Greeting people by the hour: günaydın, iyi akşamlar

The idea

A Turkish greeting is a wish for the time of day, so it changes with the clock: günaydın in the morning, iyi günler from midday, iyi akşamlar in the evening. The other person answers with the same wish (Size de iyi akşamlar). Merhaba fits every hour. Someone who arrives hears hoş geldin, or hoş geldiniz when you are polite or there are several people, and the fixed reply is hoş bulduk.

Examples

• Günaydın, Ayşe Hanım.Good morning, Ms Ayşe.Günaydın is one word that belongs only to the morning. Hanım follows a woman's first name, Bey a man's, and both are capitalised.
• Size de iyi akşamlar, Selin Hanım.Good evening to you too, Ms Selin.Size de means 'to you too' and is the polite reply to a greeting; de is written apart. A friend gets Sana da.
• Hoş geldin, Murat.Welcome, Murat.Hoş geldin welcomes someone who arrives: at your door, at the office, back from a trip. For a polite address or several people it becomes hoş geldiniz.
• Hoş bulduk, teşekkür ederiz.Thank you, it's good to be here.This is the fixed reply to hoş geldin and hoş geldiniz. Literally 'we found it pleasant', and one person says it too.
• İyi geceler, anne.Good night, Mum.İyi geceler is only for parting at night or going to bed. It is never an arrival greeting.
• geldinizyou camegel·di-di, -dı, -du, -dü, -ti: the past (geldi, yaptı)·nizPast person endings: -m, -n, -k, -niz, -lerGel is 'come', -di is the past and -niz is 'you' (polite or plural). So hoş geldiniz literally says 'you came well'.
• akşamlareveningsakşam·lar-ler / -lar: the plural suffix
• İyi günler, Mehmet Bey.Good afternoon, Mr Mehmet.İyi günler covers the daytime from about midday and also works as a goodbye. The plural -ler is part of the fixed phrase.

Watch out

İyi geceler is not an evening hello. You say it when someone goes to bed or when you leave late at night, so you walk into a restaurant at 10 p.m. with iyi akşamlar. And do not answer hoş geldiniz with the same words: the reply is hoş bulduk.

Try it yourself

1. It is 8 a.m. Greet your neighbour with one word.

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   günaydın

   günaydın: it is one word and belongs only to the morning, so there is no iyi in front of it.

2. A host says “Hoş geldiniz.” Give the fixed two-word reply.

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   hoş bulduk / hoş buldum

   hoş bulduk: a welcome is answered with the fixed phrase 'we found it pleasant', not with the same welcome again.

3. It is 10 p.m. and you walk into a restaurant. Greet the staff with two words.

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   iyi akşamlar / iyi akşam

   iyi akşamlar (or iyi akşam): at 10 p.m. you are arriving and need a hello, while iyi geceler would sound like goodbye.

4. Wish your mother good night before she goes to bed.

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   geceler / gece

   geceler: this is the wish before sleep, and the plural -ler follows the front vowel e of gece.

Use it today

Write the greeting and the answer for four moments: your neighbour at 8 a.m., a shop at 3 p.m., a guest at your door at 7 p.m., and your mother at bedtime.