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 ederimYou'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 ilgilendirmezI 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.

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 çocuk; oğul

at the

moment şu anda baby bebek

always her zaman girl kız

never hiç child çocuk

something bir şey book kitap

nothing hiçbir şey pencil kalem

also / too de/da paper kâğıt

again yine; gene; tekrar dog köpek

of course tabii; tabii ki cat kedi

5. Question Words what ne

why niye

when ne zaman

where nerede

how nasıl

how much / many   ne kadar /

kaç

which / which one hangi /

hangisi

who kim

whom kimi

to whom kime

whose kimin

from where nereden

to where nereye

Nereden biliyorsun?   How do you know? Kimi tanıyorsun?    Whom do you know?Kaç dil öğreniyorsun?  How many languages are you learning?Hangi üniversitede okuyorsun?    In which university are you studying?

Niye gülüyorsun?      Why are you laughing?

6. The suffix “to be” and Vowel Harmony

ben     -

im I am biz     -

iz we are

sen     -

sin you are

(sing.) siz     -

siniz you are (plural)

o         -

dur he / she / it is onlar  -

dırlar they are

The suffixes –dur and –dırlar are mostly omitted in speech, and they can sometimes be left out in the

written language.

The vowels used in the suffix “to be” shifts with Vowel Harmony. Vowel Harmony is easy to learn. The

vowels are divided into two groups for this:

The A-undotted group and the E-dotted group.

Note: Instead of memorizing the subtleties of each rule, it is more helpful to study the examples below by

writing them down and repeating them with a loud voice, thus gaining a sense of the language.

The A-undotted group includes the vowels a,ı,o,u.

The vowel used in the last syllable of a word defines the way vowel harmony is constructed.

         If the last vowel is a or ı, then the vowel(s) of the suffix is ı.

arkadaş >> arkadaş + ız >> Biz arkadaşız.  “We are friends.”

hasta >> hasta + sınız >> Hastasınız. “You are ill.”

         If the last vowel is o or u, then the vowel(s) of the suffix is u.

tok >> tok + um >> Tokum.  “I am full.”

The E-dotted group consists of the vowels e,i,ö,ü.

         If the last vowel is e or i, then the vowel(s) of the suffix is i.

ben >> ben + im >> Benim.  “It’s me.” (lit. “I am.”)

         If the last vowel is ö or ü, then the vowel(s) of the suffix is ü.

üzgün >> üzgün + sün >> Üzgünsün. “You are upset.”

mutlu - happy ( ending in a vowel )

mutlu + y +

um I am happy mutlu + y +

uz we are happy

mutlu + sun you are happy mutlu +

sunuz you are happy (plural)

mutlu he/she/it is happy mutlu they are happy

         If the word ends in a vowel, y is added before suffixes for “I” and “we”.

hasta >> hasta + y + ım >> Hastayım. “I’m ill.”

evde >> evde + y + iz >> Evdeyiz. "We are at home."

It should be noted that there are words that end with a soft L. In this case, the endings take E –dotted

vowels instead.

meşgūl >> meşgūl+üz >> Meşgūlüz. “We are busy.”

7. To Read, Study and to Learn

okumak - to read/to study   öğrenmek - to learn

okuyorum okuyoruz   öğreniyorum öğreniyoruz

okuyorsun okuyorsunuz   öğreniyorsun öğreniyorsunuz

okuyor okuyorlar   öğreniyor öğreniyorlar

Türkçe öğreniyorum.   I’m learning Turkish.Ne okuyorsun? What are you reading / Which subject are you studying?Edebiyat okuyorum.    I’m studying Literature.

Harry Potter okuyorum.    I’m reading Harry Potter.

8. Respect Words

There are respect words that are used in daily life. Instead of addressing a teacher or a professor with siz, students would prefer the word Hocam(which means app. ‘my master’ or ‘my teacher’). Amca, is used to address a male who is older than the speaker. It can also be added to the name of people who are known

to the person. In formal situations, the words Bey and Hanım are used after the name. They are also used to address people who are totally unknown to the speaker. In less formal situations, the endings for

informal you, sen, can be used, as in the first example.

