Turkish
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Basic Turkish
To help you enjoy your holiday, you may want to learn some basic Turkish. Turkish people will love the fact that you have tried, even if you haven't fully mastered it. English is taught in primary and secondary schools, so you can usually find a helpful soul to translate for you.
We have also provided a reminder below that you may wish to print out and take with you on your trip.
ENGLISH | TURKISH | PRONUNCIATION |
---|---|---|
Hello |
Merhaba |
MEHR-hah-bah |
Good morning, good day |
Günaydın |
gew-nahy-DUHN |
Good evening |
Iyi akşamlar |
EE ahk-shahm-LAHR |
Good night |
Iyi geceler |
EE geh-jeh-LEHR |
Goodbye |
Allaha ısmarladık |
ah-LAHS-mahr-lah-duhk |
Bon voyage/Bye |
Güle güle |
gew-LEH gew-LEH |
What is your name? |
Adınız ne? |
AH-duh-NUHZ neh |
My name is… |
Adım… |
Ah-DUHM… |
How are you? |
Nasılsınız? |
NAHS-suhl-suh-nuhz |
I'm fine, thank you. |
Iyiyim, teşekkür ederim |
ee-YEE-yihm, tesh-ek-KEWR eh-dehr-eem |
Pardon me |
Affedersiniz, pardon |
af-feh-DEHR-see-neez, pahr-DOHN |
Yes/no |
Evet/hayır |
eh-VEHT/HAH-yuhr |
Please. |
Lütfen |
LEWT-fehn |
Help yourself. |
Buyurun(uz) |
BOOY-roon-(ooz) |
Thanks. |
Teşekkürler. Sag Ol Mersi |
t eh-sheh-kewr-LEHR.SOWL.mehr-SEE |
You're welcome. |
Bir şey değil |
beer SHEHY deh-YEEL |
Friend |
Arkadaş |
Ar-kah-DAHSH |
What? |
Ne? |
NEH |
How? |
Nasıl? |
NAH-suhl |
Who? |
Kim? |
KEEM |
Why? |
Niçin, neden? |
NEE-cheen, NEH-dehn |
When? |
Ne zaman? |
NEH zah-mahn |
Which one? |
Hangisi? |
HAHN-gee-see |
What's this? |
Bu ne? |
BOO neh |
How much/many? |
Kaç/kaç tane? |
KAHCH/tah-neh |
What does it mean? |
Ne demek? |
NEH deh-mehk |
Give me ... |
... bana verin |
bah-NAH veh-reen |
I want ... |
... istiyorum |
ees-tee-YOH-room |
...this |
...bu(nu) |
...boo(NOO) |
...that |
...şu(nu) |
...shoo(NOO) |
...the other |
...o(nu) |
...oh(NOO) |
hot/cold |
sıcak/soğuk |
suh-JAHK/soh-OOK |
big/small |
büyük/küçük |
bew-YEWK/kew-CHEWK |
new/old |
yeni/eski |
yeh-NEE/ehss-KEE |
open/closed |
açık/kapalı |
ah-CHUHK/kah-pah-LUH |
not ... |
... değil |
deh-YEEL |
It exists/doesn't exist |
Var/yok |
VAHR/YOHK |
And/or |
Ve/veya |
VEH/veh-YAH |
Good/bad |
iyi/fenah |
EE-ee/ feh-NAH |
Beautiful/ugly |
Güzel/çirkin |
gew-ZEHL/cheer-KEEN |
Where is a/the ... ? |
... nerede? |
NEH-reh-deh |
__railway station |
__Gar/istasyon |
__GAHR, ees-tah-SYOHN |
__bus station |
__Otogar |
__OH-toh-gahr |
__cheap hotel |
__Ucuz bir otel |
__oo-JOOZ beer oh-TEHL |
__toilet |
__Tuvalet |
__too-vah-LEHT |
__restaurant |
__Lokanta |
__loh-KAHN-tah |
__post office |
__Postane, PTT |
__POHSS-tah-neh, peh-teh-TEH |
Room |
Oda |
OH-dah |
Shower |
Duş |
DOOSH |
Bath |
Banyo |
BAHN-yo |
Turkish bath |
Hamam |
Hah-MAHM |
Soap |
Sabun |
Sah-BOON |
Toilet paper |
tuvalet kağıdı |
too-vah-LEHT kyaah-uh-duh |
Hot water |
Sıcak su |
Suh_JAHK soo |
Luggage |
Bagaj |
Bah-GAHZH |
Clean |
Temiz |
The-MEEZ |
Laundry |
Çamaşır |
Chah-mah-SHUR |
Light(s) |
Işık(lar) |
Uh-SHUK(-LAHR) |
Money |
Para |
PAH-rah |
Water |
Su |
SOO |
Tea |
Çay |
CHAH-yee |
street, avenue |
sokak, cadde(si) |
soh-KAHK, JAHD-deh |
Left/right |
Sol/ sağ |
SOHL/SAAH |
straight (on) |
doğru |
doh-ROO |
Here/there/over there |
Burada/ |
BOO-rah-dah/ |
Near/far |
Yakın/uzak |
yah-KUHN/oo-ZAHK |
map |
harita |
HAH-ree-TAH |
ticket |
bilet |
bee-LEHT |
one-way/round- trip |
gidiş/gidiş-dönüş |
gee-DEESH/ gee-DEESH-dur-NEWRSH |
airplane |
uçak |
oo-CHAHK |
airport |
havaalanı |
Hah-VAH-ah-lah-nuh |
