Chinese (Mandarin)

Spanish

English

Hindi

Arabic (Modern Standard)

Portuguese

Bengali

Russian

Japanese

Punjabi

German

Javanese

Malay

Telugu

Vietnamese

Korean

French

Marathi

Tamil

Urdu

Turkish

Italian

Chinese, Yue / Cantonese

Thai

Gujarati

Chinese, Jin

Chinese, Min Nan

Dari

Farsi

Polish

Pashto

Kannada

Chinese, Xiang

Malayalam

Sundanese

Hausa

Odia

Burmese

Chinese, Hakka

Ukrainian

Bihari, Bhojpuri

Tagalog

Yoruba

Bihari, Maithili

Uzbek

Sindhi

Amharic

Fula

Romanian

Oromo

Igbo

Azerbaijani

Chinese, Gan

Dutch

Kurdish, Central

Kurdish, Northern

Kurdish, Southern

Malagasy

Lahnda, Saraiki

Nepali

Sinhalese

Chittagonian

Zhuang

Khmer

Turkmen

Assamese

Madurese

Somali

Marwari

Bihari, Magahi

Haryanvi

Hungarian

Chhattisgarhi

Greek

Chewa

Dakhini

Akan, Twi

Akan, Fante

Kazakh

Chinese, Min Bei

Sylheti

Zulu

Czech

Kinyarwanda

Marwari, Dhundhari

Haitian Creole

Chinese, Min Dong

Ilocano

Quechua

Kirundi

Swedish

Hmong

Shona

Uyghur

Hiligaynon

Mossi

Xhosa

Belarusian

Balochi

In Turkish, you can easily turn an adjective or noun into a verb that means "to become" or "to get" that quality. This is especially useful when talking about processes of change, like simplifying your life or adopting a minimalist lifestyle.

### The "Becoming" Suffix: -laş / -leş

To express a state change, attach the suffix **-laş** or **-leş** directly to a noun or adjective. This creates a new verb stem, which can then be conjugated for tense and person just like any other verb.

The suffix follows two-way vowel harmony based on the final vowel of the root word:
- Roots with back vowels (a, ı, o, u) take **-laş**.
- Roots with front vowels (e, i, ö, ü) take **-leş**.

For example, taking the adjectives for simple and easy, we can create verbs of becoming:

{{item:858020}}

{{item:858021}}

Here is how these state-change verbs are used in full sentences when talking about clearing out a house:

{{item:858028}}

{{item:858041}}

### Clutter and Complications

This suffix is equally useful for describing things getting worse, harder, or more crowded. Notice how roots with back vowels take *-laş*.

{{item:858025}}

{{item:858031}}

### Mental and Abstract Changes

Beyond physical environments, these verbs frequently describe mental states, shifting ideas, or abstract changes over time.

{{item:858035}}

{{item:858047}}

It is also heavily used to describe societal trends or growing detached from old habits, such as mindless consumption.

{{item:858043}}

{{item:858049}}

Verbs of becoming (-laş / -leş)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

postposition

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Demonstrative pronouns (bu, şu, o)

Basic question words (kim, ne)

Plural nouns (-lar, -ler)

I am and you are (-(y)ım, -sın)

We, you, and they are (-(y)ız, -sınız)

Negative statements (değil)

Yes and no questions (mı, mi, mu, mü)

Questions with 'to be' (mısın, mıyım)

Numbers 1 to 10 (bir, iki, üç)

Numbers 11 to 20 (on bir, on iki)

Numbers by tens to 100 (otuz, kırk...)

Counting objects (tane)

The locative case (-da, -de)

Consonant assimilation (-ta, -te)

Asking where (nerede)

There is / there are (var)

There is not / there are not (yok)

Asking how many (kaç)

Infinitive verbs (-mak, -mek)

Informal commands (git, gel)

Negative commands (-ma, -me)

Polite and plural commands (-In, -InIz)

Basic word order

Present continuous for consonant roots (-iyor)

Present continuous for vowel roots (-iyor)

Present continuous personal suffixes (-iyorum)

Negative present continuous (-miyor)

Present continuous questions (-iyor mu)

Future plans with present continuous

The dative case (-(y)a, -(y)e)

Consonant mutation (k, t, p, ç to ğ, d, b, c)

From or out of (-dan / -den)

Directional question words (nereye, nereden)

First and second person possessives (-(i)m, -(i)n)

Third person possessive (-(s)i)

Plural possessives (-imiz, -iniz, -leri)

The genitive case (-(n)in)

Definite noun compounds (-nin ... -si)

Indefinite noun compounds (bare noun + -(s)i)

Possessive buffer letter (n)

Spatial postpositions (içinde, üstünde)

The definite direct object (-(y)ı, -(y)i)

Object question words (kimi, neyi)

Adjectives modifying nouns

Manner and choice questions (nasıl, hangi)

Basic degree modifiers (çok, biraz)

Comparisons (daha, en)

