The easy way to learn Turkish
Telling The Time in Turkish
| Useful Verbs |
| gelmek - to come |
| gitmek - to go |
| yemek - to eat |
| sevmek - to love |
| yapmak - to do |
| olmak - to be |
| kalmak - to stay |
| istemek - to want |
To ask 'what is the time?' in Turkish, we must say 'saat kaç?'.
It is 2 o'clock - saat iki
It is 5 o'clock - saat beş
It is 11 o'clock - saat on bir
Past the hour -
To tell the time past the hour, the hour comes first followed by either -(y)i/ı/u/ü depending on vowel harmony. (The -(y) is only added if the last letter is a vowel). Then add the minutes, then 'geçiyor'.
To say 'quarter past...', simply put 'çeyrek' (quarter) where the minutes would go.
The formula for telling the time 'past the hour' therefore is;
saat + hour + -(y)i + minute + geçiyor
examples
saat + hour + -(y)i + minute + geçiyor
saat beşi on geçiyor (10 past 5)
saat üçü yirmi beş geçiyor (25 past 3)
saat on ikiyi çeyrek geçiyor (quarter past 12)
To the hour
To tell the time to the hour, the hour comes first followed by either '-(y)e/a' depending on vowel harmony. (The -(y) is only added if the last letter is a vowel again). Then add the minutes, then 'var'.
Once again, to say 'quarter to', put 'çeyrek' (quarter) where the minutes would go.
The formula for telling to time 'to the hour' therefore is;
saat + -(y)e/a + minute + var
examples
saat + hour + -e/a + minute + var
saat yediye yirmi var (20 to 7)
saat on bire beş var (5 to 11)
saat dokuza çeyrek var (quarter to 9)
Half past
To say 'half past....' add 'buçuk' after the hour.
examples
half past 4 - dört buçuk
half past 10 - on buçuk
half past 12 - yarım (simply meaning 'half', this is used for 'half past 12')
To say 'at' a certain time such as 'at half 8', the same formulas are used but with a different ending.
The formula for 'at...past...' is;
hour + -(y)i + minute +geçe
examples
altıyı on geçe = at 10 past 6
ikiyi çeyrek geçe = at quarter past 2
The formula for 'at....to...' is;
hour +-(y)a/e +minute + kala
examples
dokuza beş kala = at 5 to 9
sekize çeyrek kala = at quarter to 8
at 8 o'clock = sekizde
at half 4 = dört buçukta
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