Turkish Greetings and Everyday Phrases, With Usage

The safest Turkish greeting is merhaba (hello), which works at any time of day and with anyone. Add günaydın in the morning, iyi akşamlar in the evening, say teşekkür ederim for thank you and özür dilerim for sorry, and you've covered most first contacts. What makes Turkish sound natural, though, is the set of small situational phrases such as kolay gelsin or afiyet olsun. This guide gives you each phrase in correct Turkish with its meaning and a note on when to use it.

**Turkish has a polite "you" (siz) and a familiar one (sen)**, and many phrases change form with it: nasılsınız is polite, nasılsın is familiar. Use the siz form with strangers, shop staff, officials and older people. If you can't read a phrase aloud yet, start with our guide to the Turkish alphabet and pronunciation.

Greetings by time of day

İyi günler and iyi akşamlar work both as hello and as goodbye, which is why you'll hear them on your way out of every shop. İyi geceler, on the other hand, is only a farewell. You won't walk into a restaurant and say it.

How are you, and how to answer

A typical exchange with a neighbour:

• A: Merhaba, nasılsınız?
• B: İyiyim, teşekkür ederim. Siz nasılsınız?
• A: Ben de iyiyim, sağ olun.

Goodbyes: who says what

Turkish splits the goodbye between the person leaving and the person staying. **The one who leaves says hoşça kal, and the one who stays answers güle güle.** Beginners often mix them up.

Polite words and situational phrases

Each of these phrases belongs to a specific situation: a meal, someone at work, an illness, good news. The TDK's Güncel Türkçe Sözlük lists them with their meanings if you want to check one.

Saying thank you

Teşekkür ederim is the standard thank you, and you can't go wrong with it. Sağ ol is warmer and more everyday. Both have a polite form.

Apologies and getting attention

Turkish separates "excuse me, can I bother you" from "I'm sorry". **To call a waiter or shop assistant, use bakar mısınız?**, not an apology.

Small talk phrases

First conversations tend to cover the same ground: your name, where you're from, what you do and why you're learning Turkish. With these eleven lines you can get through most of them, and the slow-down request keeps the conversation going when you get lost.

Phrases for shops and cafés

In a café you'll mostly hear buyurun and başka bir şey? (anything else?). "X, lütfen" is enough to order almost anything. For Turkish coffee, you say how sweet you want it when you order, not afterwards.

A short café exchange:

• Waiter: Buyurun, ne alırsınız?
• You: Bir Türk kahvesi, orta şekerli, lütfen. Bir de su.
• Waiter: Başka bir şey?
• You: Bu kadar, teşekkürler.
• Later: Bakar mısınız? Hesap, lütfen.

For the next layer, such as renting a flat, the bank, the pharmacy and the pazar, see Turkish for living in Türkiye. If you're learning to talk with a partner's family, learning Turkish for your partner covers the phrases for family visits.

How to make these phrases stick

1. Learn them in pairs: hoş geldiniz / hoş bulduk, çok yaşa / sen de gör, hoşça kal / güle güle. Someone will expect the reply.
2. Use one new situational phrase a day in a real situation: kolay gelsin to a cashier, elinize sağlık after a meal.
3. Practise the siz forms first. **Using siz with a stranger is always acceptable**, and people will tell you when to switch to sen.
4. Say them aloud with someone who can correct you. Ceylan, our teacher, is a native Turkish speaker with an MA in Teaching Turkish and 8 years of teaching, from A1 to C2, and she explains in Turkish or English.

Frequently asked questions

What is the most common greeting in Turkish?

Merhaba. It works at any time and with anyone. With friends, selam is more casual.

How do you say goodbye in Turkish?

It depends on who's leaving. **The person leaving says hoşça kal, the person staying says güle güle.** Görüşürüz (see you) works for both.

What does "kolay gelsin" mean?

Literally "may it come easy". You say it to anyone who is working, from a shop assistant to a friend painting a wall. The usual reply is sağ ol or sağ olun.

Is "sağ ol" the same as "teşekkür ederim"?

Both mean thank you. Sağ ol is warmer and more everyday, while teşekkür ederim is neutral. Use sağ olun with people you'd address as siz.

How long until I can hold a basic conversation?

Greetings and these phrases take days; a real basic conversation takes longer. See how long it takes to learn Turkish for estimates by level.

To practise these phrases with a native speaker, take the free level test first, then request a free 20 to 30 minute trial lesson with Ceylan. Every request is answered within 24 hours.