes he or she in English depending on the person, and usually it for things and animals. The mistake appears mostly in fast speech: someone talking about their mother says “he”. Choosing the pronoun in your head once before you start describing a person cuts this mistake down.

4. Dropping the -s in the third person

In the Turkish series “çalışırım, çalışırsın, çalışır”, the third person takes no ending; in English it is the other way round, and only he, she, and it add -s to the verb: “She works”, “It costs”. The missing -s rarely changes the meaning, but listeners notice it at once.

5. Using -ing for habits

In Turkish, “Her gün spora gidiyorum.” can describe both a habit and the present moment. English uses the present simple for habits: “I go to the gym every day.” “I am going” describes what is happening now or in the near future. The details are in present simple or present continuous.

6. Translating “-dır” duration with the present tense

“Üç yıldır burada yaşıyorum.” is in the present tense in Turkish, but English uses the present perfect for something that started in the past and is still true: “I have lived here for three years.” A length of time takes “for”, a starting point takes “since”: “since 2023”. The full rule is in present perfect with for and since.

7. Translating “var” with have

In “Kasabamda büyük bir park var.”, “var” says that something exists somewhere, which in English is there is or there are: “There is a big park in my town.” Have is for possession: “I have a car.” There are more examples in there is or there are.

8. Making uncountable nouns plural

“Bilgiler, tavsiyeler, eşyalar” are natural in Turkish, but in English information, advice, furniture, and luggage are uncountable: they take no -s and no “a”: “some advice”, “a piece of information”. You can see which nouns behave this way in countable and uncountable nouns.

9. Forgetting do and does in questions

Turkish forms a question with the particle “mı” or with intonation alone, and the word order stays the same. English questions in the present simple need do or does: “Where do you work?”, “Does she like coffee?” The steps are in how to ask questions with do, does, and wh- words.

10. Translating “yapmak” and “vermek” word for word

“Hata yapmak” is “make a mistake” in English, and “karar vermek” is not “give a decision” but “make a decision”. Instead of translating the Turkish verb directly, learn the expression together with its verb; the difference between the two verbs for “yapmak” is in make or do.

11. Translating “aç” and “kapa” directly

In Turkish you “open” and “close” a light, a TV, or an air conditioner. In English, electrical devices are “turned on” and “turned off” (or “switched on/off”): “Can you turn off the TV?” “Open” and “close” are for things that physically open and shut, such as a door, a window, or a box.

12. Leaving out the preposition after a verb

Turkish shows the relationship with a suffix on the noun (“müziği dinlemek”, “seni beklemek”), while some English verbs come with their own preposition: “listen to music”, “wait for you”, “look at the board”. The opposite happens too: “odaya girmek” is not “enter to the room” but simply “enter the room”. Noting these verbs together with their preposition is the quickest fix.

What about pronunciation?

The mistakes above look the same in writing and in speech. In pronunciation, the trouble mostly comes from sounds Turkish does not have: the th sound, the difference between w and v, short and long vowels. To practise these sounds one by one, see English pronunciation for Turkish speakers.

Short exercise: find the mistake

Each sentence has one mistake. 1. My sister live in İzmir. 2. Do you have any advices for me? 3. In the hotel have a pool. 4. I know him since 2020. 5. Please close the music, I'm working.

Answers: 1. My sister lives in İzmir. (mistake 4) 2. Do you have any advice for me? (mistake 8) 3. There is a pool in the hotel. (mistake 7) 4. I have known him since 2020. (mistake 6) 5. Please turn off the music, I'm working. (mistake 11)

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