Congratulations on completing the beginner level!
As you prepare to continue your Turkish learning journey at the intermediate level, you may be worried about the new challenges and difficulties you’ll need to face. The good news is that learning and practicing the intermediate Turkish phrases listed in this article will take you a long way. Furthermore, you can rely on TurkishClass101.com to help fill in the gaps and get you leveled up in no time.
In this article, we will introduce you to about 30 useful Turkish phrases for intermediate learners. These are phrases that you can use in a variety of circumstances:
- Talking about your memories
- Telling others your plans
- Giving justifications
- Making recommendations and complaints
- Expressing yourself in daily conversations
- Being polite in social and business settings
Don’t miss out on this opportunity to improve your Turkish. Learn these intermediate Turkish phrases today, and start off the next phase of your learning journey on the right foot!
Table of Contents
- Memories and Past Events
- Making and Changing Plans
- Giving Justification
- Recommend, Praise, and Complain
- Daily Conversations
- Etiquette Phrases for Social and Business Settings
- Practice Intermediate Turkish Phrases with TurkishClass101
1. Memories and Past Events
Anecdotes and memories are definitely good conversation builders. Sharing your past experiences with someone will also help the other person get to know you better. And that will surely take the relationship one step—maybe even a couple of steps—further.
At the beginner level, you became familiar with the present tense. Now, it’s time to get some exposure to the past tense so that you can talk about a wider range of topics.
- ➜ Need a refresher? You can read our blog post about tenses in Turkish for some useful information.
Here are a few Turkish phrases for intermediate learners that will help you talk about past events and have deeper conversations:
| Turkish | English |
| Haftasonu partide çok eğlendik. | We had a lot of fun at the party over the weekend. |
| O an kendimi çok kötü hissettim. | I felt very bad at that moment. |
| Küçük bir evim vardı ama sattım. | I had a small house, but I sold it. |
| Köpeğimin öldüğü gün hayatımın en kötü günüydü. | The day my dog died was the worst day of my life. |
| Eskiden buz pateni yapardım. | I used to ice skate. |
| Gençken çok zayıftım. | I was very thin when I was young. |
| Kızımın doğduğu gün hayatımın en mutlu günüydü. | The day my daughter was born was the happiest day of my life. |
2. Making and Changing Plans
As you socialize more and deepen your relationships with the Turkish people around you, the need to make plans will arise. In this section, we’ll show you several Turkish phrases for intermediate-level learners that you can use when making, changing, or discussing plans. Feel free to adjust them for your needs.
| Turkish | English |
| Bu haftasonu müsait misin? | Are you available this weekend? |
| Bu akşamki konsere gidelim mi? | Shall we go to the concert tonight? Literally: Can we go to the concert that is tonight? |
| Toplantıyı yarın öğleden sonraya erteleyebilir miyiz? | Can we postpone the meeting to tomorrow afternoon? |
| Partiyi iptal etmek zorunda kaldım. | I had to cancel the party. |
| Partiye kız/erkek arkadaşımla gelebilir miyim? | Can I come to the party with my girlfriend/boyfriend? |
| Bu uçuş ertelendi. | This flight has been delayed. Literally: This flight has been postponed. |
| Cumartesi sinemaya gideceğiz, değil mi? | We’re going to go to the movies on Saturday, aren’t we? |
3. Giving Justification
Explaining what you’ve done or what you’ll be doing might be simple for you at this stage. However, you must learn how to give the reasons behind your behavior, beliefs, plans, or goals, as this will allow you to communicate and express yourself more effectively. Once you pick up a few Turkish conjunction words, you’ll find that giving reasons is not that difficult.
Below are some intermediate Turkish phrases that will help you make your points more clear.
