Turkish Tutorial

Last Update: Tuesday, October 30, 2007

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Turkish Tutorial written by Ömer & Mehmet Sener

1. Some Basic Phrases

Merhabā / İyi günler Hello / Good day	İyi akşamlar Good evening	İyi geceler Good night
Selâm / Merhabā Hi (merhabā is more common)	Güle güle / İyi günler Bye / Goodbye (Good day)	Lütfen Please
Teşekkür ederim / Sağol Thank you / Thanks	Bir şey değil / Ricā ederim You're welcome / My pleasure	Hoş geldiniz / Hoş geldin Welcome (formal / informal)
Sonra görüşürüz See you later	Görüşürüz! See you!	Yarın görüşürüz See you tomorrow
Özür dilerim! Sorry!	Affedersiniz / Pardon! Excuse me!	Hadi gidelim! Let's go!
Nasılsınız? How are you? (formal)	Nasılsın / Nāber? How are you? / What’s up? (inf.)	İyi değilim / Fenā değil Not fine / not bad
İyiyim. I'm fine.	İyilik. I'm fine. (informal)	Evet / Hayır / Yok Yes / no / no (common inf. use)
İsminiz? What's your name? (formal)	İsmin/Adın ne? What's your name? (informal)	Adım / İsmim… My name is...
Memnun oldum Nice to meet you.	___ Bey, ___ Hanım Mister, Misses	Hanımlar ve Beyler Ladies and gentlemen
Nerelisiniz? Where are you from? (formal)	Nerelisin? Where are you from? (informal)	…lıyım / …liyim. I am from...
Nerede oturuyorsunuz? Where do you live? (formal)	Nerede oturuyorsun? Where do you live? (informal)	…de/da/te/ta oturuyorum. I live in...
Kaç yaşındasınız? How old are you? (formal)	Kaç yaşındasın? How old are you? (informal)	____ yaşındayım. I am ____ years old.
Türkçe biliyor musunuz? Do you speak [know] Turkish? (formal)	İngilizce biliyor musun? Do you speak [know] English? (informal)	Biliyorum / Bilmiyorum. I speak [know]… / I don’t speak…
Anlıyor musunuz? / Anlıyor musun? Do you understand? (formal / informal)	Anlıyorum / Anlamıyorum. I understand / I don’t understand.	Biliyorum / Bilmiyorum. I know / I don’t know.
Yardım eder misiniz? / Yardım eder misin? Can you help me? (formal / informal)	Tabii / Tabii ki Of course.	Efendim? What? Pardon me?
…nerede? Where is... / Where are...?	İşte / Buyurun There it is / Here you are.	…var / ...vardı. There is/are... / There was/were...
Türkçe’de ____ nasıl denir? How do you say ____ in Turkish?	Bu ne? / Bunun mānāsı ne? What is this? / What does this mean?	Neyin var? What's the matter?
Önemli bir şey değil. It doesn't matter.	Ne oluyor? What's happening?	Hiç bilmiyorum. I have no idea.
Yoruldum / Hastayım. I'm tired / sick.	Acıktım / Susadım. I'm hungry / thirsty.	Yandım / Üşüdüm. I'm hot / cold.
Sıkıldım. I'm bored.	Beni ilgilendirmez I don't care.	Merāk etmeyin / Merāk etme. Don't worry (formal / informal)
Sorun değil / Önemli değil It's no problem. / It's alright.	Unuttum. I forgot.	Gitmem lāzım. I must go.
Çok yaşayın / Çok yaşa! Bless you! (formal / informal)	Tebrikler / Tebrik ederim. Congratulations!	Kolay gelsin! / İyi şanslar! (wish of success) / Good luck! (less common)
Sıra sizde / Sıra sende It's your turn! (formal / informal)	Sessiz olun / Sessiz ol! Be quiet! (formal / informal)	Seni seviyorum. I love you (singular)

Notice that Turkish has informal and formal ways of saying things. This is because there is more than one meaning to "you" in Turkish (as well as in many other languages). The informal you is used when talking to close friends, relatives, animals or children. The formal you is used when talking to someone who is older than you or someone for whom you would like to show respect (a professor, for example).

As in many Romance languages, personal pronouns can be omitted, and they are only added for emphasis.

Turkish has Vowel Harmony. That’s why we have given a choice of suffixes in the example “I live in…”. This will be dealt with in later sections.

In the examples used, we have used a vowel lengthener sign (as in ā, ī and ū) to differentiate between short and long vowels. Note that it does not show the stress; rather it shows that the vowel is pronounced longer.

The “^” sign is used to soften the consonant that precedes it.

The length and the softening of vowels is conveyed through this one sign “^” in standard writing. Even then it is only used in certain words or phrases nowadays. For that reason we have used two different signs and have put it at every point where needed, to help the new learner.

2. Pronunciation

a	car	ı	cousin	r	role (rolled)
b	big	i	tea	s	sun
c	jam	j	Jean d’Arc	ş	shine
ç	charm	k	kid	t	time
d	do	l	lake	u	wood
e	ever	m	mine	ü	fruit
f	fight	n	nine	v	van
g	gate	o	grow	y	yard
ğ	see below.	ö	first	z	zoo
h	harp	p	push

Turkish is a very phonetic language, so pronunciation is very easy. Most words are pronounced exactly as they are spelled.

ü is exactly pronounced like “u” in French, like “tu”.

ğ is in most cases a silent letter. It has a unique sound to it when pronounced separately

(The closest would be the “r” sound in French, but ğ is not a guttural letter).

Today, ğ is used:

· as a vowel lengthener, that is, it lengthens the vowel that precedes it.

Dağ (“da:”) “mountain”

Ağlamak (“a:lamak”) “to cry”

Ağaç (“a:ch”) “tree”

· in the middle of two vowels to connect them.

Eğilmek “to stoop”, eğitim “education”.

ı is pronounced like the “e” sound of “kommen” in German. It is an undotted i in appearance.

kâ is pronounced like the “qua” sound in “quatre” in French.

gâ is pronounced in a similar way, similar to “gare” in French.

lâ is pronounced like the “la” sound in French.

3. Subject Pronouns

ben	I	biz	we
sen	you (singular)	siz	you (formal&plural)
o	he / she / it	onlar	they

The plural you, siz, is also used for formal address. The subject pronouns for the third person singular and plural (o and onlar) are generally replaced by the noun they specify (i.e. the person, the object) in the spoken language.

4. General Vocabulary

and	ve	friend	arkadaş
but	ama	man	adam
only	sādece	woman	kadın
now	şimdi	boy