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First Turkish Phrases

Here is a video to learn first Turkish Phrases for beginners. If you want to download the text as pdf, please follow this link and click the link under the video.

Kedi Kuyruğu Konuşur mu? Does Cat Tail Speak?


The answer is yes ! Cevap evet!

Let's learn some Turkish Verbs with the help of cats. Kedilerin yardımıyla bazı Türkçe Fiiller öğrenelim!

The title says "Kedi kuyruğu konuşuyor" - "Cat tail is speaking"

Korkuyorum - I am scared

Seni gördüğüme sevindim - I am glad to see you

Sinirleniyorum - I am getting angry

Arkadaş olalım - Let's be friends

İlgileniyorum - I am interested

Sana deli oluyorum - You drive me crazy

Aşk hissediyorum - I am feeling love

Endişeliyim - I am worried

Kızgınım - I am angry

Turkish Song: Ali Güven - Yadigar

This is a Turkish song from 90s. Turkey have been listening to this song on radios and TVs before Internet was widely used. We used to listen to the same song over and over again when they were just released. And this is one of those songs. I would recommend you to listen without looking at the lyrics first in order to test yourself. I hope you enjoy!

Ali Güven - Yadigar


Sözler (Lyrics)
Bu gece canım yalnız kalmak istiyor
Herkesten uzak her sözden gözden uzak
Bu gece canım yalnız kalmak istiyor
Hiçbir şey konuşmadan insandan dosttan uzak

Böyle değildim ben sensizliği bilmeden
Bu garip huylar senden yadigar
Ne varsa gönlümde sen aldın götürdün yar
Bu hüzün bana senden yadigar
İçimde ağlayan bir çocuk bıraktın yar
Bu acı bana senden yadigar

İngilizce Çeviri (English Translation)

I feel like being alone tonight
Far from everyone, from every word and every eyes
I want to stay alone tonight
Without speaking anything, far from people and friends

I was not used to be like this, before meeting your loneliness
These strange habits are all left from you
You took away whatever there was in my heart my beloved
This sadness is left from you
You left a crying child in me, my beloved
This pain is left from you



Yadigar means something that someone left for you/gave you or something that is left from someone. It can be an object like neckless from someone or even some emotional things or an illness.
for example;
Bu ev bana annemden yadigar.= Bu ev bana annemden kaldı.
(My mother left me this house. / This house is left from my mother.)

Yaşlı Vs. Eski

In Turkish we have two words that mean "old" and they are;

  • eski
  • yaşlı

How we know when to use the right one?

For living things we need to say "yaşlı".

*"Yaş" means "age". And yaşlı means "having age". -lı is a suffix add the meaning of "to have, with"

for example:
Balkonlu bir ev aldım. I bought a house with/that has a balcony
İki çocuklu bir aile. A family with two children.

*Eski means old, depreciated, worn out in Turkish. So we should use it to describe only non-living things.
If you look up a dictionary to learn how to say "old" in Turkish as an English speaker, "eski" will be the first word to see. But as you may agree, it is not nice to call someone "eski". It could be accepted for the plants only.

*You could call someone eski in only ths case;

oldschool - eskikafa

kafa and baş both mean "head" in Turkish. So if someone is oldschool enough then you are free to call him/her eski but with kafa together. Otherwise please don't forget my words to keep being polite when you speak Turkish. Thanks! :)

What is ise?

The Turkish word ise can have two different meanings and we usually see it as a suffix -se/-sa.
If it is added a word that has a,ı,o or u as last vowel, we choose -sa, and if it is e,i,ö or ü then we choose -se.

1) Conjunction
It can be used together with the word "eğer" but it is enough just to add -se/-sa

2) Comparison
It builds a comparison and strengthens it.

Conjunction Examples
Bugün markete gidersen ekmek almayı unutma.
If you go to the store today, don't forget to buy bread.

Seni ararsam, mutlaka cevap ver.
If I call you, absolutely answer it.

Öğretmen 5 dakika içinde gelmezse, eve gideceğim.
If the teacher does not come in 5 minutes, then I will go home.

