konuşmak is "to speak / to talk" — the verb for the activity of talking, as opposed to söylemek, which is "to say (a specific thing)." The thing to master here is its complement frame: who you talk with takes the "with" marker, the topic you talk about has its own markers, and a language you speak is simply a bare object. English uses three different prepositions ("talk to someone," "talk about something," "speak a language" with no preposition); Turkish makes a parallel three-way split, but with case suffixes and postpositions instead of prepositions.
A reciprocal verb that became plain "talk"
Historically konuşmak is built on the reciprocal -Iş suffix — the same morpheme in görüşmek "to see one another / meet," anlaşmak "to understand one another / come to terms." So konuşmak literally encodes "to speak with one another." Over time it lexicalized into plain "talk," and the reciprocity faded — you can now konuşmak alone, to yourself, on the phone, on stage. But the buried reciprocal logic explains why the natural way to add a partner is the comitative "with" rather than a direct object.
Biraz konuşabilir miyiz?
Can we talk for a bit?
Çok konuşuyorsun, biraz dinlesene.
You talk too much — listen a little, would you.
The interlocutor: ile / -(y)lA ("with")
To say who you talk with, use the postposition ile or, far more commonly, its suffixed form -(y)lA (which harmonizes to -yle / -yla after vowels and -le / -la after consonants). This is the comitative "with," not a direct object — a direct legacy of the reciprocal origin.
Dün akşam Selin'le uzun uzun konuştuk.
Selin and I talked for a long time last night.
Müdürle konuşmam lazım.
I need to speak with the manager.
Seninle konuşabilir miyim?
Can I speak with you?
With pronouns the suffix attaches to the genitive-like stem: benimle (with me), seninle (with you), onunla (with him/her), bizimle (with us). English often says "talk to" someone, which tempts learners toward the dative; resist it — konuşmak takes -(y)lA, not the dative.
The topic: hakkında, üzerine, or -DAn
To say what you talk about, the most neutral choice is the postposition hakkında ("about") governing a genitive/possessed noun, or -(n)In üzerine ("on the subject of," a bit more formal). Colloquially the ablative -DAn ("from/about") is extremely common.
Bu konu hakkında daha sonra konuşalım.
Let's talk about this topic later.
Sürekli senden konuşuyorlar.
They keep talking about you.
Toplantıda bütçe üzerine konuştuk.
At the meeting we talked about the budget.
So all three "about" strategies are live: hakkında (neutral, safe), üzerine (formal/written), -DAn (colloquial). For an A2 learner, hakkında is the reliable default.
Speaking a language: the bare-object construction
This is the pattern that surprises English speakers. To say you speak a language, the language name takes no case suffix at all — it sits as a bare object directly before the verb. Türkçe konuşmak, İngilizce konuşmak: literally "to Turkish-speak."
Türkçe konuşuyor musun?
Do you speak Turkish?
Evde sadece Kürtçe konuşuyoruz.
At home we speak only Kurdish.
Biraz İngilizce konuşabiliyorum.
I can speak a little English.
Why no accusative? Because the language is non-specific here — you are naming a kind of speaking, not pointing at a definite object. It behaves like an incorporated, generic object (compare kitap okumak "to read" / "do book-reading"). If you make the language genuinely definite, the accusative reappears: Türkçeyi çok iyi konuşuyor "She speaks Turkish [the language, specifically] very well" — here the accusative -yi signals "the Turkish language as a known entity, and her command of it." But for the everyday "Do you speak X?" question, keep the language bare. Language names are formed from country/people roots plus -CA; see nationalities and languages.
O, Almancayı ana dili gibi konuşuyor.
She speaks German like a native.
The aorist: konuşur
konuşmak has the regular -Ar/-Ir aorist; with its final vowel the form is konuşur. The aorist expresses habitual or characteristic speaking.
| Person | Aorist (positive) | Aorist (negative) |
|---|---|---|
| ben | konuşurum | konuşmam |
| sen | konuşursun | konuşmazsın |
| o | konuşur | konuşmaz |
| biz | konuşuruz | konuşmayız |
| siz | konuşursunuz | konuşmazsınız |
| onlar | konuşurlar | konuşmazlar |
O hiç böyle konuşmaz, bir şey olmuş olmalı.
He never talks like that — something must have happened.
Annem üç dil konuşur.
My mother speaks three languages.
konuşmak vs söylemek vs anlatmak
These three cover what English splits among "speak/talk," "say/tell," and "tell/recount" — and learners constantly swap them.
| Verb | Sense | Object frame |
|---|---|---|
| konuşmak | to talk, to speak (the activity) | interlocutor in -(y)lA; topic in hakkında/-DAn; language bare |
| söylemek | to say / tell (a specific thing) | accusative thing; addressee in dative -A |
| anlatmak | to recount, explain, tell (a story) | accusative thing; addressee in dative -A |
The key contrast: konuşmak is intransitive in spirit — it's about being engaged in talking. söylemek is transitive — it always has a thing said. So "Tell me the truth" is söyle, not konuş; but "Let's talk" is konuşalım, never söyleyelim.
Bana doğruyu söyle.
Tell me the truth.
Onunla bu konuyu konuşmadım.
I haven't talked about this matter with him.
Common mistakes
❌ Sana konuşmak istiyorum.
Incorrect — the interlocutor takes the 'with' marker, not the dative.
✅ Seninle konuşmak istiyorum.
I want to talk with you.
❌ Türkçeyi konuşuyor musun?
Incorrect — for the generic 'Do you speak Turkish?', the language must be a bare object, not accusative.
✅ Türkçe konuşuyor musun?
Do you speak Turkish?
❌ Bana doğruyu konuş.
Incorrect — 'say/tell a specific thing' is söylemek, not konuşmak.
✅ Bana doğruyu söyle.
Tell me the truth.
❌ Bu konu konuşalım.
Incorrect — the topic needs an 'about' marker (hakkında) or the accusative if treated as the direct object of discussion.
✅ Bu konu hakkında konuşalım.
Let's talk about this topic.
❌ Annem üç dil konuşar.
Incorrect — the aorist of konuşmak is konuşur, not konuşar.
✅ Annem üç dil konuşur.
My mother speaks three languages.
Key takeaways
- konuşmak = the activity of talking/speaking; it's reciprocal in origin, so partners join with -(y)lA ("with"), never the dative.
- Talk about something: hakkında (neutral), üzerine (formal), -DAn (colloquial).
- Speak a language: bare object — Türkçe konuşmak — with the accusative only when the language is specifically definite.
- For saying a specific thing, switch to söylemek; konuşmak never takes a "said thing" as its object.
- Aorist: konuşur (regular).
Now practice Turkish
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Start learning Turkish→Related Topics
- The Reciprocal -IşB2 — How the suffix -Iş builds verbs meaning 'do to each other' or 'do together' (görüşmek, mektuplaşmak, dövüşmek), and how it differs from the productive birbiri pronoun.
- ile / -(y)lA: 'With' and 'By Means Of'A2 — ile means 'with', 'and', and 'by means of' — and in real speech it almost always shrinks into the suffix -(y)lA, harmonizing onto the noun (otobüsle, arkadaşımla, benimle).
- Countries, Nationalities, LanguagesA2 — The Turkish system linking country, people, and language — derive the language name from the nationality with the suffix -CA, plus the irregulars to memorise.
- söylemek (to say / tell)A2 — söylemek 'to tell/say' — the dative addressee and the accusative or -DIK content it governs, why it carries indirect speech, and its second life as 'to sing'.