Ahmet Bey, meşgul müsün?  Mr. Ahmet, are you busy?İpek Hanım, misāfiriniz var.   Ms. İpek, you have a visitor/guest.Merhabā Ömer amca, nasılsın?    Hello Ömer amca, how are you?

Merhabā Hocam, nasılsınız?     Hello Professor, how are you?

9. To Know People and Facts

tanımak - to know people   bilmek - to know facts

tanıyorum tanıyoruz   biliyorum biliyoruz

tanıyorsun tanıyorsunuz   biliyorsun biliyorsunuz

tanıyor tanıyorlar   biliyor biliyorlar

10. Numbers / Ordinals

0 sıfır zero  

1 bir first birinci / ilk

2 iki second ikinci

3 üç third üçüncü

4 dört fourth dördüncü

5 beş fifth beşinci

6 altı sixth altıncı

7 yedi seventh yedinci

8 sekiz eighth sekizinci

9 dokuz ninth dokuzuncu

10 on tenth onuncu

11 on bir eleventh on birinci

12 on iki twelfth on ikinci

13 on üç thirteenth on üçüncü

14 on dört fourteenth on dördüncü

15 on beş fifteenth on beşinci

16 on altı sixteenth on altıncı

17 on yedi seventeenth on yedinci

18 on

sekiz eighteenth on sekizinci

19 on

dokuz nineteenth on

dokuzuncu

20 yirmi twentieth yirminci

21 yirmi

bir twenty-first yirmi birinci

22 yirmi

iki twenty-

second yirmi ikinci

30 otuz thirtieth otuzuncu

40 kırk fortieth kırkıncı

50 elli fiftieth ellinci

60 altmış sixtieth altmışıncı

70 yetmiş seventieth yetmişinci

80 seksen eightieth sekseninci

90 doksan ninetieth doksanıncı

100 yüz hundredth yüzüncü

1000 bin thousandth bininci

11. The Present Tense Şimdiki Zaman

-yorum I am ___ing -yoruz we are ___ing

-yorsun    you are ___ing

(sing.) -yorsunuz you are ___ing (plural)

-yor he / she / it is ___ing -yorlar they are ___ing

 

The Present Tense covers the uses of the Present Continuous Tense in English. Furthermore, it also covers some uses of the Simple Present Tense, especially in the oral language. It is constructed by adding the

suffixes above to the verb stem. Yet, a vowel that connects the verb stem to the suffix is added in between,

following the rules of Vowel Harmony. The construction is the same with the suffix “to be”.

         If the last vowel (or the only vowel) of the verb stem is a or ı, then the vowel is ı, making    –

ıyor.

açmak “to open”                         aç- >> aç + ı + yor >> açıyor  “he/she/it is opening”

         If the last vowel of the verb stem is o or u, then the vowel is u, making –uyor.

olmak “to become, to happen”               ol- >> ol + u + yor >> oluyor  “it is happening”

         If the last vowel of the verb stem is e or i, then the vowel is i, making –iyor.

içmek “to drink”                      iç- >> iç + i + yor >> içiyor  “he/she/it is drinking”

         If the last vowel of the verb stem is ö or ü, then the vowel is ü, making –üyor.

gülmek “to laugh”                  gül- >> gül + ü + yor >> gülüyor  “he/she/it is laughing”

         Verb stems ending in a vowel either drop this vowel to avoid vowel clusters,

anlamak “to understand”                 anla- >> anl + ı + yor >> anlıyor  “he/she/it understands”

         or the final vowel mingles with the vowel and they become one. This happens if the final

vowel is u, ü, ı or i.

okumak “to read / to study”                    oku- >> ok + u + yor >> okuyor “he/she/it is reading”

In all cases the ending –yor and the personal suffixes always remain the same in all verbs in the Present

Tense.

Ne yapıyorsun?         What are you doing?Şimdi uyuyor.            He/she/it is sleeping now.Yunus Emre’yi tanıyorum.    I know Yunus Emre.

Hemen geliyorum.     I’m coming right now.

