Do you want to learn the most common Turkish words and phrases?

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TURKISH ENGLISH EXPLANATIONS

Affedersiniz” is more formal.
Affedersin! Excuse me; I am sorry. The French word “pardon” is
also used commonly.
It is said to those who eat or
drink, or who is served, or
Afiyet olsun! Good appetite.
when arriving or leaving the
dinner table.
It is used to take attention of
people. Literally it means
Can you look? It is a polite
Bakar mısınız? Excuse me. phrase. It is quite possible to
hear people say at the cafés
and restaurants to take
waiter’s attention.
An expression said to people
Başın sağ olsun. May your life be spared whose relative died; formula
of condolence.
Tamam be! Hadi be! Sus be! wait a minute, hold on a An informal phrase of wait a
Bi dakka. Bir dakika, minute, hold on. minute.
It is used when someone
sneezes. Literally it means
“Live long”. The answer to
Çok yaşa! Bless you. this expression is either “Sen
de gör” (You too / I hope you
will also see it) or “Hep
beraber”(all together).
It’s one of the most common
Welcome, come in, this way; words that people use all the
Buyurun, Hoşgeldiniz! How can I help? Can I help; time and usually used as
Here you are, here is your…. Buyrun by omitting “u” in
the middle.
Attention! Careful! Notice! An expression used to warn
Dikkat!
Look out! people.
An expression meaning good
bye, so long. It is mostly
Eyvallah! Thanks! used for “thanks” (Sağ ol) or
“all right” in an informal way
in Turkish.
Falan A word used for
something that is forgotten,
unnecessary or not want to
Falan. Et cetera.
say; around, approximately,
or so; and such, and so forth,
and so on, et cetera.
So and so, such and such,
Falan filan. and people such as they, and -
that a lot.
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Fena değil. Not bad. -
Gerçekten mi? Really? Is that so? -
Görüşürüz See you. -
Literally go smiling, happily.
It is also used when someone
Güle güle. Goodbye. buys a new thing: Güle güle
kullan meaning Use it
happily, smiling. Enjoy it.
Günaydın. Good morning Literally bright day.
(used to spur someone on)
e.g. Hadi Ali! (Come on,
Ali!); Come off it, nonsense
Haydi! Come on!
e.g. Hadi be, beni aptal mı
sandın? (Come off it man, do
you take me for a fool?)
An expression said while
leaving a shop for good wish.
Hayırlı işler. - Also İyi işler. Literally it
means “Have good work/I
hope you have good work”.
It´s all yours! Take it with
Helal olsun. -
my blessing (and enjoy it)!
Bravo! Good for him! -
Today people tend to use
Hoşça kal Good bye, stay well.
“bye” or “bye bye” more.
Literally it means “well
Thank you (said in reply to a found”. Hoş geldin.
Hoş bulduk.
welcoming greeting). Welcome (said to an arriving
guest).
Noise made to frighten away
Hoşt! -
dogs.
İmdat! Help! -
An expression said on a
dolmuş or minibus before
getting off. Literally it means
There is someone to get off.
İnecek var. - Make sure you say it right,
because the typical mistake
made by foreigners is “İnek
var” which means There is a
cow.
Hopefully, I hope that… I
İnşallah. Godwilling. hope so, if nothing unforseen
happens, if God allows.
Good evening, have a nice This expression is used when
İyi akşamlar.
evening. you arrive and leave.
Have fun, have a nice time,
İyi eğlenceler. -
enjoy.
-
İyi geceler. Good night.
Good day, have a nice day This expression is used when
İyi günler.
good afternoon. you arrive and leave.
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 -
Kendine iyi bak. Take care of yourself.
Literally it means “my ram”.
Some male Turkish people
Koçum. Buddy, man, mate
call their friends as
“Koçum”.
An expression said to
Kolay gelsin I hope it will go smoothly someone who starts or plans
to do any job.
Kuçu kuçu. Noise made to call dog.
I hope you’ll pardon me,
Kusura bakma. Sorry. Please overlook what I’ve
said or done.
e.g. Bayramın kutlu olsun
(May your Bayram be
blessed) Doğumgünün kutlu
olsun (Happy birthday). Also
mübarek olsun. “Mübarek
Kutlu olsun. May … be blessed.
olsun” has a religious sense
whereas “kutlu olsun” is both
used for religious occasions
and good wishes for
something new, birthday etc.
According to a popular
belief, Turks don’t use
“please” much but actually it
Lütfen. Please.
is usually used in the form of
the language e.g. Otur (Sit)
Oturun (Sit please).
I am afraid. Also ne yazık ki
Maalesef. Unfortunately.
in Turkish.
Maazallah. Godforbid. -
Just look at that; May God
preserve him from evil;
Maşallah. Wonderful, magnificent.
Wonders never cease! (Said
to indicate surprise).
Memnun oldum. Pleased to meet you. -
Merhaba. Hello. -
It is not used widely today
but it is one of the
Mersi. Thank you in French.
expressions used by “high
class” people.
Mesela. For example. -
e.g. Bayramın mübarek olsun
(May your Bayram be
blessed). Also kutlu olsun.
“Mübarek olsun” has a
Mübarek olsun. May … be blessed. religious sense whereas
“kutlu olsun” is both used for
religious occasions and good
wishes for something new,
birthday etc.
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 Also; Müsaade eder misiniz?
Müsade eder misin? Excuse me, If I may.
is more polite.
Literally “What’s the news?”
What’s new? What’s up?
N’aber? Nasıl gidiyor? How is it
How are you doing?
going? How are things?
Also Nasılsınız is more
Nasılsın? How are you?
polite.
Ne demek? What does it mean? -
Ne var ne yok? What’s new? -
Öyle mi? Is that so? Really? -
Özür dilerim. I am sorry. I apologize. -
Pardon. Pardon me; excuse me; sorry -
Pisi pisi! - Noise made to call cats.
Noise made to frighten away
Pist! -
cats.
Rica ederim. You’re welcome -
Used for polite request and
literally it means Could
Rica etsem… Could you please…? you… if I request? e.g. Rica
etsem yardım edebilir
misiniz?
Informal way of saying
Sağ ol. Thanks.
Thank you.
Do you mind…? Would you e.g. Sakıncası yoksa …
Sakıncası yoksa
mind…? yapabilir misiniz?
Selamın aleyküm. A way of
saying hello mostly used by
religious people meaning
Selam. Peace; hello, hi.
“May you have God’s peace
over you”. The answer is
Aleyküm selam.
Seni seviyorum. I love you. -
Literally to honour. Also
Şerefe. Cheers. şerefine to your honour,
sağlığına to your health.
Şöyle böyle. So so, fair to middling. -
Tabi. Certainly, of course. -
Tebrikler. Congratulations. Also Tebrik ederim.
Also Teşekkürler (Thanks)
Teşekkür ederim. Thank you. and Çok teşekkür ederim
(Thank you very much).
An expression used for
Ulan / lan - anger; Hey you / Hey! Now
look here!
Üstü kalsın. Keep the change. -
Also valla billa (vallahi
Valla (Vallahi) I swear to God; honestly.
billahi).
Come on! I don’t believe
Yapma ya? Really?
you. Also Hadi ya? Yok ya?