Turkish for Beginners

This page was written as a quick guide to a few simple words of Turkish, as there didn't seem to be much else available on the web to help those who are planning a visit to Turkey and wished to be armed with a little knowledge of how to speak Turkish.

Simple Grammar:

There are 8 vowels in Turkish: a, e, o, ö, u, ü, and 2 forms of i - one with a dot and one without which cannot be easily reproduced on a web page written in the English alphabet, so I will use the symbol | for this letter. For a capital i, I will use Ï. The vowels are pronounced thus:

a - as in car
e - as in jet but somtimes like a as in late
o - as in hope but sometimes as in dog
ö - as the ur in fur, but shorter
u - as in hoot (like a double o)
ü - as in yew (as if saying the name of the letter u)
 i - as in meet (like a double e)
| - as in big, but sometimes almost as if the letter wasn't there at all (see Nas|ls|n|z)

There are also some "special characters" in the Turkish alphabet which again are hard to include on a web page written in English - C with a "tail" (cedilla) - Ç and also S with a "tail" which I will represent by the dollar sign - $. The Ç is pronounced ch as in chat and the $ is pronounced sh as in bishop. The letter g has 2 sounds - when before or after a, |, o, u it is pronounced as in go. If it is before or after e, i, ö, ü it is followed by a y-sound, as in angular. There is also a g with an accent like a letter v on top - when this is preceded or followed by e, i, ö or ü it is usually pronounced as a y sound as in lawyer, otherwise it indicates that the preceding vowel is lengthened. I will use the symbol g for the accented g. The letter k follows the same rules as the unaccented letter g. The letter r is not "rolled" to the extent that it is in English - i.e. do not prolong the end of "lair" but make it more like "lai" with just a hint of "r" after it..... similar to saying "lay-uh" but as one syllable, not two.

The is no letter Q, nor letter W in Turkish.

The following table shows a few simple words and phrases in Turkish, together with the English meaning. The third column shows how to pronounce the Turkish word, using the nearest equivalent words and/or letters in English. Pronounce what is written in this column exactly as you would say it in English. The stressed part of the pronunciation (if there is one) is in bold type. The last column contains an icon, which if you hover your mouse over it will play a sound clip with the Turkish word or phrase spoken. (under construction)

If you find this page useful and would like further words or phrases added, please send an e-mail to "turkey" using (@) the manastro.co.uk address.

English word/phrase	Turkish word/phrase	Pronounce it like this	Listen
Hello	Merhaba	Mare-ha-ba
Good morning	Günayd|n	Gyewn-eye-dn
Good afternoon	Ïyi günler	Ee-yee gyewn-lair
Good evening	Ïyi ak$amlar	Ee-yee ack-sham-lar
Good night	Ïyi geceler	Ee-yee gyeh-jellair
See you later	Sonra görü$ürüz	Son-rah gyurryew-shyew-ryewz
See you tomorrow	Yar|n görü$ürüz	Yar-n gyurryew-shyewr-yewz
How are you?	Nas|ls|n|z?	Nah-sill-sn-nz
Very well, thanks	Çok iyiyim, te$ekkürler	Chock ee-yee-yeem, tesh-ek-cure-lair
Thank you	Te$ekkür ederim	Tesh-ek-cure ed-air-eem
Thank you very much	Çok te$ekkür ederim	Chock tesh-ek-cure ed-air-eem
How much? (price)	Kaç para?	Cach pa-ra (try not to say "catch")
Toilet(s)	Tuvalet(ler)	Too-val-let (lair)
Where are the toilets?	Tuvaletler nerededir	Too-val-let-lair neh-red-ed-eer
Yes	Evet	Eh-vet
No	Hay|r	Hah-yer
Big	Büyük	Byew-yewk
Small	Küçük	Kyew-chyewk
Beer	Bira	Bee-ra
Bread	Ekmek	Ek-mek
Salt	Tuz	Tooz
Vinegar	Sirke	Seer-kyeh
Sugar	$eker	Shek-yare
One	Bir	Beer
Two	Ïki	Ee-kyee
Three	Üç	Yewch
Four	Dört	Dirt
Five	Be$	Besh
Six	Alti	Al-tee
Seven	Yedi	Yed-ee
Eight	Sekiz	Sek-yeez
Nine	Dokuz	Doh-kooz
Ten	On	Ohn