The verbs gitmek (to go) and etmek (to do) go through a consonant mutation when conjugated. The final consonant of the verb stem t softens to d. 

git- >> gid + i + yor >> gidiyor “he/she/it is going”               et- >> ed + i + yor >> ediyor  “he/she/it is doing”

12. Days of the Week

Monday pazartesi

Tuesday salı

Wednesday çarşamba

Thursday perşembe

Friday cumā

Saturday cumartesi

Sunday pazar

the day gün

the week hafta

this week bu hafta

the

weekend haftasonu

today bugün

tomorrow yarın

yesterday dün

To say “on Monday”, the expression pazartesi günü is used. It means literally “on the day of Monday”. This is true for other days of the week (salı günü, cuma günü etc.). Days of the week are not capitalized; unless

they are used in an exact date, as in 19 Ocak Salı (January 19th, Tuesday).

13. Possessive Suffixes

To say “my school”, “his car” in Turkish, we add certain suffixes to the word.

anne - mother; mom ( ending in a vowel )

annem my mother annemiz our mother

annen your mother

(singular) anneniz your mother (plural)

annesi his/her/its mother anneleri their mother

 

Possessive suffixes follow the rules of Vowel Harmony. The construction is quite similar to the suffix “to be”.

         For the suffixes “my” and “your”, words ending in a vowel get –m and –n respectively,

without the need of an additional vowel.

āile >> āile+m >> āilem  “my family”

araba >> araba+m >> arabam  “my car”

         If the last vowel (or the only vowel) of the word is a or ı, then the vowel of the suffix is ı.

araba >> araba+mız >> arabamız  “our car”

         If the last vowel (or the only vowel) of the word is o or u, then the vowel of the suffix is u.

uyku >> uyku+su>> uykusu  “his/her/its sleep”

         If the last vowel (or the only vowel) of the word is e or i, then the vowel of the suffix is i.

kedi >> kedi+niz >> kediniz  “your cat” (plural)

         If the last vowel (or the only vowel) of the word is ö or ü, then the vowel of the suffix is ü.

türkü >> türkü+müz >> türkümüz “our folk song”

         The suffix for “their” is either –ları or –leri, depending on the last vowel of the word being an

A-undotted vowel or an E-dotted vowel.

arabaları   “their car(s)”          

ev -  house (ending in a consonant)

evim my house evimiz our house

evin your house

(singular) eviniz your house (plural)

evi his/her/its house evleri their house

 

         When the word ends in a consonant, a vowel is added before the suffix. This is the same vowel with the one in the suffix, as can be seen in the examples below.

ev >> ev + i + miz >> evimiz “our house”

köy >> köy + ü + nüz >> köyünüz “your village” (plural)

                 If the word ends in a consonant, the letter s is omitted from the suffix for “his/her/its”.

at >> at + ı >> atı “his/her/its horse”

         The suffix for “their” –leri/–ları remains unchanged even if the word ends in a consonant.

14. Months of the Year

January ocak

February şubat

March mart

April nīsan

May mayıs

June hazīran

July temmuz

August ağustos

September eylül

October ekim

November kasım

December aralık

the month ay

this month bu ay

next

month gelecek

ay

last month geçen ay

the year yıl /sene

this year bu sene

To say “In May” for instance, the expression mayıs ayında is used. It translates as “in the month of May”. The same expression is used for all months, thus; ekim ayında etc. Months are not capitalized; unless they

are included in an exact date, as in 20 Mart 2002 (March 20, 2002).

15. Seasons

spring bahar   autumn sonbahar

summer yaz   winter kış

To say “in the summer” or “in the winter”, the words yazın and kışın are used. For “in the spring” and “in the

autumn”, the locative suffix is used. Thus baharda and ilkbaharda.

16. Directions

north kuzey   east doğu

south güney   west batı

northeast kuzeydoğu   northwest kuzeybatı

southeast güneydoğu   southwest güneybatı

17. Colors and the Indefinite Article

red kırmızı   turquoise turkuaz

pink pembe   brown kahverengi

orange turuncu   azure gök māvisi

yellow sarı   black siyah

green yeşil   gray grī

blue māvi   white beyaz

light

blue açık

māvi   gold altın rengi

purple mor   silver gümüş

rengi

kırmızı elma     red apple

yeşil yapraklar   green leaves

beyaz kapı      white door

There is no definite article in Turkish.

