You will ask how a friend and how a teacher are doing, and answer about yourself in a single word.
The idea
Nasıl means how, and the ending after it shows whom you ask: nasılsın for one person you call sen (a friend, a relative, a child), nasılsınız for siz (an elder, a stranger, a customer, or several people). The answer is a word for your state plus the ending for I: iyiyim, yorgunum, kötüyüm. After a vowel (iyi, kötü) a y joins the word and the ending, and the vowel of the ending follows the last vowel of the word: -im, -üm, -um.
| Word | I (ben) | You, informal (sen) | You, formal (siz) |
|---|---|---|---|
| iyi | iyiyim | iyisin | iyisiniz |
| kötü | kötüyüm | kötüsün | kötüsünüz |
| yorgun | yorgunum | yorgunsun | yorgunsunuz |
| hazır | hazırım | hazırsın | hazırsınız |
Examples
- Ayşe, bugün nasılsın?Ayşe, how are you today?
- İyiyim, teşekkür ederim.I'm fine, thank you.The single word iyiyim already means I am fine, so the pronoun ben is left out. The y joins iyi to the ending.
- Hocam, siz nasılsınız?Hocam, how are you?Hocam, literally my teacher, is a respectful way to address a teacher. Siz asks politely and goes with the ending -sınız; siz itself may be dropped.
- Nasılsın?How are you?This is the form for one person you call sen: a friend, a relative, a classmate or a child. The pronoun sen is normally dropped.
- nasılsınızHow are you? (formal)nasılsınız-im / -sin / -iz / -siniz: I am, you are, we are
- iyiyimI am fineiyiyim-im / -sin / -iz / -siniz: I am, you are, we are
- yorgunumI am tiredyorgunum-im / -sin / -iz / -siniz: I am, you are, we are
- Fena değilim, sen nasılsın?Not bad, and how are you?Değilim is the negative of I am. Here sen is not dropped: saying it is how you hand the question back.
- İyi misin?Are you well?Use it when someone looks unwell, not as a greeting. Mi is written apart and takes -sin.
Read-aloud uses a synthetic Turkish voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.
No Turkish device voice is available. You can still read the text.
Watch out
Do not build "I am fine" word by word: iyim is wrong, because after the vowel i the ending needs the y, so say iyiyim. And do not use nasılsın with a teacher or a stranger: it is the familiar sen form, and the polite one is nasılsınız.
Try it yourself
Say I am fine with iyi (well): add the ending for I.
Show answer or example answer
iyiyim
iyiyim: iyi ends in a vowel, so a y comes before the ending, and the last vowel i gives -im.
Say I am doing badly with kötü (bad): add the ending for I.
Show answer or example answer
kötüyüm
kötüyüm: kötü ends in the vowel ü, so a y comes in, and ü gives -üm.
Say I am tired with yorgun (tired): add the ending for I.
Show answer or example answer
yorgunum
yorgunum: yorgun ends in the consonant n, so no y is needed, and the vowel u gives -um.
Ask your teacher politely how they are.
Show answer or example answer
nasılsınız
nasılsınız: you address a teacher with siz, so the ending is -sınız, and ı follows the last vowel of nasıl.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Say I am fine with iyi (well): add the ending for I.
Say I am doing badly with kötü (bad): add the ending for I.
Say I am tired with yorgun (tired): add the ending for I.
Ask your teacher politely how they are.
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: How are you? (formal)
Tap the parts in order to build this word: I am fine
Keep your progress
Sign up for free to save your practice results in your account.
Sign up to saveI already have an accountUse it today
Write two short dialogues, one with a friend and one with your teacher, each with a question and an answer. In every answer check the last vowel of the state word and the ending.