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Istanbul travel guide and advice by locals.

250 Useful Turkish Words and Expressions for Tourists

Knowing a few basic Turkish words and expressions will not only please locals, it will also come in handy during your stay. Turks will try their best to help you, but not all Turks speak English — and that’s an understatement. Most restaurants have menus in both Turkish and English, but especially in snack bars the translations may be far from perfect.

This list of 250 basic Turkish words and expressions allows you to establish some kind of communication to address most inconveniences or questions you may have during your stay. Make sure to check out the Turkish pronunciation rules, too. At for your convenience, at the bottom you’ll find a link to print this page in a printer-friendly fashion.

Accomodation

air-conditioning klima
balcony balkon
entrance giriş
exit çıkış
luggage bagaj
pull çekiniz
push itiniz
reception resepsiyon
restaurant restoran / lokanta
shampoo şampuan
shower duş
soap sabun
swimming pool havuz
toilet tuvalet
toilet paper tuvalet kağıdı
towel havlu

Transportation

airport havalimanı
avenue cadde
bus / coach otobüs
fare ücret
ferry vapur
map harita
passenger yolcu
plane uçak
platform peron
port liman
quay iskele
road yol
sea bus deniz otobüsü
sea deniz
ship gemi
station istasyon
street sokak
subway / underground metro
taxi taksi
ticket office bilet gişesi
ticket bilet
timetable tarife
train tren

Private Airport Shuttles to/from City Hotels

Touristic Places

carpet halı
castle hisar
church kilise
island ada
mosque cami
museum müze
palace saray
park park
square meydan
tourism turizm
tourist information office turizm danışma bürosu
tourist turist
tower kule
Turkish bath hamam

Colors

black siyah
blue mavi
brown kahverengi
green yeşil
orange turuncu
pink pembe
purple mor
red kırmızı
white beyaz
yellow sarı

Food and Drink

beer bira
black pepper karabiber
bottle şişe
bread ekmek
breakfast kahvaltı
butter tereyağı
dessert tatlı
dinner akşam yemeği
enjoy your meal afiyet olsun
fillet steak bonfile
fish balık
food yemek
fork çatal
glass bardak
ice cream dondurma
ice buz
knife bıçak
lamb grilled on a spit and served in thin slices döner kebap
layered pastry with cheese/meat/spinach filling börek
lemon limon
lunch öğle yemeği
main course ana yemek
meat et
menu menü
peppers biber
plate tabak
rare (cooked) az pişmiş
salad salata
salt tuz
serviette peçete
soup çorba
spoon kaşık
starter meze
steak biftek
sugar şeker
table masa
tea çay
tip bahşiş
toast tost
waiter / waitress garson
walnuts ceviz
water su
well done iyi pişmiş
white cheese beyaz peynir
white wine beyaz şarap
wine list şarap listesi
with meat etli
yoghurt drink ayran

Small Talk

but ama
child çocuk
good evening iyi akşamlar
good morning günaydın
good night iyi geceler
goodbye hoşça kalın or bye bye
hello merhaba
How many? Kaç tane?
How much? (price) Kaç para?
Mr bay
Mrs bayan
no hayır
ok tamam
or ya da / veya
please lütfen
sorry / excuse me pardon / affedersiniz
thank you teşekkür ederim, teşekkürler, sağol or mersi
yes evet

Cafe, Coffee & Evening Tours

Adjectives

a little az
a lot / very / too çok
average / medium orta
bad kötü
big büyük
closed kapalı
cold soğuk
good iyi
hot sıcak
open açık
quick hızlı / çabuk
slow yavaş
small küçük

Directions

broken bozuk
down aşağı
far uzak
here burada
left sol
near yakın
right sağ
straight on doğru
there orada
up yukarı

In Case of Emergency

accident kaza
Call an ambulance! Ambulans çağrın!
Call the police! Polis çağrın!
dentist diş hekimi
diarrhea ishal
doctor doktor
fever ateş
Fire! Yangın!
headache baş ağrısı
Help! İmdat!
hospital hastane
medication ilaç
pain ağrı
pharmacy ezcane
police polis
sick / ill hasta
Stop! Dur!
Where is the nearest hospital? En yakın hastane nerede?

