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Turkish with neighbours and family

New neighbours, a family visit, a plate of börek and a word about the noise: Turkish for life next door.

32 sentences · 2 dialogues · 15 words

Why this field

In many Turkish blocks of flats and neighbourhoods, neighbours matter a great deal: people greet each other, bring something round, keep an eye on the children, help with a move. Know a few sentences for it and you quickly become part of it.

And if you have a Turkish family, these are exactly the sentences you need on the phone, on a visit and at the table — with all the different words for uncle and aunt.

What you will be able to do

Goals by level. Tick what you can already do — the tick stays in this browser only.

Core vocabulary

15 words from the word lists, ordered by level. A coloured edge shows what you have already practised.

  • komşuneighbourA1
  • ailefamilyA1
  • misafirguestA1
  • çocukchildA1
  • kapıdoorA1
  • teyzeaunt (mother’s sister)A1
  • amcauncle (father’s brother)A1
  • kirarentA2
  • ev sahibilandlord, landlady; hostA2
  • davetinvitationA2
  • ziyaret etmekto visitA2
  • taşınmakto move (house)A2
  • çöprubbishA2
  • gürültülünoisyA2
  • kapıcıcaretaker, porterB1

Typical situations

Short dialogues to read along and repeat. Say one part first, then the other.

The new neighbours

A2

A neighbour rings the bell the day after you move in.

  1. Neighbour

    Merhaba, ben karşı daireden Fatma. Hoş geldiniz!Hello, I’m Fatma from the flat opposite. Welcome!

  2. New tenant

    Hoş bulduk! Ben Tobias. Buyurun, içeri gelin.Thank you! I’m Tobias. Please, come in.

  3. Neighbour

    Size biraz börek getirdim. Güle güle oturun!I’ve brought you some börek. May you be happy here!

  4. New tenant

    Çok teşekkür ederim, çok naziksiniz.Thank you very much, that’s very kind of you.

  5. Neighbour

    Bir şey lazım olursa kapımı çalın, lütfen.If you need anything, just knock on my door.

  6. New tenant

    Sağ olun. Bir gün çaya gelin!Thank you. Do come round for tea one day!

Too loud in the evening

B1

The neighbour from upstairs rings late in the evening.

  1. Neighbour

    İyi akşamlar, rahatsız ettim, kusura bakmayın.Good evening — sorry to bother you.

  2. Neighbour

    İyi akşamlar, buyurun. Bir sorun mu var?Good evening, yes? Is there a problem?

  3. Neighbour

    Müzik biraz yüksek. Çocuklar uyuyamıyor.The music is a bit loud. The children can’t sleep.

  4. Neighbour

    Ah, hiç fark etmedim! Hemen kısıyorum.Oh, I didn’t notice at all! I’ll turn it down right away.

  5. Neighbour

    Çok teşekkür ederim, anlayışınız için.Thank you very much for understanding.

  6. Neighbour

    Ne demek, asıl ben özür dilerim. İyi geceler!Not at all — I’m the one who should apologise. Good night!

Sentences to say aloud

The label says where a sentence belongs. The speaker next to it reads it aloud.

  1. Merhaba, ben yeni komşunuzum.Hello, I’m your new neighbour.

    A1polite

  2. Bu benim ailem.This is my family.

    A1neutral

  3. Çocuklar bahçede oynuyor.The children are playing in the garden.

    A1neutral

  4. Buyurun, içeri gelin!Please, come in!

    A1polite Buyurun invites: to come in, to sit down, to help yourself.

  5. Çay içer misiniz?Would you like some tea?

    A1polite An offer is in the aorist: içer misiniz, literally “do you (usually) drink?”

  6. Annem ve babam yarın geliyor.My mum and dad are coming tomorrow.

    A1neutral

  7. Kapı açık, gel!The door’s open — come in!

    A1close friends only

  8. Teyzem İzmir'de oturuyor.My aunt lives in İzmir.

    A1neutral

  9. Akşam misafir geliyor.We’ve got guests coming this evening.

    A1neutral

  10. Hoş geldiniz, güle güle oturun!Welcome, and may you be happy in your new home!

    A2polite

  11. Size biraz börek getirdim.I’ve brought you some börek.

    A2neutral

  12. Kira ne kadar?How much is the rent?

    A2neutral

  13. Ev sahibimiz çok nazik.Our landlord is very kind.

    A2neutral

  14. Yarın akşam sizi yemeğe davet ediyoruz.We’d like to invite you to dinner tomorrow evening.

    A2polite

  15. Çöpü akşam kapının önüne koyuyoruz.We put the rubbish outside the door in the evening.

