Saying goodbye: hoşça kal, güle güle, iyi geceler
Who says hoşça kal and who answers güle güle? Part from someone in Turkish by day and by night, and see why the two farewells cannot swap places.
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Asking someone to repeat or speak slowly
Say you did not catch something and politely ask a stranger to say it again, more slowly or in writing, with anlamadım and tekrar eder misiniz.
Read and practiseWhere are you from? Where do you live?
Say where you are from and where you live: Nerelisin?, Almanya'danım, Berlin'de yaşıyorum, and why -den names your origin while -de names the place you are in now.
Read and practiseSpelling your name and phone number
Say a name letter by letter with the Turkish letter names such as ye, ve and yumuşak ge, tell ı from i, and read out a phone number digit by digit.
Read and practiseOrdering tea and coffee: bir çay lütfen
Order tea, coffee and the bill in Turkish: bir çay lütfen, counting with bardak and fincan, asking politely with alabilir miyim, and saying "with milk" or "without sugar".
Read and practiseOrdering a meal: lütfen, istiyorum, alabilir miyim
Order food in a Turkish restaurant: ask for the menu, name a dish with lütfen or istiyorum, ask for the bill, and see when hesap becomes hesabı.
Read and practiseAsking the price: kaç lira?
Bu kaç lira? or Ne kadar? Two Turkish ways to ask what something costs, how to read the number in the answer, and why lira never takes a plural.
Read and practiseBuying at a market or shop: a kilo of tomatoes, please
Ask for goods by quantity, check the total and take your change in Turkish, and see why the item stays bare after a measure such as a kilo.
Read and practiseAsking the way: nerede and sağa dönün
Ask where a place is with nerede, follow short directions such as düz gidin and sağa dönün, and see why turning right takes -a instead of -da.
Read and practiseBuying a ticket: bir bilet lütfen
Ankara'ya bir bilet lütfen: buy a bus or metro ticket in Turkish, ask the time and the platform, and see why the city takes -a and not -da.
Read and practiseAsking and telling the time: saat kaç?
Is it saat kaç? or saat kaçta? Ask the time, say three o'clock and half past three, and add -te/-ta to say when something happens.
Read and practiseMeeting a neighbour: yeni komşunuzum
Introduce yourself as the new neighbour with yeni komşunuzum, ask which floor someone lives on, and wish a mover well with hayırlı olsun, all in the polite siz forms.
Read and practiseTalking about your family: annem, kardeşim, var
Annem and kardeşim mean my mother and my sibling. Learn the -m ending, count relatives with var and yok, and ask Kaç kardeşin var? back.
Read and practiseTalking about your job or studies
Ne iş yapıyorsun? Answer with a job and a person ending, as in öğretmenim, and name the place with the locative: hastanede çalışıyorum.
Read and practiseAsking for help: yardım eder misiniz, tuvalet nerede
Bana yardım eder misiniz? Ask for help with the person in the dative, find the toilet with nerede and say bir sorun var when something goes wrong.
Read and practiseCommon wishes: afiyet olsun, geçmiş olsun, kutlu olsun
Wish someone well in Turkish: afiyet olsun at a meal, geçmiş olsun in illness, kutlu olsun on birthdays and holidays, and when 'your' becomes -ın or -ınız.
Read and practiseTalking about hobbies and free time
Müzik dinlemeyi severim: say what you like doing with -meyi and -mayı, ask about free time with boş zamanlarında ne yaparsın, and avoid the yüzmek seviyorum slip.
Read and practiseMaking plans and invitations
Yürüyüşe çıkalım mı? Invite with -elim mi and gelir misin, accept with olur, and refuse politely with maalesef and a reason.
Read and practiseTalking about the weather
Yağmur yağıyor! Describe today's weather with hava plus an adjective, ask whether it will snow tomorrow, and see why üşüyorum is how you say you are cold.
Read and practiseBuying clothes: trying on and sizes
Find your size in a Turkish shop: ask to try something on, say it is too big or too tight with bana, and ask for another size or colour.
Read and practiseTaking a taxi: where to, how much, stop here
Tell the driver Bu adrese gidiyoruz, ask Ne kadar tutar? and request a stop with Burada durabilir misiniz?, and see why köprüye kadar needs the dative.
Read and practiseBooking a hotel room: oda var mı?
Odanız var mı? Book a hotel room in Turkish: ask for a room for two nights, check breakfast with dahil mi and keep the particle mi written apart.
Read and practiseBaşım ağrıyor: at the doctor
Başım ağrıyor means my head hurts: name the body part with -ım, add ağrıyor, answer Neyiniz var? and say ateşim var or öksürüğüm var.
Read and practiseAt the pharmacy: asking for medicine and doses
Ağrı kesiciniz var mı? Ask a pharmacist for a medicine and understand phrases such as günde iki kez, iki günde bir and yemekten sonra.
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