Turkish phrases, expressions and proverbs
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Sign up for freeTurkish language is full of expressions and sayings. There are sayings for almost every situation and that makes the language more fun. In this lesson, we will learn the most common Turkish phrases, expressions and proverbs with the pronunciation trainer and audio support.
Here in this lesson, you will find common phrases in Turkish. In order to pronounce the Turkish phrases better , please check the Turkish letters and the vowel harmony lesson on the left side bar.
Lesson outline
HideTurkish expressions
On the table below we can see the most common expressions in Turkish with short explanations.
| Expression | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Afiyet olsun | Have a nice meal. / Enjoy your meal. |
Allah bağışlasın, Allah analı babalı büyütsün | May God let him/her grow up with both parents. Said for newborn childs. |
Allah gecinden versin | May God give it(death) later. Said someone who concerns about their death |
Allah kavuştursun | May God make you get together. Said someone who is recently get seperated. Usually people who goes away from their family. |
Allah mesut etsin | May God make you happy forever. Usually said to newly married couples |
Başarılar | Said someone who is going to take an exam or competition to wish good luck |
Başınız sağolsun | May your head stay healthy. For wishing someone condolences |
Çok yaşa, İyi yaşa | Bless you. Said someone who sneeze |
Elinize sağlık | Health to your hand. Usually said to person who cooks as an appretiation and good wish. |
Geçmiş olsun | May it be the past. Said someone who is ill or if something bad happened to them |
Güle güle giy | Maybe you wear happily. Said someone who got new clothes |
Güle güle kirlen | May you get dirty happily. Said someone who got out of shower recently |
Güle güle kullan | May you use happily. Said someone who got a new product for themselves |
Güle güle otur | May you live/sit happily. Said someone who got a new place to live |
Hayırlı olsun | Said when someone has something big in their life recently. |
Hayırdır inşallah | Usually said for an unexpected situation, i.e. for a doorbell rings late night |
İyi şanslar | Good luck. |
İyi yolculuklar | Have a nice trip. |
Kolay gelsin | May your job be easy. Said someone who has a difficult job on their hand, even to a stranger |
Tebrikler | Congratulations |
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Cagla B. 
Serkan K.
Evrim K.
Aysegül Ö.
Hilal D.
GULAY I.
Sinan Ç.
Ebru A.
Aysel T.
Ezgi H.
Turkish proverbs
On the table below we can see the most common proverbs in Turkish with short explanations.
| Proverb | Explanation |
|---|---|
Damlaya damlaya göl olur. | Small amount of savings create one big one. |
Eşeğe altın semer vursalar eşek yine eşektir. | Person's clothing doesn't change the personality. Best brands will not make her/him a better person. |
Gülme komşuna gelir başına. | A situation that you laughed at can happen to you and you can be laughed at too. |
Görünen köy kılavuz istemez. | Some situations are too obvious that does not require any explanation. |
Gün doğmadan neler doğar. | One never should lose hope. |
İşleyen demir pas tutmaz. | A person who wants to work and be productive constantly will not be excluded from society. |
Kendi düşen ağlamaz. | If you find yourself in a situation that you put yourself but nobody else, moaning is unnecessary. |
Körle yatan şaşı kalkar. | One can start to act or behave like the people he/she is hanging out. |
Öfkeyle kalkan zararla oturur. | Words have said or actions have done in anger can cause regret afterwards. |
Tatlı dil yılanı deliğinden çıkarır. | Sweet talk can make possible most impossible things. |
Yes - no in Turkish
| English | Turkish |
|---|---|
| Yes | Evet |
| No | Hayır |
Pardon in Turkish
| English | Turkish |
|---|---|
| Excuse me (getting attention) (polite) | Bakar mısınız? |
| Excuse me (begging pardon) | Afedersiniz |
| I'm sorry | Özür dilerim |
Happy birthday in Turkish
| English | Turkish |
|---|---|
| Happy birthday! (Formal) | Doğum günün kutlu olsun! |
| Happy birthday! (Informal) | İyi ki doğdun! |
Summary:
On this page we learned the most common phrases, expressions and proverbs in Turkish with graphics and the help of playable examples and pronunciation trainer. Doing exercises will be helpful to understand the topic better.