Basic Turkish Phrases with Pronunciation

Learn some basic phrases in Turkish with free audio recording

This tutorial was written by Ömer & Mehmet Sener. If you are interested in authentic uses of language, go to Turkish realia for photos taken in Turkey.

Need more Turkish? Try the Turkish courses at Udemy and the audio and video lessons at TurkishClass101.com

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Basic Turkish Phrases

Merhabā / İyi günler	Hello / Good day
İyi akşamlar	Good evening
İyi geceler	Good night
Merhabā / Selâm	Hi
Güle güle / İyi günler	Bye / Goodbye (Good day)
Lütfen	Please
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? (informal)
İyi değilim / Fenā değil	Not fine / not bad
İyiyim.	I'm fine
İyilik.	I'm fine (informal)
Evet / Hayır / Yok	Yes / No / No (informal)
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.

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