You will give your name in the two usual ways, ask someone else's name politely, and finish with memnun oldum.
The idea
Turkish gives a name with a noun, not a verb: Benim adım Ayşe is literally 'my name, Ayşe', and the name takes no ending. The other pattern puts the ending for 'I am' on the name: Ben Cem'im. After a consonant it is -im/-ım/-um/-üm by vowel harmony; after a vowel a y comes first: Ayşe'yim. Close with memnun oldum.
| Last vowel of the name | Ending after a consonant / after a vowel | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| a, ı | -ım / -yım | Murat'ım, Ayla'yım |
| e, i | -im / -yim | Cem'im, Ayşe'yim |
| o, u | -um / -yum | Yusuf'um |
| ö, ü | -üm / -yüm | Gönül'üm |
Examples
- Merhaba, ben Ayşe'yim.Hello, I'm Ayşe.The pronoun ben may be dropped: Merhaba, Ayşe'yim. The ending -yim already says 'I am'.
- Ben Mehmet'im, memnun oldum.I'm Mehmet, pleased to meet you.Mehmet ends in a consonant, so the ending for 'I am' is added with no y: Mehmet'im. Memnun oldum is literally 'I have become pleased'.
- Ben de memnun oldum.Pleased to meet you too.This is the usual reply to memnun oldum. The word de ('too') is written apart from ben.
- Benim adım Ayşe.My name is Ayşe.Benim adım is literally 'my name': no verb 'is' is needed and the name takes no ending. Benim may be dropped: Adım Ayşe.
- Adım Selin.My name is Selin.
- Ayşe'yimI am AyşeAyşe'yim-im / -sin / -iz / -siniz: I am, you are, we areAyşe ends in the vowel e, so a y comes between the name and the ending: Ayşe'yim, never Ayşe'im.
- Cem'imI am CemCem'im-im / -sin / -iz / -siniz: I am, you are, we are
- Adınız ne?What is your name? (polite)Adınız is the polite 'your name', used with a stranger or someone older. To a friend you say Adın ne?
- adımmy nameadım-im / -ım / -um / -üm / -m: my
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Watch out
Pick one pattern, not both. Adım Ayşe'yim is wrong, because adım already means 'my name' and the name needs no 'I am' beside it. Ben adım Ayşe is the same slip in another form: before adım the matching pronoun is benim, not ben.
Try it yourself
Say 'I am Ali': add the ending for 'I am' to Ali.
Show answer or example answer
Ali'yim
Ali'yim: Ali ends in the vowel i, so a y separates it from the ending, and the front vowel i gives -im.
Say 'I am Cem': add the ending for 'I am' to Cem.
Show answer or example answer
Cem'im
Cem'im: Cem ends in a consonant, so no y; its last vowel e is front and unrounded, which gives -im.
Fill the gap with the word for 'name': My name is Deniz.
Show answer or example answer
adım
adım: the word 'name' must carry the same person as benim ('my'), and for 'my' the ending is -ım after a. No verb 'is' follows.
Complete the question to a friend: What is your name?
Show answer or example answer
adın
adın: a friend is addressed with 'your' in the singular, whose ending after a is -ın; adınız is for a stranger or an older person.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Say 'I am Ali': add the ending for 'I am' to Ali.
Say 'I am Cem': add the ending for 'I am' to Cem.
Fill the gap with the word for 'name': My name is Deniz.
Complete the question to a friend: What is your name?
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the parts in order to build this word: I am Ayşe
Tap the parts in order to build this word: I am Cem
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Write how you would introduce yourself to a new neighbour: your name in both patterns, the question for their name, and your closing phrase.