Days of the week

Months of the year

The time question word (ne zaman)

Telling time (saat, buçuk)

Asking the time (saat kaç, saat kaçta)

Basic conjunctions (ve, ama, veya)

Causality conjunction (çünkü)

Means and accompaniment (ile, -(y)lA)

Purpose and beneficiaries (için)

Expressing desire (-mak istemek)

The past copula (-(y)DI)

The direct past tense (-DI)

Past tense personal suffixes (-DIm, -DIn)

Past tense negative (-mAdI)

Past tense questions (-DI mI)

Ordinal numbers (-(I)ncI)

Greetings and politeness

Saying 'too' (de, da)

Conversation fillers (şey, yani, hadi)

Conversational essentials

Reflexive pronouns (kendim, kendin)

Reciprocal pronouns (birbiri)

Indefinite pronouns for people (herkes, kimse)

Indefinite pronouns for things and places (her şey, hiçbir şey)

Conjunctions of consequence (bu yüzden, bu nedenle)

Correlative conjunctions (hem... hem, ne... ne)

Verbs taking the dative case (-e / -a)

Verbs taking the ablative case (-den / -dan)

Time origin (beri)

Time duration (-DIr)

Comparisons of similarity (gibi)

Comparisons of equality (kadar)

Perspectives (göre)

Verbal nouns (-mA / -mE)

Verbal nouns as objects (-mAyI / -mEyI)

Verbal nouns with the dative (-mAyA / -mEyA)

General necessity (lazım / gerek)

Personal necessity (-mAm lazım)

Third-person commands (-sIn / -sInlAr)

First person singular optative (-(y)AyIm)

Question	Answer
to become simple / to become minimalist	sadeleşmek
to become easy / to become easier	kolaylaşmak
As long as our house gets simpler, our lives get easier.	Evimiz sadeleştiği sürece hayatımız kolaylaşıyor.
Let me donate all my belongings, our house is getting simpler.	Eşyalarımın hepsini bağışlayayım, evimiz sadeleşiyor.
to become crowded / to become cluttered	kalabalıklaşmak
Have most of the drawers apparently become crowded?	Çekmecelerin çoğu kalabalıklaşmış mı?
to become alienated	yabancılaşmak
The room got crowded and I became alienated from my belongings.	Oda kalabalıklaştı ve eşyalarıma yabancılaştım.
As long as belongings decrease, cleaning the house gets easier.	Eşyalar azaldığı sürece evi temizlemek kolaylaşıyor.
As long as we simplify, making decisions gets easier.	Sadeleştiğimiz sürece karar vermek kolaylaşıyor.
to become difficult	zorlaşmak
As long as unnecessary belongings increase, moving gets harder.	Lüzumsuz eşyalar arttığı sürece taşınmak zorlaşıyor.
to become ordinary	sıradanlaşmak
As long as consumption becomes ordinary, does being happy get harder, I wonder?	Tüketim sıradanlaştığı sürece mutlu olmak zorlaşıyor mu acaba?
to become clear	netleşmek
Let me think a bit, the topic is getting clearer.	Biraz düşüneyim, konu netleşiyor.
The empty spaces in the house became clear and my mind calmed down.	Evdeki boş yerler netleşti ve zihnim sakinleşti.
to distance oneself / to move away	uzaklaşmak
We are gradually distancing ourselves from buying new things.	Yeni şeyler satın almaktan giderek uzaklaşıyoruz.
to become beautiful	güzelleşmek
As long as you distance yourself from old belongings, life gets more beautiful.	Eski eşyalardan uzaklaştığın sürece hayat güzelleşiyor.
Our living room became simpler and it truly got more beautiful.	Salonumuz sadeleşti ve gerçekten güzelleşti.
In your opinion, has this old table gotten more beautiful?	Sence bu eski masa güzelleşmiş mi?
Shopping constantly has become ordinary now.	Sürekli alışveriş yapmak artık sıradanlaştı.
A few of my belongings became ordinary, so I donated them.	Eşyalarımın birkaçı sıradanlaştı, bu yüzden onları bağışladım.
to deepen / to become deep	derinleşmek
As long as I stay alone at home, the silence deepens.	Evde yalnız kaldığım sürece sessizlik derinleşiyor.
As long as the goal becomes clearer, our ideas deepen.	Amaç netleştiği sürece fikirlerimiz derinleşiyor.
Even I became alienated from this crowded room.	Ben bile bu kalabalık odaya yabancılaştım.
I became completely alienated from consumer culture.	Tüketim kültürüne tamamen yabancılaştım.
to turn into (-A)	dönüşmek
A small problem turned into a big fight.	Küçük bir sorun büyük bir kavgaya dönüştü.
The village is slowly turning into a city.	Köy yavaş yavaş şehre dönüşüyor.
to fill up	dolmak
The hall filled up in a few minutes.	Salon birkaç dakikada doldu.
Turn off the tap when the glass fills up.	Bardak dolunca musluğu kapat.

Contributors