The fastest marks on the exam. Master the prepositions, conjunctions and tense rules that fill the grammar and cloze questions — the part Turkish candidates can score 100% on.
About 24 minutes
Where the Easy Marks Live
YDS and YÖKDİL are rigorous, multiple-choice examinations that test your reading and structural accuracy—there are no speaking or essay components. Around 20 of the 80 questions are pure grammar, covering prepositions, conjunctions, tenses, and the cloze passage. These are arguably the most predictable points on the entire paper. Unlike reading comprehension, where the answer often hides in a lengthy text, a grammar question has one definitive, correct structure. Learn the patterns, particularly the prepositions and linking words that frequently trip up Turkish candidates, and you can bank these marks every single time.
Türkçe
YDS ve YÖKDİL, konuşma veya kompozisyon bölümleri içermeyen, okuma ve yapısal doğruluğunuzu test eden zorlu, çoktan seçmeli sınavlardır. 80 sorunun yaklaşık 20'si tamamen dilbilgisi olup edatları, bağlaçları, zamanları ve cloze test bölümünü kapsar. Bunlar muhtemelen tüm sınavdaki en öngörülebilir puanlardır. Cevabın genellikle uzun bir metnin içinde saklandığı okuduğunu anlama bölümünün aksine, dilbilgisi sorularının tek ve kesin bir doğru yapısı vardır. Özellikle Türk adayları sıkça yanıltan edatları ve bağlaçları, yani bu kalıpları öğrenirseniz, bu puanları her seferinde garantileyebilirsiniz.
High-Frequency Exam Connectors
English
Türkçe
in spite of / despiteDespite the heavy rain, the football match went ahead in London.
-e rağmen (isimle kullanılır)Şiddetli yağmura rağmen futbol maçı London'da oynandı.
due to / owing toThe train's delay was due to a technical fault at Victoria Station.
-den dolayı / nedeniyleTrenin gecikmesi, Victoria Station'daki teknik bir arıza nedeniyle meydana geldi.
whereas / whileHe prefers a strong cup of tea, whereas she always opts for coffee.
oysa / -iken (zıtlık)O demli bir çayı tercih ederken, kadın her zaman kahveyi tercih eder.
in order to / so as toShe left the office early in order to catch the train to Manchester.
-mek için / amacıylaManchester trenine yetişebilmek amacıyla ofisten erken ayrıldı.
as a result ofPrices rose sharply as a result of the national shortage.
-in sonucu olarakÜlke genelindeki sıkıntının bir sonucu olarak fiyatlar hızla yükseldi.
Mastering Prepositions and Connectors
Turkish marks relationships with suffixes (-de, -den, -e), making English prepositions feel random. They aren't—they travel with specific words. Additionally, exam connectors are strictly governed by whether they take a noun phrase or a full clause.
Exam Traps
✓ Despite the rain, we walked.
✗ Despite of the rain, we walked.
✓ Such a cold day that...
✗ So a cold day that...
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Activity — Cloze Practice
Fill the gaps and check your answers as you go. Free account needed.
Dialogue Completion (Exam Style)
Student: I'm worried I won't finish the grammar section in time.
Tutor: Don't focus on speed at first. Provided that you know the patterns, the answers come quickly.
Student: So should I memorise every preposition in the dictionary?
Tutor: Not in isolation. Learn them with the word they belong to—'depend on', 'consist of', and so on.
Student: That makes sense. What about the cloze passage? I always lose marks there.
Tutor: Treat it as five separate grammar questions. Read the whole text once, then fill each blank by checking the word beside it.
Student: Do they always test the same connectors?
Tutor: Very often, yes. You will almost certainly see 'despite' versus 'although' or 'due to' versus 'because'.
Student: I need to remember that 'despite' takes a noun, right?
Tutor: Exactly! You're already thinking like an examiner. Keep practising with past papers.
The British Love for Linkers
If you ever listen to a British politician or academic speak, you will notice an endless stream of linking words. Words like 'furthermore', 'nevertheless', and 'whereas' are the glue that holds formal British English together. In exams like YDS and YÖKDİL, this formal, academic register is exactly what is being tested. Mastering these connectors doesn't just help you pass a multiple-choice exam; it actually trains you to read and write like a British university student.
Türkçe
Eğer bir İngiliz politikacıyı veya akademisyeni dinlerseniz, bitmek bilmeyen bir bağlaç akışı fark edersiniz. 'Furthermore' (dahası), 'nevertheless' (yine de) ve 'whereas' (oysa) gibi kelimeler, resmi İngiliz İngilizcesini bir arada tutan yapıştırıcılardır. YDS ve YÖKDİL gibi sınavlarda tam olarak test edilen şey bu resmi, akademik dildir. Bu bağlaçlarda ustalaşmak sadece çoktan seçmeli bir sınavı geçmenize yardımcı olmakla kalmaz; aslında sizi bir İngiliz üniversite öğrencisi gibi okuyup yazmaya da alıştırır.
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Discussing Trends & Strategies with Emma
Say it out loud to a British AI tutor and get feedback on your pronunciation. Free account needed.
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Write an Academic or Professional Summary
Write your answer and have it marked, with corrections. Free account needed.
Now actually practise it
Reading a lesson is the easy half. A free account unlocks the parts that make it stick — listen to every word in a British accent, test yourself on the quiz, and use it in a live conversation with Emma. Your progress is saved and the words come back for review before you forget them.
