What topics are in YÖKDİL? Which grammar and vocabulary topics come up?
Facts last checked against official sources on October 12, 2026.
Short answer
YÖKDİL tests vocabulary, grammar, translation and reading comprehension; there is no speaking or writing. In grammar, tenses, conjunctions, prepositions, the passive and relative clauses come up most; in vocabulary, academic words and field terms; translation and reading use scientific texts from your chosen field (Science, Health, Social Sciences).
Grammar topics
The gap-fill items in 1–20, the cloze test and sentence completion draw on these topics; in the 2026 booklets preposition pairs and conjunctions were the most visible examples.
- Tenses and tense agreement
- Conjunctions and transitions (however, therefore, although, whereas…)
- Prepositions and verb/adjective + preposition patterns (about / into, within / under…)
- The passive voice
- Relative clauses and noun clauses
- Modals (can, must, should, may, might…)
- Conditionals (if clauses) and wish
- Gerunds and infinitives
- Comparisons and quantifiers
Vocabulary: academic words and field terms
Vocabulary items ask about frequent academic words (implementation, recession, deviation…) and synonyms; there is no phrasal-verb emphasis as in YDS. Field terms (Science: energy, materials, environment; Health: disease, treatment, public health; Social: society, economics, history) appear inside the texts rather than as vocabulary items, so working out an unknown term from context is enough.
Translation and reading
Translation is YÖKDİL’s heaviest section with 12 questions: English → Turkish (42–47) and Turkish → English (48–53). The options are close to each other; subject–verb matching, tense and conjunctions separate the right one.
Reading passages (66–80) come from scientific writing in your field; questions test the main idea, detail, inference and the author’s attitude. Paragraph completion and irrelevant-sentence items use the same kind of text.
Which topic first?
Conjunctions, tenses and prepositions affect items 1–20 as well as the cloze and sentence-completion sections, so they are the most efficient start. Read a text from your field every day, review vocabulary with spaced repetition and do at least one translation block a week. Prepina’s YÖKDİL plan orders this for your level.
Sources
Dates and rules can change. Check the organiser’s official page before you apply; that page is binding.
Start preparing for YÖKDİL today
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