You will sort four relatives by family side, say each one with “my”, and tell a real relative from a polite address in the street.
The idea
Turkish splits “uncle” and “aunt” by family side. On the father's side amca is the father's brother and hala is his sister. On the mother's side dayı is the mother's brother and teyze is her sister. With “my” they become amcam, halam, dayım and teyzem.
| Word | Side | Relative | With “my” |
|---|---|---|---|
| amca | father's side | father's brother | amcam |
| hala | father's side | father's sister | halam |
| dayı | mother's side | mother's brother | dayım |
| teyze | mother's side | mother's sister | teyzem |
Examples
- Amcam babamın erkek kardeşi.My paternal uncle is my father's brother.
- Dayım annemin erkek kardeşi.My maternal uncle is my mother's brother.
- Halam babamın kız kardeşi.My paternal aunt is my father's sister.
- Teyzem annemin kız kardeşi.My maternal aunt is my mother's sister.
- Yarın halamı arayacağım.I will call my paternal aunt tomorrow.The possessive -m is added straight after the final vowel: hala → halam, dayı → dayım. The accusative -ı follows because the aunt is the object, and the pronoun ben is dropped.
- Amca, istasyon nerede?Excuse me, sir, where is the station?Here amca is not a relative: it is a polite way to call an older man you do not know. Teyze does the same for an older woman.
- Hasan dayı bakkalda çalışıyor.Uncle Hasan works at the grocery.After a name, dayı or amca is a friendly title for an older man. It follows the name in lowercase, with no apostrophe, and it does not say he is a relative.
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Watch out
Do not treat the four words as interchangeable: dayım for your father's brother is wrong, because dayı always belongs to the mother's side. And amca or teyze said to a stranger is only a polite address, not a family link.
Try it yourself
Which word means your father's brother (paternal uncle)?
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amca
amca: the father's brother sits on the father's side, and that side has amca; the mother's brother would be dayı.
Which word means your mother's brother (maternal uncle)?
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dayı
dayı: the mother's brother sits on the mother's side, so it is dayı; the father's brother would be amca.
Which word means your mother's sister (maternal aunt)?
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teyze
teyze: the mother's sister is teyze, while the father's sister is hala.
Add “my” to dayı (maternal uncle): my maternal uncle.
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dayım
dayım: dayı already ends in a vowel, so “my” is just -m, and the dotless ı stays: not dayim.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Which word means your father's brother (paternal uncle)?
Which word means your mother's brother (maternal uncle)?
Which word means your mother's sister (maternal aunt)?
Add “my” to dayı (maternal uncle): my maternal uncle.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
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Write one sentence about your father's brothers and sisters and one about your mother's, and say which side each word belongs to.