train |
tren |
TREHN |
ship |
gemi |
GEH-mee |
bus |
otobüs |
Oh-toh-BEWSS |
car |
araba |
AH-rah-bah |
Day, daily |
gün, hergün |
GURN, HEHR-gurn |
today |
bugün |
BOO-gurn |
tomorrow |
yarın |
YAHR-uhn |
week |
hafta |
hahf-TAH |
Sunday |
Pazar |
pah-ZAHR |
Monday |
Pazartesi |
pah-ZAHR-teh-see |
Tuesday |
Salı |
sah-LUH |
Wednesday |
Çarşamba |
char-shahm-BAH |
Thursday |
Perşembe |
pehr-shehm-BEH |
Friday |
Cuma |
joo-MAH |
Saturday |
Cumartesi |
joo-MAHR-teh-see |
month |
ay |
AHY |
year |
sene, yil |
SEH-neh, YUHL |
January |
Ocak |
oh-JAHK |
February |
Şubat |
shoo-BAHT |
March |
Mart |
MAHRT |
April |
Nisan |
nee-SAHN |
May |
Mayıs |
mah-YUSS |
June |
Haziran |
HAH-zee-RAHN |
July |
Temmuz |
teh-MOOZ |
August |
Ağustos |
AH-oo-STOHSS |
September |
Eylül |
ehy-LEWL |
October |
Ekim |
eh-KEEM |
November |
Kasım |
kah-SUHM |
December |
Aralık |
AH-rah-LU |
Grammar
Turkish grammar is simplistic once you get used to the style. However, it can seem to be very difficult since the grammatical structure is totally different from the Indo-European languages. This is because Turkish is from a different language family called Ural-Altaic languages. Some languages supposedly similar to Turkish are ' Finnish, Hungarian, Estonian, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Kazak, Uzbek, Tatar, Manchu '. Compared to English, the most fundamental differences in Turkish grammar are: -
Ordering of sentence parts
A typical Turkish sentence is ordered as ( subject + object + verb )
Arkadaşım [My friend --> subject] araba [car -->object] aldı [bought-->verb].
No gender
There are no articles in Turkish, and no gender associated with words
No gender in personal pronouns (the Turkish word for 'he', 'she' and 'it' is 'o').
Vowel harmony
Harmony of vowels is a very fundamental property of Turkish. The rules concerning vowel harmony need to be learned as one of the first steps because they affect the way almost all the other rules are applied.
Use of suffixes
Suffixes are very widely used in Turkish. The meaning of prepositions, personal pronouns and tenses are all countered by adding suffixes to word roots.
Kalbımdesin [You are in my heart].
Once you get these differences and learn the basic harmony rules, the rest of the grammar is quite simple. Almost everything follows well defined, simple rules.
Sounds
Another important point is the way you read a written text. There is exactly one sound for each character in Turkish. A character always represents the same sound, regardless of its position in a word or the characters next to it. Therefore, it is straightforward to pronounce a word that you see for the first time once you are familiar with the characters in the Turkish alphabet.
Vocabulary
Once you are comfortable or at least familiar with the harmony rules, the main challenge will be the vocabulary. Turkish vocabulary can be very challenging since the words have no resemblance to the European languages except the few words adapted directly from these languages.
The fun begins
Now you can slap a lot of suffixes together and get Afyonkarahisarlilaştiramadiklarimizdan misiniz? It's actually a word, and also a complete sentence! But, it must be admitted, it was made up just to show off the agglutinative facility of Turkish.
What does it mean? "Are you from among that group of people whom we attempted to make to resemble the citizens of Afyonkarahisar , but were unable to do so?"
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