Basic Turkish Phrases for Tourists

For all those who are going to have holiday in Turkey it will be useful to learn basic Turkish phrases for tourists. Most of the following simple useful Turkish phrases may be useful to you as they are used in everyday life.

Let's start with a brief history of the Turkish language. The abrupt replacement of Ottoman alphabet by Latin one in 1928 had a profound impact on the literacy of the Turkish population at that time and modern Turkish. So how to speak Turkish phrases? Turkish language is based on vowel harmony and use of suffixes. There are some English and French words being used in key common Turkish phrases and most of local Turks in Fethiye, Oludeniz and Hisaronu speak tolerable English. There are regional dialects spoken in Turkey, such as Kurds speak their own language and there is a mixture of Georgian, Arabic and Turkish in the border areas. Learning just a few everyday common basic Turkish phrases for tourists will help to make new friends.

There are two main differences between Turkish language and English. Firstly, many Turkish words are made by adding affixes, whereas in other languages they would be written separately by single words, such as pronouns, negatives and particles. Secondly, there is a "vowel harmony" rule in Turkish, which regulates the use of vowels in words.

For your convenience common basic Turkish phrases for tourists to learn are given below with the translation and transcription. 

GREETINGS

Hello Merhaba MEHR-hah-bah
Good morning Günaydın gew-nahy-DUHN
Good evening İyi akşamlar EE ahk-shahm-LAHR
Good night İyi geceler EE geh-jeh-LEHR
Goodbye Allaha ısmarladık ah-LAHS-mahr-lah-duhk
Bon voyage Güle güle gew-LEH gew-LEH
What is your name? Adınız ne? AH-duh-NUHZ neh
My name is … Adım … Ah-DUHM
How are you? Nasılsınız? NAHS-suhl-suh-nuhz
I'm fine, thank you. İyiyim, teşekkür ederim. ee-YEE-yihm, tesh-ek-KEWR eh-dehr-eem
Pardon me Affedersiniz, pardon af-feh-DEHR-see- neez, pahr-DOHN
Yes/no Evet/hayır eh-VEHT/HAH-yuhr
Please Lütfen LEWT-fehn
Help yourself Buyurun(uz) BOOY-roon-(ooz)
Thanks Teşekkürler [or] Sağ ol [or] Mersi teh-sheh-kewr-LEHR, SOWL, mehr-SEE
You're welcome Bir şey değil beer SHEHY deh-YEEL
Friend Arkadaş Ar-kah-DAHSH

WHAT? WHERE? WHEN?

What? Ne? NEH
How? Nasıl? NAH-suhl
Who? Kim? KEEM
Why? Niçin [or] neden? NEE-cheen, NEH-dehn
When? Ne zaman? NEH zah-mahn
Which one? Hangisi? HAHN-gee-see
What's this? Bu ne? BOO neh
How much/ many? Kaç/kaç tane? KAHCH/tah-neh
What does it mean? Ne demek? NEH deh-mehk
Give me ... ... bana verin bah-NAH veh-reen
I want ... ... istiyorum eess-tee-YOH-room
... this Bu(nu) ... boo(NOO)
... that Şu(nu) ... shoo(NOO)
... the other O(nu) ... oh(NOO)
Where is a/the ... ? ... nerede? NEH-reh-deh
… railway station Gar/istasyon … GAHR/ ees-tah-SYOHN
… bus station Otogar … OH-toh-gahr
… cheap hotel Ucuz bir otel … oo-JOOZ beer oh-TEHL
… toilet Tuvalet … too-vah-LEHT
… restaurant Lokanta … loh-KAHN-tah
… post office Postane, PTT … POHSS-tah-neh, peh-teh-THE

OPPOSITES

hot/cold sıcak/soğuk suh-JAHK/soh-OOK
big/small büyük/küçük bew-YEWK/kew-CHEWK
new/old yeni/eski yeh-NEE/ehss-KEE
open/closed açık/kapalı ah-CHUHK/kah-pah-LUH
not ... ... değil deh-YEEL
It exists/ doesn't exist Var/yok VAHR/YOHK
And/or Ve/veya VEH/veh-YAH
Good/bad İyi/fenah EE-ee/ feh-NAH
Beautiful/ugly Güzel/çirkin gew-ZEHL/cheer-KEEN