The indefinite article bir comes after the adjective. In poetry and creative writing, it can sometimes precede the adjective as well, but this is rare in the spoken language.

Bahçemizde yeşil bir ağaç var.      There’s a green tree in our garden.

Gümüş rengi bir saatim var.           I have a silver-colored watch.

Also note that it might be left out in some places where it is used in English.

Öğrenciyim.     I’m a student.

Most of the time, the last consonant of bir is not pronounced in daily life.

Bi hafta sonra geliyorum.  I’m coming in a week.

Bi saat önce buradaydı. He was here an hour ago.

18. Formation of Plural Nouns

Formation of plural nouns is fairly easy in Turkish. To make words plural, add –ler or –lar to the word, according the vowel in the last syllable. If the vowel in the last syllable is an E-dotted vowel it gets –ler, if it

is an A-undotted vowel it gets –lar.

evler   houses

arabalar   cars

okullar   schools

hastalar   patients

insanlar    people

There are some exceptions as well that can be memorized without much difficulty:

saatler    hours  

festivaller    festivals

Galler   Wales (i.e. the country)

19. Time

Saat kaç? What time is it?

Bir. It's one.

İki/üç/dört… It's two/three/four...

Öğle vakti. It's noon.

Gece yarısı. It's midnight.

Beşi beş geçiyor. It's 5:05

Sekizi çeyrek geçiyor. It's 8:15

Dokuz kırk beş. It's 9:45 (common use)

Dokuza on var. It's 8:50

Beş otuz beş. It's 5:35 (common use)

Üç buçuk. It's 3:30

It is also common to give the hour and the minute simply, an easier way to tell the time (the two examples

signed with parentheses show this).

20. Weather

Bugün hava nasıl? How's the weather today?

Hava güzel. The weather's nice.

Hava kötü / bozuk. The weather's bad.

Soğuk. It's cold.

Sıcak. It's hot.

Güneşli. It's sunny.

Rüzgârlı. It's windy.

Yağmurlu. It's raining.

Kar yağıyor. It's snowing.

Bulutlu. It's cloudy.

21. Family and Animals

family āile   sibling kardeş   dog köpek

parents ebeveyn   grandfather dede   cat kedi

husband koca   grandmother nine   bird kuş

wife karı; eş   grandson torun   fish balık

father baba   granddaughte

r torun   horse at

mother anne   uncle amca/dayı   goat keçi

son oğul   aunt hala/teyze   pig domuz

daughter kız   nephew yeğen   cow inek

child(ren) çocuk(lar)   niece yeğen   rabbit tavşan

sister kız kardeş   cousin kuzen   turtle kaplumbağa

brother erkek

kardeş   relatives akrabā   mouse fāre

22. To Have and There is / are

The meaning of “There is, there are” is conveyed through the word var. It means “there is / it exists”.

Otoparkta beş araba var.       There are five cars in the parking lot.

Bahçemizde üç ağaç var.      There are three trees in our garden.

 

To say “There aren’t, there isn’t”, the word yok is used, which means “there isn’t / it doesn’t exist”.

Apartmanımızda hiç Amerikalı yok.      There are no Americans in our apartment.

 

Saying you have something is fairly easy in Turkish. For this purpose, the possessive suffixes and the word

var are used together.

Küçük bir kaplumbağam var.      I have a (lit. “my”) small tortoise.

     Sāhilde evi var.        He/she has a (lit. “his/her”) house by the seaside.

 

For negation, yok is used in the same way.

Kedimiz yok.               We don’t have a (lit. “our”) cat.

 

To ask questions like “do you have, don’t you have”, var and yok are used with the question particle,

making var mı and yok mu.

    Arabanız var mı?       Do you have a (lit. “your [pl. or formal] car”) car?

Bilgisayarları yok mu?     Don’t they have a computer of their own?