| Turkish | English |
| Toplantıya katılamadım çünkü hastalandım. | I couldn’t join the meeting because I got sick. |
| Arabam bozulduğu için geç kaldım. | I’m late because my car broke down. Literally: I was late because my car broke down. |
| Sana iki nedenden dolayı katılmıyorum. Birincisi, bana verdiğin süre çok kısa. İkincisi, bu bütçe yeterli değil. | I don’t agree with you due to two reasons. Firstly, the time you gave me is short. Secondly, this budget isn’t sufficient. |
| Bana doğruyu söylemedin. O yüzden sana kızgınım. | You didn’t tell me the truth. That’s why I’m angry with you. |
| Bana haksızlık etmeseydin sana bu kadar kızmazdım. | I wouldn’t be so mad at you if you hadn’t been unfair to me. |
| O özür diledi, böylece tekrar görüşmeye başladık. | (S)he apologized, so we started seeing each other again. |
| Uyuya kalmışım. O nedenle gelemedim. | I fell asleep. That’s why I couldn’t come. |
4. Recommend, Praise, and Complain
Sharing your experiences, both good and bad, indicates sincerity in your personal interactions. Your remarks, recommendations, compliments, and complaints can also lead people to make better choices. Therefore, learning how to build sentences for these purposes will be very useful!
- ➜ By the way, don’t forget to read our article titled Learn the Top Turkish Compliments for Any Situation.
Take a look at the sample intermediate Turkish phrases below, and start sharing your opinions and recommendations with native Turkish speakers.
| Turkish | English |
| O otel çok temiz; kesinlikle tavsiye ederim. | That hotel is very clean; I definitely recommend it. |
| Bu kullandığım en iyi makyaj temizleyici; mutlaka denemelisin. | This is the best makeup remover I’ve ever used; you must try it. |
| O marka çok kötü; kesinlikle tavsiye etmem. | That brand is very bad; I would definitely not recommend it. |
| Müzik alanında çok yeteneklisin, tebrik ederim. | You are very talented in music, congratulations. Literally: You are talented in the area of music, congratulations. |
| Bu ödülü en çok sen hakettin. | You deserved this award the most. |
| Bana bu şekilde davranmamalıydın. | You shouldn’t have treated me like that. |
| Sizi polise şikayet edeceğim. | I will report you to the police. |
5. Daily Conversations
I’m sure you learned many simple sentences for carrying out daily conversations at the beginner level. How about adding more flavor to what you already know? Enrich your everyday conversations with the following Turkish phrases for intermediate learners:
| Turkish | English |
| Bu çok güzel bir haber. | This is very good news. |
| Gelebildiğine çok sevindim. | I’m very glad that you were able to come. |
| Şaka mı yapıyorsun? | Are you kidding me? |
| Gerçekten mi? | Really? |
| Allah korusun! | God forbid! Literally: May God protect! |
| Umarım! | I hope so! Literally: I hope! |
| Geçmiş olsun, acil şifalar dilerim. | Get well soon; I wish you a quick recovery. Literally: May it pass; I wish you urgent recoveries. |
6. Etiquette Phrases for Social and Business Settings
Customs and traditions differ from country to country. Knowing the cultural etiquette of Turkey will make your interactions more comfortable in both social and professional contexts.
- ➜ A great place to start learning about Turkish culture is in this blog article from TurkishClass101.com.
Since business settings are more formal, foreigners are usually afraid of making mistakes. Some people might cut the conversation short to avoid saying something wrong or accidentally offending someone.
Here are some useful intermediate Turkish phrasesthat you can use confidently to have kind, good, and respectful communicationwith Turkish people in both social and professional settings.
| Turkish | English |
| Afiyet olsun. | Bon appetit. |
| İyi yolculuklar. | Have a nice trip. |
| Nasıl yardımcı olabilirim? | How can I help you? |
| Benim için bir zevkti. | It was a pleasure for me. |
| Rahatsız ettiysem özür dilerim. | I apologize if I bothered you. |
| Bir şeye ihtiyacınız var mı? | Do you need anything? |
| Şerefe! (only used when drinking alcoholic beverages) | Cheers! Literally: To honor! |
7. Practice Intermediate Turkish Phrases with TurkishClass101
This article introduced you to many Turkish phrases for intermediate-level learners. However, there are many more words, phrases, expressions, and grammar points to explore.
TurkishClass101 makes it easy to learn Turkish online, level up your skills, and start speaking right away. We provide an array of audio recordings, vocabulary lists, and free resources (including this Turkish-English dictionary). What’s more, you can download the app for free and learn Turkish wherever you are.
- ➜ Not sure where to start? We encourage you to check out the intermediate Turkish lessons in our Intermediate lesson pathway.
Don’t forget that there is also our Premium PLUS service, MyTeacher; with MyTeacher, you can learn and practice with a private teacher while receiving real-time feedback.
Last but not least, please continue to provide us with feedback about all the resources we offer you at TurkishClass101.com!
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