GOING PLACES

Room Oda OH-dah
Shower Duş DOOSH
Bath Banyo BAHN-yo
Turkish bath Hamam Hah-MAHM
Soap Sabun Sah-BOON
Toilet paper Tuvalet kâğıdı too-vah-LEHT kyaah-uh-duh
Hot water Sıcak su Suh_JAHK soo
Luggage Bagaj Bah-GAHZH
Clean Temiz The-MEEZ
Laundry Çamasır Chah-mah-SHUR
Light(s) Işık(lar) Uh-SHUK (uh-shuk-LAHR)
Money Para PAH-rah
Water Su SOO
Tea Çay CHAH-yee
street, avenue sokak, cadde(si) soh-KAHK, JAHD-deh
Left/right Sol/ sağ SOHL/SAAH
straight (on) doğru doh-ROO
Here/there/over there Burada/ şurada/ orada BOO-rah-dah/ SHOO-rah-dah/ OH-rah-dah
Near/far Yakın/uzak yah-KUHN/oo-ZAHK
Map harita HAH-ree-TAH
Ticket bilet bee-LEHT
one-way/round- trip gidiş/gidiş-dönüş gee-DEESH/ gee-DEESH-dur-NEWRSH
airplane uçak oo-CHAHK
airport havaalanı Hah-VAH-ah-lah-nuh
train tren TREHN
ship gemi GEH-mee
bus otobüs Oh-toh-BEWSS
car araba AH-rah-bah
day, daily gün, hergün GURN, HEHR-gurn

DAYS OF THE WEEK

today bugün BOO-gurn
tomorrow yarın YAHR-uhn
week hafta hahf-TAH
Sunday Pazar pah-ZAHR
Monday Pazartesi pah-ZAHR-teh-see
Tuesday Salı sah-LUH
Wednesday Çarsamba char-shahm-BAH
Thursday Persembe pehr-shehm-BEH
Friday Cuma joo-MAH
Saturday Cumartesi joo-MAHR-teh-see

MONTHS OF THE YEAR

month ay AH-yee
year sene, yıl SEH-neh, YUHL
January Ocak oh-JAHK
February Şubat shoo-BAHT
March Mart MAHRT
April Nisan nee-SAHN
May Mayıs mah-YUSS
June Haziran HAH-zee-RAHN
July Temmuz teh-MOOZ
August Ağustos AH-oo-STOHSS
September Eylül ehy-LEWL
October Ekim eh-KEEM
November Kasım kah-SUHM
December Aralık AH-rah-LUHK

NUMBERRS

0 sıfır SUH-fuhr
-1/4 çeyrek chehy-REHK
-1/2 yarım YAH-ruhm
-1/2 buçuk boo-CHOOK
1 bir BEER
2 iki ee-KEE
3 üç EWCH
4 dört DURRT
5 beş BEHSH
6 altı ahl-TUH
7 yedi yeh-DEE
8 sekiz seh-KEEZ
9 dokuz doh-KOOZ
10 on OHN
11 on bir ohn BEER
12 on iki ohn ee-KEE
13 on üç ohn EWCH
20 yirmi yeer-MEE
30 otuz oh-TOOZ
40 kırk KUHRK
50 elli ehl-LEE
60 altmış ahlt-MUSH
70 yetmiş yeht-MEESH
80 seksen sehk-SEHN
90 doksan dohk-SAHN
100 yüz YEWZ
200 iki yüz ee-KEE yewz
1000 bin BEEN
2000 iki bin ee-KEE been
10,000 on bin OHN been
1,000,000 milyon meel-YOHN
1,000,000,000 milyar meel-YAHR

We hope that to learm basic Turkish phrases for tourists above will be useful during your holiday to Turkey.