23. Work and School

doctordentistlawyerprofessorteacherengineerarchitectwriterjournalistmusicianartistpharmacistbankercarpenterbarbermechanicsalesmanelectricianpostmanpolicemansoldierpilotsecretarypoetnurse

doktordiş hekimi / dişçiavukatprofesöröğretmenmühendismīmaryazargazetecimüzisyenressameczācıbankacımarangozberbermakine ustasısatıcıelektrikçipostacıpolisaskerpilotsekreterşāir

hasta bakıcı

historymathalgebrageometrysciencephysicschemistryzoologybotanygeographymusicartdrawing (noun)painting (noun)linguisticslanguagesdrawing (verb)painting (verb)

tārihmatematikcebirgeometrifenfizikkimyāzooloji                             botanikcoğrafyamüziksanatçizimresimdilbilimdiller           çizim yapmak

resim yapmak

24. Also and To Be at a Place

The meaning of being at/in one place is conveyed through the particle –de or –da in Turkish. Either of these endings is added to the word, according to the vowel in the last syllable. An E-dotted vowel will get –de,

and an A-undotted vowel will get –da, similar to the plurals.

arabada   in the car

evde     at home

okulda   at school

Note that there is also –te and –ta, used if the last letter of the word is a hard consonant (one of these

letters: f, s, t, k, ç, ş, h, p).

işte   at work

Note: Proper nouns are separated from suffixes by an apostrophe in Turkish.

New York’ta   in New York

The particle de/da also means “too, also”. It is then written separate from the word and is not bound with

hard consonant rules.

Arkadaşım da İngilizce biliyor.  My friend knows English too.Gökay da gelmek istiyor.      Gökay also wants to come.  

Biz de bilmiyoruz.  We don’t know either.

25. Fruits, Vegetables and Meat

apple elma    lettuce marul   ham jambon

orange portakal cabbage lahana meatball köfte

banana muz cauliflower karnabahar chicken tavuk

grapefruit greyfurt asparagus kuşkonmaz turkey hindi

lemon limon spinach ıspanak lobster yengeç

peach şeftāli tomato domates water su

fig incir bean fasulye soda soda

grape üzüm rice pirinç wine şarap

pear armut carrot havuç pork domuz eti

plum erik turnip şalgam pancake gözleme

cherry kiraz onion soğan corn mısır

pineapple ananas cucumber salatalık sauce sos

melon kavun artichoke enginar pasta makarna

watermelon karpuz eggplant patlıcan beet pancar

strawberry çilek radish turp egg yumurta

raspberry ahududu broccoli brokoli cake kek

blackberry böğürtlen pepper biber pie turta; börek

beef sığır eti;

biftek garlic sarımsak ice cream dondurma

sausage sosis potato patates pancake with

meat filling lahmācun

26. Negative Sentences

Negation in verbs is conveyed through the suffix –me or –ma. This suffix is added to the verb stem, forming

the negative infinitive.

vermek    “to give”                                  ver- >> ver + me >> vermemek    “not to give”

almak     “to take”                                   al- >> al + ma >> almamak         “not to take”

 

To form the negative verb in the Present Tense, the vowels a and e in –ma and –me change into the vowels

ı,u or i,ü through Vowel Harmony.

         If the last vowel (or the only vowel) of the verb stem is a or ı, then the vowel is ı, making    –

mıyor.

ağla- >> ağla + mı + yor >> ağlamıyor   “he/she/it is not crying”

         If the last vowel of the verb stem is o or u, then the vowel is u, making –muyor.

ol- >> ol + mu + yor >> olmuyor  “it is not happening, not working”

         If the last vowel of the verb stem is e or i, then the vowel is i, making –miyor.

iç- >> iç + mi + yor >> içmiyor  “he/she/it is not drinking”

         If the last vowel of the verb stem is ö or ü, then the vowel is ü, making –müyor.

gül- >> gül + mü + yor >> gülmüyor  “he/she/it is not laughing”

         Verb stems ending in a vowel do not drop this vowel, unlike the positive conjugation.

anla- >> anla + mı + yor >> anlamıyor  “he/she/it does not understand”

Bugün okula gitmiyoruz.        We’re not going to school today.Sigara içmiyorum.                I don’t smoke.

Çocuklar bir şey yemiyorlar.    The children aren’t eating anything.

Consonant mutation does not occur in the verbs gitmek (to go) and etmek (to do), unlike the positive

conjugation.

git- >> git + mi + yor >> gitmiyor “he/she/it is not going”

et- >> et + mi + yor >> etmiyor  “he/she/it is not doing”

27. Double Negation

Double negation is observed in Turkish.

