Your trip to Turkey is approaching. But you have no idea about the Turkish language. Are you afraid of being lost or being unable to communicate with people? Worry not, I will show you 3 steps that will always help you get to the right destination.
Turks are very warm-hearted people and they love giving directions. Thanks to them you need to get neither phone nor map with you!
Not only does it describe the address you ask, but we Turks can also offer to take you where you want to go. Uhm, of course, it is useful to make a small note here. We love helping people so much that we don’t need to know the address you ask to be able to describe it. We can also offer to take you to an address we have no idea about, as we love to give directions even if we don’t know where it is!
Therefore, in my humble opinion, if a Turk tells you to go right, please go left. If he/she tells you to go forward, please go back! haha. I am sure that my Turkish friends know that I am joking (or maybe I’m not) and they won’t be offended! I want to start this article with a famous Turkish proverb: ”Her şakada bir gerçeklik payı vardır (Many a true word is spoken in jest).”
Here we go!
Step 1 – Asking for Help on Your Trip to Turkey
Finally, your trip to Turkey has started, and you’re walking on a street. However, you are not sure where to go. Fortunately, there is a Turk ready to help you! The address is written on a piece of paper. First, you have to say “Affedersiniz” (Excuse me) to start the conversation.
Example 1
You: Affedersiniz. Excuse me X: Buyurun? Go ahead? You: Şu adrese nasıl gidebilirim? How can I go to that address?
Example 2
You: Pardon, bakar mısınız? Excuse me, can I ask you something? (literally ”could you look here please”) X: Buyurun? Go ahead? You: Buraya nasıl giderim? How do I get here?
Example 3
You: Merhaba, bir şey sorabilir miyim? Hello, may I ask something? X: Tabii, buyurun. Of course, go ahead. You: Bu adrese nasıl giderim biliyor musunuz? Do you know how do I get to this address?
Example 4
You: Affedersiniz, bir saniyenizi alabilir miyim? Excuse me, may I have your moment please? X: Tabii, nasıl yardımcı olabilirim? Of course, how can I help you? You: Şu adres nerede biliyor musunuz? Do you know where this address is?
If you don’t have any address with you and you only know the name of the place where you want to go, it would be useful to give a small grammar tip here.
A Little bit of Grammar: Turkish Vowel Harmony
Thick vowels: a, ı, u, o
Thin vowels: e, I , ü , ö
Dative Case Suffixes: ”e” or ”a”
Let’s say you would like to go to Taksim.
The rule is this: We look at the last syllable of the word to use the appropriate dative case suffix. If the vowel of the last syllable is thin, we add -e as a suffix, and -a if it is thick.
Examples:
to Taksim – Taksim’e
to Sultanahmet – Sultanahmet’e
to Aksaray – Aksaray’a
to Kadıköy – Kadıköy’e
Please remember that in Turkish two vowels cannot come together. If it does, it means that the word has been translated into Turkish from another language Therefore if a word ends with a vowel and the suffix starts with a vowel you need to add the buffer letter “y”:
to Sirkeci – Sirkeci’ye
Super easy!
Example 5
You: Bursa’ya nasıl gidebilirim? How can I go to Bursa?
X: Ben de o yöne gidiyorum, atlayın! I’m also going to that direction. Jump in
Example 6
Eczane nerede? Where is the pharmacy?
Hastaneye nasıl gidebilirim? How can I go to the hospital?
Market nerede? Where is the market?
En yakın karakol nerede? Where is the closest police office?
Barlar caddesi ne tarafta? Which way is the bars street?
Üniversiteye nasıl giderim? How can I go the university?
Step 2 – Understanding the Answer on Your Trip to Turkey
Now it’s time to understand the answers to your questions. Let’s start with some vocabulary.
- Sağ (right)
- Sol (left)
- Düz (straight)
- Geri (back)
- Dön (turn)
- Git (go)
- Bin (get in)
- İn (get off)
- Geç (pass)
- Köşede (at the corner)
- Karşıya geç (cross the street)
- Karşıda/Karşısında (across)
- Sağa dön (turn right)
- Sola dön (turn left)
- Düz git / Dümdüz git (go straight on)
- Geri git (go back)
- Köşeden dön (turn at the corner)
- Yanında (near/next to)
Example 7
You: Güneş Bar’a nasıl gidebilirim? How can I go to Güneş Bar?
X: Düz git. Sonra sağa dön. Köşede göreceksin. Go straight. Then turn right. You will see it on the corner.
Example 8
You: Market ne tarafta acaba? Where is the market (I wonder)?
X: Buradan geri git. Sola dön. Köşede eczane var. Eczanenin karşısında, hastanenin yanında. (Go back from here. Turn left. There is a pharmacy on the corner. Across the pharmacy and next to the hospital)
Example 9
You: Beşiktaş’a nasıl gidebilirim? How can I go to Beşiktaş?
X: Dümdüz git. İskeleyi göreceksin. Oradan vapura bin. İndiğin yerin yanında. Go straight ahead. You will see the port. Take ferry from there. It is next to where you get off
Example 10
You: Taksim’e nasıl giderim? How can I go to Taksim?
X: Şu caddeyi geç. Sonra sağa dön. Düz git. Sola dön. Köşede minibüsler var. Minibüse bin. En son durak Taksim. Cross that street. Then turn right. Go straight. Turn left. There are minibuses on the corner. Get in a minibus. The last stop is Taksim.
Step 3 – Saying Thank You on Your Trip to Turkey
You got your answer and understood where to go. Now it’s time to say thank you!
Example 11
You: Çok teşekkür ederim. Thank you very much
X: Rica ederim. You are welcome.
Example 12
You: Çok sağ olun, yardım ettiğiniz için teşekkür ederim. Thank you a lot, thanks for the help.
X: Önemli değil, lafı mı olur? İyi tatiller. No problem, don’t mention it. Enjoy your holiday.
Example 13
You: Tamam, yeri anladım. Teşekkür ederim, vaktinizi aldım. Okay, I understood the place. Thank you, I took your time.
X: Bir şey değil, dikkat edin. It’s nothing, take care!
Below are some other words that may be needed on your trip to Turkey.
- Otobüs (bus)
- Minibüs (minibus)
- Dolmuş (shared taxies/minibuses)
- Metro (subway)
- Metrobüs (metrobus)
- Tramvay (tram)
- Uçak (plane)
- Taksi (taxi)
- Vapur İskelesi (ferry)
- Havalimanı (airport)
- Otogar (bus station)
- Durak (bus stop)
- Bilet (ticket)
You are in Turkey, you don’t remember the tips I gave you? No problem! Body language is the best way to communicate!
If you have difficulty reading this article in Turkish, you can choose English from the language options. If you have any other questions, you can post them in the comments or send me a message. 🙂
For other articles about learning Turkish, please check here.
If you want to check articles about other languages, click here.
Don’t forget to write a review about how your trip to Turkey was!
İyi yolculuklar – Have a good journey!
