LESSON NOTES

Survival Phrases S1 #4
Basic Turkish Greetings

CONTENTS
2 Turkish
2 English
2 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
3 Grammar
4 Cultural Insight

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 TURKISH

1. Günayd ın.

2. İyi günler.

3. İyi akşamlar.

4. İyi geceler.

5. Selam.

6. Merhaba.

ENGLISH

1. Good morning.

2. Good afternoon.

3. Good evening.

4. Good night.

5. Hi.

6. Hi.

VOCABULARY

Tur kish English

T URKI S HCLAS S 101.COM S URVI VAL PHRAS ES S 1 #4 - BAS I C T URKI S H GREET I NGS 2
 Günaydın. Good morning.

İyi günler. Good afternoon.

İyi akşamlar. Good evening.

İyi geceler. Good night.

Merhaba Hi.

İyi good

gün day

akşam evening

gece night

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Günaydın, nasılsınız? İyi günler, şu, lütfen.

"Good morning, how are you?" "Good afternoon. That one, please."

İyi akşamlar. İki kişilik lütfen. İyi geceler ve çok teşekkürler.

"Good evening. For two people, please." "Good night and thanks very much."

Merhaba, nasılsınız? Bu güzel!

"Hi, how are you?" "This is good!"

Bu gün çok sıcak! İyi akşamlar!

"Today is very hot!" "Have a nice evening!"

Haydi gece yarısı buluşalım.

"Let's meet at midnight."

GRAMMAR

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In this lesson, we'll cover basic greetings for the appropriate time of the day. As there are
quite a few to cover, let's jump right in.
We're going to start with the more formal ones first.

In Turkish, "Good morning" is Günaydın.

The first word, gün, means "day." Aydın, which is a form of "bright" in Turkish, follows this gün.
Literally it means "bright days to you." These two words come together and become one word
that means "Good morning": Günaydın.

In Turkish, "Good afternoon" is İyi günler.

The first word, iyi, means "good." The second word, günler, means "days."

All together, that's İyi günler.

In Turkish, "Good evening" is İyi akşamlar.

The first word, İyi, as we've already mentioned, means "good." The second word, akşamlar,
means "evenings."

All together, that's İyi akşamlar.

Upon leaving, you say İyi geceler. This is "Good night."

The second word, geceler, means "nights."

You can use all of these in formal situations or with strangers. You can say Günaydın ("Good
morning") and İyi geceler ("Good night") with your friends, too.

Let's take a look at two ways of greeting your friends now.

The most common word is Selam.

Selam is "Hi" in English. Use this only with people you are already on friendly terms with, or
with young people in restaurants, bars, or cafes.

Another way to say "Hi" in Turkish is Merhaba.

CULTURAL INSIGHT

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Quick Tip

If you want to be on the safe side when using greetings in Turkish, learn the word Nasılsın?
(informal), or Nasılsınız? (formal), which translate to "How are you?" Put this after any of this
lesson's informal greetings and you'll sound as natural as can be. Try Merhaba, nasılsınız?,
which is the nicest way to address to someone you already know. This means "Hi, how are
you?"

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