Turkish Language (Türkçe / Türk Dili)

 

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Turkish is a phonetic language. This means that, by learning a few basic rules, it’s easy to pronounce the Turkish words correctly.

Turkish Alphabet

In order to create a phonetic language, a few changes were made to the Latin alphabet. The letters Q, W and X were disregarded and six additional letters were added: ç, ğ, ş, ö, ü and ı (undotted i). So, the Turkish alphabet is made up of eight vowels and twenty-one consonants.

Turkish Pronunciation

Listen and Practice

Basic rules

  • each letter is pronounced - e.g. your buddy Mehmet is pronounced ‘mehh-met’ and not ‘me-met’.
  • vowels don’t combine to form diphthongs - e.g. eye, boy, and cow in English
  • consonants don’t combine to form other sounds - e.g. th, gh or sh in English

Pronunciation of special characters

  • c - as the j in joker
  • ç - as the ch in child
  • g - as the g in garlic
  • ğ - this letter is not pronounced but lenghthens the preceding vowel
  • i - a short i, as in sit and tip
  • ı - as the u in butter
  • ö - as the u in fur
  • u - as the oo in book
  • ü - as the e in few
  • ş - as the sh in she

If you want to construct simple, everyday sentences to impress the locals, try to master some of the sentences listed below.

How are you?
Nasılsın?

I’m fine.
İyiyim.

Do you speak English?
İngilizce konuşuyor musunuz?

Pleased to meet you.
Memnun oldum.

See you soon.
Görüşmek üzere.

Whether you want to find your way around town, do some sightseeing, indulge in a shopping spree or book accommodation in Istanbul, I’m sure you’ll find some useful words here.

 air-conditioning
klima		 balcony
balkon		 bathroom
banyo		 bed
yatak
 breakfast
kahvaltı		 dinner
akşam yemeği		 double room
çift kişilik oda		 hotel
otel
 key
anahtar		 elevator
asansör		 luggage
bagaj		 lunch
öğle yemeği
 reception
resepsiyon		 restaurant
restoran / lokanta		 room
oda		 room service
oda servisi
 shampoo
şampuan		 shower
duş		 single room
tek kişilik oda		 soap
sabun
 swimming pool
havuz		 toilet
tuvalet		 toilet paper
tuvalet kağıdı		 towel
havlu


Before learning these words, make sure to master the Turkish pronunciation rules first.
Some basic Turkish words are;

 yes
evet		 hello
merhaba		 Mr
bay

child - çocuk

lütfen - please
 no
hayır		 ok
tamam		 Mrs
bayan		 thank you
teşekkür ederim		 goodbye
hoşça kalın


Take TDT's free Test in Turkish vocabulary - Restaurant/Food 60min./50 questions. Password:"tdturkish"

Numbers in Turkish

 0 sıfır 1492 bindörtyüzdoksaniki 333 üçyüzotuzüç 52 elliiki 1000014 birmilyonondört
 1 bir 11 onbir 21 yirmibir40 kırk 1000 bin 
 2 iki 12 oniki 22 yirmiiki 50 elli 2000 ikibin
 3 üç 13 onüç 23 yirmiüç 60 atmış 3000 üçbin
 4 dört 14 ondört 24 yirmidört 70 yetmiş 4000 dörtbin
 5 beş 15 onbeş 25 yirmibeş 80 seksen 10000 onbin
 6 altı 16 onaltı 26 yirmialtı 90 doksan 20000 yirmibin
 7 yedi 17 onyedi 27 yirmiyedi 100 yüz 30000 otuzbin
 8 sekiz 18 onsekiz 28 yirmisekiz 200 ikiyüz 100000 yüzbin
 9 dokuz 19 ondokuz 29 yirmidokuz 300 üçyüz 200000 ikiyüzbin
 10 on 20 yirmi 30 otuz 400 dörtyüz 1000000 birmilyon

Numbers Test Click here to take the online test (Use Password;"tdturkish" 50 questions / 60 minutes. Good Luck!)


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