Hiçbir şey bilmiyorum.        I don’t know anything (lit. “I don’t know nothing.”)New York’a hiç gitmedim.         I’ve never been to New York (lit. “I haven’t never went to New York .”)

Bana hiç kimse yardım etmiyor.       No one is helping me.  (lit. “No one is not helping me.”)

There is one exception to this rule: Sentences in which the particles "ne.....ne (de)" are used. "ne....ne (de)" has the meaning of "neither....nor" in English.

 

Ne o ne de kardeşi Almanca biliyorlar.     Neither he, nor his brother know German. Ne kalmak istiyorlar, ne bir şey yemek istiyorlar.    They neither want to stay, nor want to eat something.

 

Yet, it should also be noted that some speakers still observe double negation with "ne....ne (de)". In either case, the meaning (neither...nor) does not change (that is, the sentence pertains the negative meaning).

 

Ne ben ne de oğlum hiçbir şey hatırlamıyoruz.   Neither me, nor my son remember anything.

 

28. To and From Places

The meaning of the particles “to, into” in English is conveyed through the suffix –e or –a in Turkish. An E-dotted vowel (one of e,i,ö,ü) in a word’s last (or the only) syllable gets –e, an A-undotted vowel (one of

a,ı,o,u)   gets –a.

eve      to the house

okula     to school

İstanbul’a      to Istanbul

arkadaşıma      to my friend  

If the word ends in a vowel, y is included between the word and the suffix.

arabaya     to the car

hastāneye       to the hospital

Fransa’ya      to France  

The meaning of the particle “from” in English is conveyed through the suffix –den or –dan, while the

construction remains the same.

evden       from the house

üniversiteden      from the university

kütüphāneden       from the library  

Note that there are also –ten and –tan, used if the last letter of the word is a hard consonant (one of these

letters: f, s, t, k, ç, ş, h, p).

Teksas’tan       from Texas

Mehmet’ten     from Mehmet

kitaptan    from the book

29. Noun Compounds

When two nouns come together (like “school bag”), they form a noun compound. Noun compounds are used very often in Turkish. In a noun compound, the first element is the possessor, and the second one is the

possessed. In Turkish, the possessed noun in an indefinite noun compound takes a suffix. This is the same

with the possessive suffix for the third person singular (“his/her/its”).

 

öğrenci >> öğrenci + si >> üniversite öğrencisi   “university student”

If the word ends in a consonant, the letter s is omitted from the suffix, as explained in possessive suffixes.

otobüs >> otobüs + ü >> okul otobüsü    “the school bus”

adam >> adam + ı >> iş adamı      “businessman”

If the possessed noun is in plural, it takes the possessive suffix for “their”.

yemek >> yemek + leri >> Türk yemekleri    “Turkish dishes”

There are certain cases where no suffix is needed. Some of them are:

         If the first word is an adjective.   

beyaz at “white horse”, yüksek dağlar “high mountains”

         If the first word is a name of a material.

altın yüzük “golden ring”, tahta masa “wooden table”

Üniversite öğrencisiyim.       I am a university student.İş adamları bu akşam İstanbul’da toplanıyorlar.     Businessmen are meeting in Istanbul this evening.

Türk yemekleri çok lezzetli.     Turkish dishes are very delicious.