    A2neutral

  16. Dün gece üst katta çok gürültülü bir parti vardı.There was a very noisy party upstairs last night.

    A2neutral

  17. Geçen ay bu eve taşındık.We moved into this flat last month.

    A2neutral

  18. Hafta sonu dayımı ziyaret edeceğim.At the weekend I’m going to visit my uncle.

    A2neutral

  19. Elinize sağlık, yemek çok lezzetliydi.Thank you for cooking — the food was delicious.

    A2polite Literally “health to your hands” — the thanks to whoever cooked.

  20. Kusura bakmayın, çocuklar biraz ses yaptı.Sorry, the children were a bit noisy.

    A2polite

  21. Davetiniz için çok teşekkürler.Thank you very much for the invitation.

    A2neutral

  22. Amcamın üç çocuğu var.My uncle has three children.

    A2neutral

  23. Kapıcı her sabah kapımıza ekmek bırakıyor.The caretaker leaves bread outside our door every morning.

    B1neutral In some blocks of flats the kapıcı brings bread in the morning if you ask.

  24. Komşumuz tatildeyken çiçeklerini sulayacağım.While our neighbour is on holiday I’ll water her plants.

    B1neutral -ken means “while”: tatildeyken, “while on holiday”.

  25. Tabağı boş vermek istemedim, içine biraz kurabiye koydum.I didn’t want to give the plate back empty, so I put some biscuits on it.

    B1neutral

  26. Saat on birden sonra müziği biraz kısabilir misiniz?Could you turn the music down a bit after eleven?

    B1polite

  27. Yan dairedeki yaşlı teyzeye alışverişte yardım ediyorum.I help the old lady next door with her shopping.

    B1neutral

  28. Apartman toplantısında aidatın artacağı söylendi.At the residents’ meeting we were told that the service charge will go up.

    B1neutral

  29. Taşınırken bize yardım ettiğiniz için çok teşekkür ederiz.Thank you so much for helping us with the move.

    B1polite

  30. Bayramda büyükler ziyaret edilir, çocuklara şeker verilir.At Bayram older relatives are visited and children are given sweets.

    B1neutral A passive without a subject: ziyaret edilir, verilir — this is how you describe a custom.

  31. Annemle babam bizimle yaşamak istiyor; bu konuyu ailece konuşacağız.My parents want to live with us; we’re going to talk it over as a family.

    B1neutral

  32. Komşuların gürültülü olduğunu ev sahibine söyledim.I told the landlord that the neighbours are noisy.

    B1neutral

What matters here

  • Older neighbours are often called teyze (“auntie”) or amca (“uncle”), even when they are no relation.

    teyzeamca

  • New neighbours are wished Güle güle oturun! — “may you live here happily!”

    Güle güle oturun!

  • If someone brings you food on a plate, many people do not give the plate back empty but with something on it.

  • Turkish is precise about family:

    teyze and hala, dayı and amca tell you which side of the family someone is on — where English has only “aunt” and “uncle”.

    teyzehaladayıamca

Quick quiz

6 questions on the words and sentences of this field. The word questions count in your progress like any other exercise.

Try it yourself

Read the meaning, say the sentence aloud in Turkish, then open it to compare.

  1. Hello, I’m your new neighbour.

    Merhaba, ben yeni komşunuzum.

  2. We’ve got guests coming this evening.

    Akşam misafir geliyor.

  3. We moved into this flat last month.

    Geçen ay bu eve taşındık.

  4. I didn’t want to give the plate back empty, so I put some biscuits on it.

    Tabağı boş vermek istemedim, içine biraz kurabiye koydum.

Keep learning

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Every sentence on this page was written for EveryLingua. There are no quotations from films, series, books or songs here, and no titles or names of artists — the page shows how people talk in this field, not what somebody once said.