{"id":312,"date":"2012-10-21T09:24:14","date_gmt":"2012-10-21T06:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turkeytravelcentre.com\/blog\/?p=312"},"modified":"2025-12-10T12:46:40","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T09:46:40","slug":"turkish-words-phrases-beginners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turkeytravelcentre.com\/blog\/turkish-words-phrases-beginners\/","title":{"rendered":"Common Turkish Words and Phrases for Tourists"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">An exciting part of visiting a country for the first time is to speak some of the local lingo. The Turks love it, when tourists attempt to converse in their language, even if it is a simple word like saying &#8220;hello&#8221;. Here is a list of common and important day-to-day words and phrases to print off and put in your suitcase.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #800000;\">Common Turkish Words and Phrases for Tourists<br \/>\n<\/span><\/h2>\n<table border=\"1\" width=\"634\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" valign=\"top\" width=\"176\">\n<p align=\"center\">Hello<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" valign=\"top\" width=\"229\">\n<p align=\"center\">Merhaba<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" valign=\"top\" width=\"229\">Meh \u2013 rha &#8211; bah<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" valign=\"top\" width=\"176\">\n<p align=\"center\">Yes<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" valign=\"top\" width=\"229\">\n<p align=\"center\">Evet<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" valign=\"top\" width=\"229\">Eh &#8211; vet<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"176\">\n<p align=\"center\">No<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"229\">\n<p align=\"center\">Hay\u0131r<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"229\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Hah &#8211; yur<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" valign=\"top\" width=\"176\">\n<p align=\"center\">How much?<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" valign=\"top\" width=\"229\">\n<p align=\"center\">Ne kadar?<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" valign=\"top\" width=\"229\">Neh \u2013 ka &#8211; dar<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" valign=\"top\" width=\"176\">\n<p align=\"center\">Please<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" valign=\"top\" width=\"229\">\n<p align=\"center\">Lutfen<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"229\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Lewt &#8211; fehn<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"176\">\n<p align=\"center\">Thank you<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"229\">\n<p align=\"center\">Te\u015fekk\u00fcr ederim<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"229\">Tesh \u2013 ek \u2013 kerr \u2013 eh \u2013 deh &#8211; rim<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"176\">\n<p align=\"center\">How are you?<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"229\">\n<p align=\"center\">Nasilsin?<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"229\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Nah-sil-sen<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"176\">\n<p align=\"center\">I am fine<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"229\">\n<p align=\"center\">Iyiyim<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"229\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">ee-yee-yim<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"176\">\n<p align=\"center\">What?<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"229\">\n<p align=\"center\">Ne?<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"229\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Neh<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"176\">\n<p align=\"center\">When<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"229\">\n<p align=\"center\">Ne zaman<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"229\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Neh-za-man<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2>Important Facts to Know About the Turkish Language<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>It is phonetic so it is pronounced in exactly the same way as it is read<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>There are 29 letters in the alphabet<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The letters Q , W and X are not in the Turkish alphabet<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The Turkish alphabet has some letters that are not present in English including \u00f6 \u00e7 \u015f \u0131 \u011f \u00fc<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The current Turkish alphabet was introduced in 1928 by the founder of Turkey called Mustafa Kemal Ataturk<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>In the <a title=\"east of turkey tours\" href=\"http:\/\/www.turkeytravelcentre.com\/Exotic-South-East-Turkey-Tour.html\">East<\/a>, many Turks will also speak Kurdish<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There are two versions for the word \u201c<strong><em> You <\/em><\/strong>\u201d. \u00a0\u201c<strong><em> Siz <\/em><\/strong><em>&#8220;<\/em> is formal and kept for people that you are unfamiliar with. \u201c<strong><em> Sen <\/em><\/strong>\u201d is informal and used when speaking with friends and family.<\/p>\n<p>Surnames are seldom used in everyday conversations. Women are referred to as han\u0131m so Zeynep will be called Zeynep Han\u0131m. Men are referred to as Bey so Mustafa will be called Mustafa Bey.<\/p>\n<p>It is rude for children to address an adult by their name only so there are many titles that are used on their own or to \u00a0follow a first name. Examples include<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ayse Teyze \u2013 Auntie Ayse<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Mehmet Amca \u2013 Uncle Mehmet<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Abla \u2013 my elder sister<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Abi \u2013 My elder brother<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Hoja \u2013 used when talking about a wise man, like a teacher, advisor or mentor.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Kanka \u2013 my best friend, often used by males only<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">You will still hear Arabic references in daily life. For example, when someone enters a crowded room, they will say \u201c<strong>sel\u00e2m\u00fcnaleyk\u00fcm<\/strong>\u201d and people will respond with &#8220;<strong>aleyk\u00fcmsel\u00e2m<\/strong>&#8220;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Will you struggle if you do not know Turkish?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Not all all. <a title=\"Questions and Answers\" href=\"http:\/\/www.turkeytravelcentre.com\/blog\/questions-answers-turkey\/\">English<\/a> is taught in schools so most Turks have a basic knowledge. If you intend to visit off the beaten track areas, download an app or carry a small phrase book that you can refer to if needed.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In tourist and expats areas like the coastal resorts on the Mediterranean and Aegean coast, English is widely spoken and on some occasions, the Turks can imitate a English accent perfectly!<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius: 2px; text-indent: 20px; width: auto; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; font: bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; color: #ffffff; background: #bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px; position: absolute; opacity: 1; z-index: 8675309; display: none; cursor: pointer;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An exciting part of visiting a country for the first time is to speak some of the local lingo. The Turks love it, when tourists attempt to converse in their language, even if it is a simple word like saying &#8220;hello&#8221;. Here is a list of common and important day-to-day words and phrases to print [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-312","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-travel-blog","7":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkeytravelcentre.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkeytravelcentre.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkeytravelcentre.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkeytravelcentre.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkeytravelcentre.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkeytravelcentre.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2882,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkeytravelcentre.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312\/revisions\/2882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkeytravelcentre.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkeytravelcentre.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkeytravelcentre.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}