Turkish people are incredibly friendly and polite, when visiting Turkey or speaking to a Turk, it is most important to at least learn how to show your appreciation by learning how to say Thank you in Turkish. It will make them feel appreciated that you took the time to learn it, which will improve your relationship with them and create a positive encounter. When running around the busy streets of Turkey, a lot of people will often try to sell you stuff. Learning how to politely say “No, thank you.” should also be a staple in your Turkish vocabulary.
In this article, we discuss how and when to use the different types of ways to say “thank you” and “no thank you” in Turkish, to serve as a baseline on your learning journey! Of course, sometimes we do need all the help we can get. Getting an online Turkish tutor to assist you and partaking in online Turkish courses is probably one of the best ways to learn Turkish, it saves you a lot of time! Now, on to the thick of it:
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Saying Thank you in Turkish is like a puzzle piece!
Turkish is an agglutinative language, which are words that are made up of different types of morphemes to determine their meaning. This means that one way of saying thank you in Turkish will not fit every situation. Another thing that influences which form of thank you to use is the subject of the sentence.
The smallest piece to the puzzle in almost all of the ways to say thank you in Turkish is teşekkür, which on its own means “thankfulness”. You will then add words and suffixes to this piece to change it to different forms of “thank you”. You do this by:
- Adding the suffix -ler to the teşekkür converts it into the plural form, teşekkürler, which will then change the meaning to “thanks”.
- Adding ederim, which means ‘give’, to the end of teşekkür creates teşekkür ederim— which converts the word into “thank you”. The suffix -im at the end of ederim means that “you” say “thank you”. If you replace the suffix -im with -iz to form ederiz, it converts it into ‘we’, as in, teşekkür ederiz; you as a group of people say “thank you” or you thank someone on behalf of a group of people.
- You can also add Çok in front of teşekkür or teşekkürler, which means “a lot” or “very much”. So Çok teşekkürler means ‘thanks a lot’.
Geez! That sure is a lot to take in. Now that you have a basic understanding, I have created a list of these words explaining how to pronounce them, the meaning and in what situations it would be appropriate to use them:
1- Thank you
This version of “Thank you” should only be used to show gratitude in very special situations, like when someone has helped you or your group of people, a lot.
- Teşekkür ed-er-im (Teh-sheh-kurh Ed-erh-im): ( I ) thank you.
When to use: A friend of yours went above and beyond to help you get a job in Turkey.
Example: Bugün geldiğiniz için teşekkür ederim.
Thank you for coming today
- Teşekkür ed-er-iz (Teh-sheh-kull-erh-iz): ( We ) thank you.
Example: Bizimle vakit geçirdiğiniz için teşekkür ederiz.
Thank you for spending time with us.
When to use: Someone went out of their way to help you and your group of friends to get to your hotel/home after your car broke down. You thank them on behalf of yourself and your group of friends.
2- Thanks
Formal
- Teşekkürler (Teh-sheh-kull-erh-ler): Thanks.
The plural of Teşekkür. When someone does something big for you, it feels rather wrong to just throw them with a “Thanks”. However, this can be used in many situations, so if you are unsure or when you just can’t remember which form of thanks to use, you can use this one.
When to use: Someone shows you the right direction to the coffee shop, or someone holds the door open for you.
Informal
- Sağ ol (S-ah-l): Thanks or Cheers.
- Eyvallah (Ey-val-lah): Thanks, only used when a man shows gratitude towards another man.
Another common way to say thanks. It is more informal than Teşekkürler, so it should only be used with people that you know well enough. It is also mainly used among young people.
When to use: Your friend hands you a drink at a party— or if someone lends you a pen in class.
3- Thanks a lot!
By adding Çok to Teşekkürler makes it sound more polite than just the standalone teşekkürler, Sağ ol or teşekkürler ederim. This form of thanks is used in informal settings with friends or teachers.
Formal
- Çok teşekkürler (Tch-oh-k Teh-sheh-kull-erh): ( I ) Thanks a lot.
When to use: Your teacher hands you a new pen after yours ran out of ink.
Informal
- Çok sağ ol (Tch-oh-k S-ah-l ): Thank you very much.
When to use: A waiter brings your drink or food, at a restaurant.
How to say “no, thank you”
Sometimes a “No, thank you” is required in certain situations.
- Hayır (Hi-er): No.
If you combine Hayır with some of the above terms:
- Hayır, teşekkürler. (Hi-er, Teh-sheh-kull-erh-ler): No, thank you.
- Hayır, sağ ol. (Hi-er, S-ah-l): No, thanks.
When to use: A rug salesman is trying to negotiate prices with you and you have no desire to buy a rug but also don’t want to be rude.
Sometimes you need a physical representation in order to hear the words being spoken. Here’s a video on 9 different ways to say “Thank you” in Turkish!
Çok teşekkür ederim for reading!
With all these ways to show gratitude in Turkish, your experiences when visiting Turkey or talking to a Turkish friend will go smooth as butter! Not to mention, it is quite fun to learn! If you enjoyed learning how to say thank you in Turkish, be sure to check out the article on hello in different languages and how to say hello in Turkish
As mentioned before, getting a tutor to help you is a quick and easy way to fully comprehend how to say “Thank you” in Turkish! But what if you want to learn Turkish completely? Or learn another language? AmazingTalker is here to help! Amazingtalker is equipped with professional tutors that are sure to help you learn the language of your desire. More into reading? Amazingtalker has an entire plethora of blogs dedicated to learning languages, all for your perusal! This and much more, at AmazingTalker!
Teşekkürler is the Thanks in Turkish. Adding the suffix -ler to the teşekkür converts it into the plural form, teşekkürler, which will then change the meaning to “thanks”.
Add Çok in front of teşekkür or teşekkürler, which means “a lot” or “very much”. So Çok teşekkürler means ‘thanks a lot’.
