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-   -   Question About Türkçe (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/question-about-trke-836150/)

otherchelebi May 5th, 2010 11:44 PM

Please give me your mailing address so that i can send my invoice. :)

1. "tehk-rarh-la-yaen"
2. "o zaman" actually mean 'in that case' but not 'then'. The 'o' is separate. 'Then' would be "sonra" meaning 'after' or 'afterwards.'
3. "din-lay-in.

the "i" in Turkish that you usually try to pronounce as "ee"
is more correctly pronounce is a much shorter syllable. like the 'e' in the english word "me' or the first syllable of the word 'single' for example.

lamogood May 6th, 2010 04:13 PM

Thanks again. For my notecards, are "tekrarleyin" and "dinleyin" the correct spellings, or are they spelled some other way?

otherchelebi May 6th, 2010 04:18 PM

1. 'tekrarlayın' the vowel rule does not apply because the word is originally Arabic or persian.

'dinleyin' is correct.

lamogood May 7th, 2010 06:11 PM

As I was looking through my "Lonely Planet" Turkish phrasebook, I noticed two different phrases for saying "My name is ...". One is "benim ismim", and the other is "benim adım". Are they both correct, and if so, are they used in different situations?

otherchelebi May 8th, 2010 02:10 AM

they have exactly the same meaning. the first is of possibly Persian origin, the second is pure Turkish. Both have very widespread use and will be understood by everyone.

You do not have to use the first word "benim" since you are already personalizing with the possessive suffix.

lamogood May 8th, 2010 02:43 PM

I'm not sure I have enough time to complete my Pimsleur Turkish course - flight departs in a couple of days. Therefore, I've tried to construct specific phrases I'll need to use. Might I receive some guidance and corrections if needed?
1) "Can I pay now/in advance?" - "şhimdi ödeyebilir miyim?" - will say this at hotel/B&B if I need to depart very early next morning.
2) "When is the first bus to Ephesus/Efes?" - "Efese ilk dolmuş ne zaman?" - will ask this at hotel regarding the shuttle bus - not sure whether to add "e" "a" "ye" or "ya" to end of "Efes".
3) "Please take me to Atatürk Airport" - "Şoför Bey, Lütfen beni Atatürk Havalimanı __ götürün" - will say to taxi driver
4) **I keep seeing "bilir" attached to the end of words in a question (examples: gösterebilir, alabilir, bırakabilir); this is followed by some variation of "miyim". What exactly do these two things in a question mean?
Thanks for any help.

otherchelebi May 8th, 2010 10:30 PM

1. Yes (but everyone at the front desk will speak English anyway)

2. Yes. you add a vowel according to the vowel of the previous syllable, if the word end in a consonant. If the word ends in a vowel you add 'ye' or 'ya' according to the previous vowel again.

3. In this case, the suffix you add to "havalimani" is "na"
You could only say "Ataturk havalimanina, lutfen"

4. "bilir" suffix means "can", "could", and "may"
So your sentence to the driver means "take me!".
If you want to use "can you take me to...." you would say, "Ataturk Hava limanina götürebilirmisiniz?"

What you have done is very commendable, and will come handy on occasion, especially if you like communicating with non-touristy people and older people you meet. However, you should not expect any problems in communication as a regular tourist if you only speak English, because most turkish people will go out of their way to assist you.

lamogood May 10th, 2010 08:39 PM

Thanks for all of the help. I understand that many Türks will know English, but I will try my best to communicate in the local language. I'm hoping this will make my visit more enjoyable. Thanks again.


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