Useful Turkish Words and Phrases
The Turkish Alphabet
The Turkish alphabet has 29 letters. Although letters Q, W, X do not appear, there are 6 more letters, namely: Ç, Ğ, Ş, Ö, Ü, I. The other letters are the same as in the English alphabet, but they are pronounced differently.
A - a as in "ugly "
B – be as in "bell"
C - ce as in "jealous"
Ç – çe as in "chair"
D - de as in "decade"
E - e as in "elephant"
F - fe as in "federal"
G - ge as in "get"
Ğ is a soft g. It has no independent pronunciation, rather it indicates a lengthening of the preceding vowel. For example, dağ (mountain) is pronounced something like daa.
H - he as in "helicopter"
I - ı as in "number"
İ - i as in "insect"
J - je as in "measure"
K - ke as in "kettle"
L - le as in "leg"
M - me as in "men"
N - ne as in "never"
O - o as in "orchestra"
Ö - ö as in "urge"
P - pe as in "pen"
R - re as in "red"
S - se as in "sell"
Ş - şe as in "shelf"
T - te as in "telephone"
U - u as in "oops!"
Ü – ü as in "fruit, nude"
V - ve as in "vegetable"
Y - ye as in "yes"
Z - ze as in "zebra"
You can hear the letters pronounced online here
Numbers in Turkish
0 = sıfır (SUH-fuhr)
1 = bir (BEER)
2 = iki (ee-KEE)
3 = üç (EWCH)
4 = dört (DIRT)
5 = beş (BEHSH)
6 = altı (ahl-TUH)
7 = yedi (yeh-DEE)
8 = sekiz (seh-KEEZ)
9 = dokuz (doh-KOOZ)
10 = on (OHN)
11 = on bir (ohn BEER)
12 = on iki (ohn ee-KEE)
13 = on üç (ohn EWCH)
20 = yirmi (yeer-MEE)
30 = otuz (oh-TOOZ)
40 = kırk (KUHRK)
50 = elli (ehl-LEE)
100 = yüz (YEWZ)
1000 = bin (BEEN)
Useful Turkish Words and Phrases
Hello = Merhaba (MEHR-hah-bah)
Welcome = Hoşgeldiniz ((hohsh gel-dee-niz)
How are you = Nasılsınız? (NAHS-suhl-suh-nuhz)
I’m well = İyiyim (ee-YEE-yihm)
I’m pleased to meet you = Memnun oldum
What’s your name? = Adınız ne? (AH-duh-NUHZ neh)
My name is…= Adım… (Ah-DUHM…)
Good morning = Günaydın (gew-nahy-DUHN)
Good evening = İyi Akşamlar (EE ahk-shahm-LAHR)
Good night = İyi Geceler (EE geh-jeh-LEHR)
Good-bye = Hoşçakal
Have a nice day = İyi Günler (EE gewn-ler)
Please = Lütfen (LEWT-fehn)
Thank you = Teşekkür ederim (tesh-ek-KEWR eh-dehr-eem) / Mersi (mehr-SEE)
You’re welcome = Bir şey degil (beer SHAY dee-YEEL)
How much is this?/ What does it cost? = Kaça?/ Ne kadar?
This is too expensive = Bu çok pahalı
Bon appétit = Afiyet olsun
Yes = Evet (eh-VEHT)
No = Hayır (HAH-yuhr)
Excuse me = Affedersiniz (af-feh-DEHR-see-neez) / Pardon (pahr-DOHN)
Bathroom = Tuvalet (too-vah-LEHT)
Open = Açık (ah-CHUHK)
Closed = kapalı (kah-pah-LUH)
Water = Su (SOO)
Tea = Çay (CHAH-yee)
Beer = Bira (beera)
Wine = Şarap (sha-rap)
Salt = Tuz (tooz)
Pepper = Biber (BEE-ber)
Money = Para (PAH-rah)
Left = Sol (SOHL)
Right = Sağ (SAAH)
Near = Yakın (yah-KUHN)
Far = Uzak (oo-ZAHK)
Map = Harita (HAH-ree-TAH)
Ticket = Bilet (bee-LEHT)
Don't do that = Yapma (yup-ma)
Do you speak English? = Ingilizce biliyor musunuz? (engeeleezjeh bill-ee-yor mu-sun-uz)
Where is … = … nerede? (NEH-reh-deh)
Where is the bathroom? = Tuvalet nerede? (too-vah-LEHT NEH-reh-deh) Which = Hangi? (han-gee)
Which bus? = Hangi otobus? (han-gee Oh-toh-BEWSS)
What does … mean? = … ne demek? (NEH deh-mehk )
What's this? = Bu ne? (BOO neh)
How much/many? = Kaç tane? (KAHCH tah-neh)
I want ... = ... istiyorum (eess-tee-YOH-room)
I don't want it = İstemiyorum (ees-te-mee-yor-um)
