Günaydın: saying good morning in Turkish

The idea

Günaydın is a single word (gün day + aydın bright) and it is the whole morning greeting: it is the same for a friend, a customer or a boss, and it takes no iyi in front. Use it from waking until about midday, then change to iyi günler. The reply is the same word, often Sana da günaydın to a friend or Size de günaydın to someone you address politely.

Examples

• Günaydın, Ayşe Hanım!Good morning, Ms Ayşe!Hanım is a polite title placed after a woman's first name (Bey after a man's). The greeting itself does not change.
• Günaydın, kahvaltı hazır!Good morning, breakfast is ready!
• Sabah günaydın, akşam iyi akşamlar.You say good morning in the morning and good evening in the evening.Only the morning greeting is one word without iyi. The evening greeting is built with iyi and a plural: iyi akşamlar.
• GünaydınGood morningThe word is gün (day) plus aydın (bright), written as one word. The last letter is a dotless ı, so günaydin is a misspelling.
• Sana da günaydın.Good morning to you too.
• Günaydın efendim, hoş geldiniz.Good morning, welcome.Efendim is a polite address that suits anyone, man or woman. Günaydın itself stays the same in a shop, an office or at home.
• İyi günler, Mehmet Bey.Good afternoon, Mr Mehmet.From around midday iyi günler takes over from günaydın. People also say it when they part during the day.

Watch out

Do not build it from English: iyi günaydın does not exist, because günaydın already holds the wish. Write it as one word with a dotless ı at the end, not gün aydın and not günaydin.

Try it yourself

1. Type the Turkish for good morning. It is one word.

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   günaydın

   günaydın: it is one fixed word, so nothing is added to it, and its last letter is the dotless ı, not i.

2. It is three in the afternoon. Greet the cashier politely with the daytime greeting.

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   iyi günler

   iyi günler: it is afternoon, so the morning word no longer fits; the daytime greeting takes iyi and a plural.

3. A friend says good morning. Answer: good morning to you too (use the informal you).

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   Sana

   Sana: you are speaking to a friend, so informal sen with the direction ending gives sana; to someone you address politely you would say size.

4. Fill the gap in the evening greeting: good evening.

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   iyi

   iyi: the evening greeting is iyi akşamlar; only the morning greeting is a single word without iyi.

Use it today

Greet three people you know with the right morning or daytime greeting, then write each reply. Check that every günaydın ends in a dotless ı.