Turkish phrasebook

Introduction

They ain't lyin...

© court_7

Turkish is the most spoken language in Turkey and Northern Cyprus. Before 1928 Arabic script was used in writing and since then with the language reform Latin alphabet has started being in use.

Alphabet

Turkish alphabet has 29 letters, excluding the q, x and w in the English alphabet and including ç, ğ, ı (different than i) ö, ş, ü.

Travel words and phrases

Numbers and counting

Numbers

• 0 – sıfır
• 1 – bir
• 2 – iki
• 3 – üç
• 4 – dört
• 5 – beş
• 6 – altı
• 7 – yedi
• 8 – sekiz
• 9 – dokuz
• 10 – on
• 11 – on bir
• 12 – on iki
• 13 - on üç
• 14 - on dört
• 20 – yirmi
• 21 – yirmi bir
• 22 - yirmi iki
• 30 - otuz
• 40 - kırk
• 50 - elli
• 60 - altmış
• 70 - yetmiş
• 80 - seksen
• 90 - doksan
• 100 – yüz
• 200 – iki yüz
• 300 – üç yüz
• 1,000 – bin
• 2,000 – iki bin
• 10,000 – on bin
• 100,000 - yüz bin
• 1,000,000 - bir milyon
• 2,000,000 - iki milyon
• 1,000,000,000 - bir milyar
• 2,000,000,000 - iki milyar

Examples: 134= yüz otuz dört
3,512= üç bin beş yüz on iki
145, 768= yüz kırk beş bin yedi yüz altmış sekiz

Note that in Turkey (like in almost all of Europe) decimal numbers are written with a comma. For example the decimal number representing a half would be written as 0,5 in Turkish. The comma that is used in English when writing big numbers such as $100,000 is placed with a dot, $100.000 in Turkish.

Greetings

Hello- Merhaba -or- Selam
Good morning - Günaydın
Good evening - İyi akşamlar
Good night - İyi geceler
How are you - Nasılsın? (informal) -Nasılsınız? (formal)
I'm good. - İyiyim
Goodbye - Güle güle
See you later - Görüşürüz
Have a good day- İyi günler

Question words

Who- Kim
When- Ne zaman
What- Ne
Where- Nerede
To where- Nereye
How - Nasıl
Whose - Kimin
With whom - Kiminle
How much - Ne kadar
How many - Kaç tane

Other/Cultural Phrases

Afedersiniz- Excuse me. Pardon is also commonly used for the same purpose.
Hayırlı işler- It means have good business or work. It could be said to a shopkeeper when leaving.
Kolay gelsin- Let your work be easy. It can be used in any situation when the correspondent is working. You can use it when you see a cleaner, shopkeeper etc...

Common Questions

What time is it?- Saat kaç?
Where is the bathroom? Lavabo nerede?
Where is the closest pharmacy?- En yakın eczane nerede?
When does the plane depart? - Uçak ne zaman kalkıyor?
Is the flight delayed?- Uçuş ertelendi mi?

Telling time

Days of the week

Monday- Pazartesi
Tuesday- Salı
Wednesday- Çarşamba
Thursday - Perşembe
Friday- Cuma
Saturday - Cumartesi
Sunday-Pazar

Months of the year

January- Ocak
February- Şubat
March- Mart
April- Nisan
May - Mayıs
June - Haziran
July - Temmuz
August - Ağustos
September - Eylül
October- Ekim
November - Kasım
December- Aralık

Special Days

Eid- Bayram
New Year- Yılbaşı
Christmas- Noel
Easter- Paskalya

Seasons

Spring - İlkbahar
Summer - Yaz
Autumn - Sonbahar
Winter - Kış

Travel Vocabulary

train- tren
plane- uçak
bus- otobüs
ferry- feribot
bicycle- bisiklet
car- araba
rent a car- oto kiralama
highway- tem otoyolu
interstate road- E-5 (e beş)
taxi- taksi
shared taxi- dolmuş
minibus- minibüs

Food and Drinks Vocabulary

Spice market in Selcuk

© Nywoman

Cheers!- Şerefe
I'm vegetarian- Vejetaryanım
I don't eat any animal products. - Hiç hayvan ürünü yemiyorum.
water- su
tea- çay
coffee - kahve
Turkish coffee - Türk kahvesi
beer - bira
wine - şarap
vodka - votka
fruit juice - meyve suyu
orange- portakal
fresh orange juice - taze portakal suyu
carrot- havuç
watermelon- karpuz
banana- muz
meat- et
beef- dana eti
lamb- kuzu eti
chicken- tavuk eti
fish- balık
rice- pilav
egg- yumurta
I'm allergic to eggs- Yumurtaya alerjim var.
Thank you for the food Elinize sağlık -This phrase literally means health to your hands and would usually be said to the person who cooked the food.
Bone Appetit- Afiyet olsun.

Colors

red- kırmızı
blue- mavi
green- yeşil
white- beyaz
black- siyah
brown- kahverengi
yellow- sarı
pink- pembe
purple- mor