Turkish is very different from English, so sometimes even basic things are a little complicated. Luckily a few things are similar – taxi is the same but spelled taksi; the metro is metro.

Here are a few basics, broken down.

Hello:

“Merhaba” (MEHR-hah-bah)

or

“Selam” (say-lahm)

Goodbye:

Official: “güle güle” (goo-lay goo-lay) is said to the person who is leaving, and “hoş çakalın” (HOESH chalk-all-un) by the person walking out the door.

Cheat: you can also get away with “bye bye.”

Also: it is common to say “good day” instead, which is “iyi günler” (ee-yee goon-LEHR).

Yes:

"Evet" (eh-vett)

No:

"Hayir" (high-year)

Please:

“Lütfen” (loot-fehn)

Thank you:

Official: “teşekkürler” (tesh-e-koor-lehr)

Cheat: you can also say “mersi” (mehr-see)

How much?:

“Ne kadar?” (nay kah-dahr)

Where is…?:

“…nerede?” (nehr-eh-deh).

Always put whatever you’re looking for first, because Turkish sentence structure is opposite from English. So if you’re looking for Hagia Sophia, you would say “Hagia Sophia nerede?”

Bathroom:

“Tuvalet” (too-vah-let). Or, to be a little more polite, “lavabo” (lah-vah-bo).

I don’t speak Turkish:

“Türkçe bilmiyorum” (turk-chay bill-me-yor-um).

One beer please:

Bir bira lutfen (replace bira with any of the following words to order).

Foods:

Ekmek (bread).

(bread). Meze (appetizer small dishes, like tapas).

(appetizer small dishes, like tapas). Su (water).

(water). Hamsi (fish from Balck Sea, like anchovies).

(fish from Balck Sea, like anchovies). Simit (Turkish bagels with sesame).

(Turkish bagels with sesame). Lokum (Turkish Delight) .

(Turkish Delight) . Lahmacun (“Lahmajun” Turkish pizza with minced lamb).

(“Lahmajun” Turkish pizza with minced lamb). Pide (“Peedeh” Baked flat bread, often with meat, cheese or spinach).

(“Peedeh” Baked flat bread, often with meat, cheese or spinach). Borek (“Boereck” Savory phyllo dough pastries with meat, veggies or cheese).

(“Boereck” Savory phyllo dough pastries with meat, veggies or cheese). Manti (Turkish ravioli with minced meat, served with yogurt).

(Turkish ravioli with minced meat, served with yogurt). Sucuk (“Soujouk” Turkish pepperoni).

(“Soujouk” Turkish pepperoni). Patlican (“Pat-lih-jan” eggplant-the king of Turkish cuisine).

(“Pat-lih-jan” eggplant-the king of Turkish cuisine). Dolma (not just grape leaves, but stuffed peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, cabbage leaves..).

(not just grape leaves, but stuffed peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, cabbage leaves..). Doner (Doe-nehr: Gyros).

(Doe-nehr: Gyros). Kebap (meat of different varieties, usually grilled).

Numbers:

1 – bir (beer)

2 – iki (icky)

3 – üç (ooch)

4 – dört (dort)

5 – beş (besh)

6 – altı (ahl-tuh)

7 – yedi (yeh-di)

8 – sekiz (seh-keez)

9 – dokuz (doh-kooz)

10 – on (ohn)