Money Matters

ATM bankamatik
bank banka
bill hesap
cash money nakit
cheap ucuz
cheque çek
coins / small money bozuk para
credit card kredi kartı
deposit depozito
discount indirim
expensive pahalı
foreign exchange office döviz bürosu
free bedava
high quality kaliteli
invoice fatura
money para
paper money kağıt para
price fiyat
quality kalite
receipt makbuz
tax excluded KDV hariç
tax included KDV dahil
to buy satın almak

Prompts

Can I have …? … rica ediyorum.
Can you help me? (in a shop) Bakar mısınız?
Can you help me? Bana yardım edebilir misiniz?
Do you speak English? İngilizce konuşuyor musunuz?
Excellent! Çok güzel.
Go away! Çekil!
How are you? Nasılsın?
How much is it? Bu ne kadar?
I can’t speak Turkish. Türkçe bilmiyorum.
I don’t understand. Anlamıyorum.
I would like … … istiyorum.
I’m fine. İyiyim.
Is there a … here? Burada … var mı?
Please speak more slowly. Lütfen, daha yavaş konuşur musunuz?
Please write it down for me. Lütfen yazar mısınız?
Pleased to meet you. Memnun oldum.
See you soon. Görüşmek üzere.
What time is it? Saat kaç?
Where are the toilets? Tuvaletler nerede?
Where can I get …? … nerede bulabilirim?
Where do I pay? Kasa nerede?
Where is/are …? … nerede?

Numbers

0 sıfır
1 bir
2 iki
3 üç
4 dört
5 beş
6 altı
7 yedi
8 sekiz
9 dokuz
10 on

Days of the Week

Monday Pazartesi
Tuesday Salı
Wednesday Çarşamba
Thursday Perşembe
Friday Cuma
Saturday Cumartesi
Sunday Pazar

Time Expressions

afternoon öğleden sonra
at the moment şu anda
early erken
evening akşam
last week geçen hafta
late geç
later sonra
morning sabah
next week gelecek hafta
night gece
now şimdi
soon yakında
this evening bu akşam
this morning bu sabah
today bugün
tomorrow yarın
yesterday dün

Further Recommended Reading

  1. Top 15 Things to Do in Istanbul
  2. Turkish Customs and Etiquette
  3. Do You Know These Istanbul Shopping Secrets?

Filed Under: Plan Your Trip, Practical, Turkish Tagged With: Istanbul, Turkish Expressions, Turkish For Tourists, Turkish Words

Comments

  1. Abdulrahman Seenzai says

    November 16, 2022 at 1:05 pm

    best one

    Reply
  2. Frank says

    January 2, 2022 at 11:26 am

    I really liked your article on how to pronounce Turkish words (‘Turkish Language and Pronunciation Rules (for Tourists)”). The best was the sound bits so that you understood that you have got it right. It would be great if you could do the same with this article.

    Reply
    • Erlend says

      January 3, 2022 at 9:00 pm

      Hi Frank,

      Glad you liked the effort. There really is no need for this, since Turkish is a phonetic language. Once you know all the sounds, you can’t go wrong really.

      Reply
  3. Shabreen says

    October 14, 2021 at 4:45 pm

    Selam,these words are very helpful for enhancing my new language learning skills Teşekürler.

    Reply
  4. Maryam says

    October 5, 2021 at 11:48 pm

    Thank you so much it’s very helpful I love it 💖💖💖💖

    Reply
  5. Prasanta Borah says

    June 27, 2021 at 6:53 am

    This was very helpful Sir…
    Thank you so much ❤️

    Reply
  6. Nilufar Abdulkhaeva. says

    June 24, 2021 at 8:46 pm

    Really amazing )))
    Thanks in advance. It was very useful.

    Reply
  7. Linda N says

    June 7, 2021 at 9:10 am

    lütfen aşkım o karta ihtiyacım var…

    What does this sentence say?

    Reply
    • Erlend says

      June 7, 2021 at 1:01 pm

      I means: Please my dear, I need that card.

      Reply
      • Linda says

        June 8, 2021 at 6:45 am

        Thank you do much

        Reply
  8. Mein says

    August 9, 2019 at 4:47 pm

    Hello there!

    Would you mind telling what to say in Turkish when I want to recharge my mobile? I am always having a hard time telling them what I wanted. i just say “paket” and the amount but I wanted to say it properly. Can you please help me in this?
    Thanks a lot!

    Reply
    • Erlend says

      August 10, 2019 at 5:03 pm

      Hi Mein,

      x lira için paketimi yenilemek istiyorum.
      meaning:
      I would like to renew my ‘paket’ for x amount of liras.

      I hope this is helpful.

      Reply
  9. Zubair says

    June 28, 2019 at 11:16 pm

    Thank you very much it really helped me 😊

    Reply
  10. Hassan says

    February 15, 2019 at 3:49 pm

    Can you please make an audio of this vocabulary if possible ?

    Reply
    • Erlend says

      February 23, 2019 at 12:50 am

      Hi Hassan,

      Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll look into it, but I’m afraid it will take some time.

      Reply

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