ı or i? o, ö, u or ü?

In Turkish the dots are not decoration: ı and i, o and ö, u and ü are separate letters with separate sounds, and swapping them gives a different word.

• i sounds like ee; ı is said further back with relaxed, unrounded lips.
• ö and ü are e and i said with rounded lips.

Pairs to watch:

• diş (tooth) / dış (outside)
• kir (dirt) / kır (break!, also countryside)
• sinir (nerve, annoyance) / sınır (border)
• on (ten) / ön (front)
• ucu (its tip) / üçü (three of them)
• gol (goal) / göl (lake) / gül (rose)
• koy (bay) / köy (village)
• tur (tour, lap) / tür (kind, species)
• sus (be quiet!) / süs (decoration)
• kuş (bird) / küs (not on speaking terms)

Read the whole sentence and pick the word whose meaning fits.