Bu benim evimse, benim kurallarım geçerli.
If this is my house, then I rule. (kural: rule, geçerli: valid)

Comparison Examples
Adam konuşuyor, kadınsa hep susuyordu.
The man was talking but/however the woman was silent.

Ben para biriktirelim diyorum, sense sürekli yeni şeyler satın almak istiyorsun.
I am saying we should save money but you always want to buy new stuff.



*There are also some common words having the suffix -se/-sa like;
oysa, yoksa, öyleyse

Babam mühendis olmamı istedi, 'oysa ben'/'bense' hep öğretmen olmak istemiştim.
My hatfer wanted me to become an engineer, however I always wanted to become a teacher.

Bence taksiye binelim, yoksa geç kalacağız.
I think we should take a taxi, otherwise we will be late.

- Sonunda bir iş buldum! - Finally I found a job!
- Öyleyse bunu kutlamalıyız! - 'Then'/'If so' we should celebrate it!

Demek Vs. Söylemek

These two verbs demek and söylemek mean to say, to tell but sometimes we need to choose the right one to avoid grammatical errors.

I told that I will go.
There are three ways to tell this sentence in Turkish

1) Gideceğimi söyledim

2) Dedim ki gideceğim

3) Gideceğim dedim

(If you want to read about the uses of "ki" here is the detailed explanation.
The first and the third ones are more common to say.)

So what is the rule?

If you tell "exactly what you told" to someone (Gideceğim = I will go), then you choose the verb "demek". Otherwise söylemek always works. In some sentences demek can also work but to make it sure I would recommend you to choose "söylemek" unless you quote some words.

(If the sentence you tell your audience has a verb, the grammar changes a bit with the verb söylemek. You can read about it here.)

-- > If you read a book, you see the verb "demek" when there is a conversation:

The mother said; "I am happy".
Anne; "Mutluyum" dedi.
*söylemek version: Anne mutlu olduğunu söyledi.

He told me that he is going today.
Bana "Bugün gidiyorum" dedi.
Bana bugün gideceğini söyledi.

Burda or Burada?

There are some words in Turkish which can be confusing but indeed they are totally innocent.
Which words are they?
"burda, orda, şurda, nerde"

You know them as burada, orada, şurada and nerede and they mean exactly the same:
here, there, there, where

(*You can say şurada if that place is is your sight)

When we speak we can use those short versions. But when we write it is more accurate to write burada, orada, şurada, nerede

This can be the case for these words also and for two different meanings we can use the shorten forms;
bura - burası, buraya
ora - orası, oraya
şura - şurası, şuraya
nere - neresi , nereye
But for these words I would recommend you to use the long ones.

Let's see them in sample sentences

Burda/Burada bir adam seni bekliyor. A man is wating for you here.
Orda/Orada kardeşim de çalışıyor. My brother is also working there.
Şurda güzel bir restoran var. There is a nice restaurant (over) there.
Nerdesin? Neredesin? Where are you?

Bura / Burası çok soğuk. Here is so cold.
Bura/Buraya gel! Come here!
Ora/Orası çok uzak. That place is far away.
Ora/Oraya gitme!. Don't go there!
Şura/Şurası televizyonu koymak için daha iyi. That place is better to place/put the TV.
Şura/Şuraya bak, ne güzel bir araba! Look there, how nice car!
Nere/Neresi konuşmak için daha uygun? Where is more conveinent to talk?
Nere/Nereye gidiyorsun? Where are you going?

Some extra notes
In daily talk we usually omit one letter and say burda, orda, şurda and nerde. And maybe it is not that common but it is possıble to hear bura,ora,şura and nere instead of buraya, oraya, şuraya and nereye when there is a direction like in this sentence: Bura(ya) gidiyorum. I going here. Ora(ya) gidiyorum. I am going there. Nere(ye) gidiyorsun? Where are you going? This happens when the direction is like the English "to". And also nereden - nerden, oradan - ordan, şuradan - şurdan, buradan - burdan are other alternatives if it is "from". Şur(a)dan şekeri uzatabilir misin? Can you hand me the sugar from there? The forms burada->burda and buradan->burdan are so common when we speak. 

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