Mastering a few basic Turkish phrases will make your stay in Turkey much easier. Although English is widely spoken in most tourist destinations (and taught in school to all students), the locals will appreciate your effort and any Turkish will help you with taxi drivers who rarely speak any English.
Pronunciation
Turkish is a phonetic language: you pronounce every letter you see in a word. There are a few unique characters in the language, however, and its important to learn these before you attempt to sound out a word.
- ҫ – pronounced with a “ch” sound.
- c – pronounced like the “dg” sound in edge.
- ş – pronounced with an “sh” sound.
- ö – like the German oe, as in Goethe.
- ü – like the “u” sound in über
- ı – Turkish has a dotted i (which has a long e sound) and an undotted ı which has an “uh” sound like the “e” sound in the
- ğ – the soft g is unlike anything in English. A word never starts with a ğ, it is only used to lengthen the vowel sound that precedes it. So ağaç (tree) is pronounced “ah-ach”
Also note that there is no q, w, or x in Turkish but you will still sometimes see these characters used in foreign words (as in the universal sign for restrooms, W.C.)
Useful Turkish words and phrases
- Merhaba – Hello
- Günaydın – Good morning
- Lütfen – Please
- Iyi günler – Good day (this is a good one to use when you are leaving a shop or restaurant, substitutes for goodbye)
- Iyi geceler – good night
- Güle güle – good bye
- Görüşürüz – see you soon
- Teşekkürler – thank you (note there are several ways to say thank you in Turkish – I think this is the easiest for English-speakers to pronounce)
- Evet – yes
- Hayir – no
- Yok – also means no or can mean to not have something
- Nerede? – Where? To ask where something is add nerede after what you are asking about (Aya Sofya nerede?)
- Ne kadar? – How much?
- Ne zaman? – When?
- Saat kaҫ? – What time is it?
- Imdat! – Help / emergency
- Afedersiniz – excuse me. Pardon also conveys the same thing.
Food Words
Personally, I think the names of foods are the most important words to learn in any language! Below are a few essentials:
- Su – Water
- Ekmek – Bread
- Et – Meat
- Tavuk – Chicken (Piliҫ also means chicken)
- Balık – Fish
- Pilav – Rice
- Meze – Appetizer
- Salata – Salad
- Peynir – Cheese
- Tuz – Salt
- Biber – Pepper
- Kahve – Coffee
- Çay – Tea
- Şeker – Sugar
- Süt – Milk
- Bira – Beer
- Şarap – Wine (kırmızı = red; beyaz=white)
Numbers
Numbers scale in a very straightforward manner in Turkish. Eleven is “ten-one” (on-bir), fifteen is “ten-five” (on-beş) and so on. 1254 is “bin-iki-yuz-eli-dört.”
- 1: Bir
- 2: Iki
- 3: Üҫ
- 4: Dört
- 5: Beş
- 6: Altı
- 7: Yedi
- 8: Sekiz
- 9: Dokuz
- 10: On
- 20: Yirmi
- 30: Otuz
- 40: Kirk
- 50: Eli
- 60: Altmiş
- 70: Yetmiş
- 80: Seksen
- 90: Doksan
- 100: Yuz
- 1000: Bin