30. Countries and Nationalities

  Country Nationality

Germany Almanya Alman

Argentina Arjantin Arjantinli

Australia Avustralya Avustralyalı

Bolivia Bolivya Bolivyalı

Bosnia Bosna Boşnak

Turkey Türkiye Türk

Canada Kanada Kanadalı

Columbia Kolombiya Kolombiyalı

Costa Rica Kostarīka Kostarīkalı

Cuba Küba Kübalı

Croatia Hırvatistan Hırvat

Chile Şili Şilili

China Çin Çinli

Ecuador Ekvador Ekvadorlu

Egypt Mısır Mısırlı

Georgia Gürcistan Gürcü

Spain İspanya İspanyol

United States Amerika Amerikalı

Albania Arnavutluk Arnavut

France Fransa Fransız

India Hindistan Hintli

England İngiltere İngiliz

Hungary Macaristan Macar

Italy İtalya İtalyan

Japan Japonya Japon

Jordan Ürdün Ürdünlü

Kazakhstan Kazakistan Kazak; Kazak Türkü

Lithuania Litvanya Litvanyalı

Mexico Meksika Meksikalı

Norway Norveç Norveçli

Poland Polonya Polonyalı

Portugal Portekiz Portekizli

Russia Rusya Rus

Serbia Sırbistan Sırp

South Africa Güney Afrika Güney Afrikalı

Sweden İsveç İsveçli

Syria Sūriye Sūriyeli

31. To Do or Make

yapmak   etmek

yapıyorum yapıyoruz   ediyorum ediyoruz

yapıyorsun yapıyorsunuz   ediyorsun ediyorsunuz

yapıyor yapıyorlar   ediyor ediyorlar

The verbs yapmak and etmek both mean “to do / to make” in English. While yapmak is used more as a stand-alone verb, etmek has many uses as an auxiliary verb. As noted earlier, the verb etmek goes through

a consonant mutation: t turns into d when conjugated.

Common verbs with etmek:

reddetmek – to refusehapsetmek – to imprisonkabul etmek – to acceptemretmek – to commandfark etmek – to notice

hak etmek – to deserve

32. Commands

The imperative form is constructed simply by dropping the infinitive suffix from the verb root, and adding the necessary suffixes. There are no exceptions.

The imperative for you (sen) does not get a suffix, as it is complied of the verb root. Vowel Harmony is observed. Studying the earlier mentioned rules of Vowel Harmony is sufficient to master the imperative

construction.

Person Imperative Form gitmek–to go

sen git!

siz (formal / plural) gidin! / gidiniz! (more formal&less common)

o gitsin!

onlar gitsinler!

As in the Present Tense, t in the verbs etmek and gitmek softens to d, in the imperative form for siz.

  Sabırlı ol! Be patient! Buraya gelin! Come here! (formal / plural) Acele edin, lütfen! Please hurry up! (formal / plural) Çocuklar uyusunlar. Let the kids sleep. Şuna bak! Look at that!

 

33. Food and Meals

breakfastlunchsuppermealfoodbreadrollbuttermeatfishvegetablesfruitcheesecrackerscandysandwich

ice cream

kahvaltıöğle yemeğiakşam yemeğiyemekyiyecekekmektost ekmeğiyağetbalıksebzemeyvepeynirkrakerşekerlemesandviç

dondurma

tableclothnapkinforkknifespoonplate, dishglasscupsaltsaltshakerpepperpepper shakersugarsugar bowlvinegarcoffeepotteapot

tray

masa örtüsüpeçeteçatalbıçakkaşıktabakbardakfincantuztuzlukbiberbiberlikşekerşekerliksirkecezveçaydanlık

tepsi

34. Holiday Phrases

the new year yeni yıl

birthday doğum günü

Mother’s Day anneler günü

Father’s Day babalar günü

may it be blessed! kutlu olsun!

Eid-al-Fitr Ramazan bayramı

Christmas Noel bayramı

Feast of Sacrifice Kurban bayramı

 

Yeni yılınız kutlu olsun! / Yeni yılın kutlu olsun! (formal / informal) Happy New Year!

Doğum gününüz / günün kutlu olsun! (formal / informal) Happy Birthday!

Anneler gününüz / günün kutlu olsun! Happy Mothers’ Day!

Ramazan bayramınız / bayramın kutlu olsun! Happy Ramadan Bayram (Eid-al-Fitr)!

Noel bayramınız / bayramın kutlu olsun! Merry Christmas!

Kurban bayramınız / bayramın kutlu olsun! Happy Feast of Sacrifice (Eid-al-Adha)!

35. Nature

air hava

bay koy

beach sahil

branch  dal

bridge köprü

cave  mağara

city şehir

climate iklim

cloud bulut

daisy papatya

darkness karanlık

dust toz

soil toprak

grass çimen

moon ay

mountain dağ

water su

36. Parts of the Body

eye göz

arm kol

ear kulak

mouth ağız

eyebrow kaş

face yüz

finger parmak

hand el

foot ayak

forehead alın

hair saç

head baş

leg bacak

knee diz

nose burun

shoulder omuz

tongue dil