Lesson 92 © Turkish Tea Time

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How to be polite. Noobie

Dialog

1 | Beyza Afedersiniz bir sorunum var.

2 | Ece Buyurun efendim. Konu ne?

3 | Beyza Uçağımı kaçırdım.

4 | Ece Neden? Ne oldu?

5 | Beyza Çok trafik vardı. O yüzden havalimanına geç kaldım.

6 | Ece Üzgünüm ama yeni bir bilet almanız lazım.

7 | Beyza Lütfen, hanımefendi. Başka bir yol yok mu?

8 | Ece Tabii ki başka yol var. Otobüsle gidin.

Dialog Translation

1 | Beyza Excuse me - I have a problem.

2 | Ece Go ahead ma'am. What is the issue?

 3 | Beyza I missed my plane.

4 | Ece Why? What happened?

5 | Beyza There was a lof of traffic. That's why I was late to the airport.

6 | Ece I'm sorry, but you need to buy a new ticket.

7 | Beyza Please, ma'am. Isn't there another way?

8 | Ece Of course there is another way. Go by bus.

Language Points

Being Polite

Just as would you please pass the salt is more polite than give me the salt, there are certain sentence
constructions in Turkish that are considered more polite than others.

To get someone's attention in a polite way, you can use these:

Afedersiniz, çay var mı?

Excuse me, do you have tea?

Pardon, bir sorum var.

Pardon, I have a question.

Bakar mısınız! Hesabı alabilir miyim?

Excuse me! May I have the bill? (usually said to waiters)

Özür dilerim, adınız ne?

I'm sorry, what's your name?

At the cost of being more difficult to form and say, using the -ebil suffix to say can I is much more polite than using
the simple commands (like gel, ver, git).
 Bir bira alabilir miyim?
May I have a beer?

Bana yardım edebilir misiniz?

Can you help me?

Gidebilir miyiz lütfen?

May we go, please?

Turkish also has a special polite way to say you that you should use when speaking to strangers, employees, or
your superiors. Whereas the informal suffixes of you are -in and -sin, the formal suffixes are -iniz and -siniz. The
respective pronouns are sen (you) and siz (formal you).

Siz su istiyor musunuz?

Do you want water?

Kediniz.
Your cat.

I Have a Problem

Here are some useful phrases for letting someone know that you need something.

Bir sorum var.

I have a question.

Bir sorunum var.

I have a problem.

Bir problemim var.

I have a problem.

Bir problem var.

There is a problem.

İmdat!
Help! (in emergencies)

By Bus
Turkish uses the with suffix le/la to express how one traveled: by bus, by car, by spaceship.

Otobüsle gidiyoruz.
We are going by bus.

Vapurla geldiler.
They came by ferry boat.

Arabayla gitmek istiyor.

She wants to go by car.

Vocabulary

kaçırmak to snatch

uçak airplane

bilet ticket

almak to buy

hanımefendi lady

yol way

sorun problem

havalimanı airport

geç kalmak to be late

konu issue
Review

1. Pardon, bir sorum var.

a. Uçağımı kaçırdım.

b. Buyurun.

c. Çok trafik vardı.

d. Tabii ki.

2. Which of the following is the most polite way to ask for the salt?

a. Tuzu verebilir misiniz?

b. Tuzu verin.

c. Tuzu verebilir misin?

d. Tuzu ver.

3. Why is there an ı in at the end of uçağımı in Uçağımı kaçırdım?

a. To say "his airplane."

b. Because of vowel harmony.

c. To say "my airplane."

d. Because it's the direct object of "kaçırdım."

4. Which of the following use vowel harmony correctly? (pick all)

a. Otobüsla.

b. Vapurla.

c. Arabayle.

d. Gemiyle.

e. Uçakle.
 f. Dolmuşla.

5. Translate: I am going by ferry. (vapur, gitmek) (write)

Answer Key

1. b
2. a
3. d
4. b d f
5. Vapurla gidiyorum , Ben vapurla gidiyorum

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