| I'm Seda. Welcome to TurkishClass101.com. Today, we'll talk about how to tell the time in Turkish. It's not that complicated. We will learn a couple of rules. Other than that, you only need to know the numbers. So, if you don't know the numbers, please study numbers before. We have lessons about numbers as well. So, let's start. |
| Okay, and before I start, I want to tell you something. In Turkish, we don't have AM or PM phrases. And instead of that, either we understand it from the context, or if you're gonna meet someone, and we say, 'Let's meet at seven tomorrow,' you know, the person may not understand if it's in the morning or in the evening. So, we just say those words. We say 'evening' or 'morning.' We add it next to the time, so we make sure that the person understands and doesn't wait for us for long hours. |
| So, first, let's go over that. I have my notes. We have, if you want to say 'evening,' you say 'akşam.' For 'morning,' you need to say 'sabah.' For 'afternoon,' for example 2:00 in the afternoon sometimes we say 'öğleden sonra.' And we have a specific time we talk about. It's like between after 4:00 PM till 6, 6:30. It's a specific time for us. We say 'akşam üzeri.' It's something like 'about to be the evening.' It's like, it's between afternoon, evening, that time scale, 'akşam üzeri.' And if we talk about after 12 years, for example, this is for after 11 AM. I'm sorry, 11 PM. From 11 PM till 4 AM in the morning, we say “gece” or 'gece yarısı.' It means like it's between, I don't know, there is no such a thing in English exactly. It's, as I said, between 11 PM till 4 AM in the morning. |
| For example, if I want to say 11, but not in the morning, it's 11 PM, I would say “gece 11” something like that. So, keep that in mind. And you don't have to say them, but as I said before, this is for making sure that the person understands what time you're talking about. It would be so much easier if we had AM and PM, but we don't. What can you do? |
| Okay, let's start. First, let's start with asking the question, right? 'What time is it?' It is very simple.” Saat kaç? And funny thing, 'kaç' means 'it.' We, in English, you can use it for 'how much,' 'how many,' or in this case, 'what time.' 'What time is it?' And we use it for questions. It's like a question mark, question tag. But it also means 'to run,' 'run away,' something like that. It's a verb. And when you say 'saat kaç,' it also sounds to our ears something like 'clock, run away,' 'run away, clock.' And this is a children's joke. If someone says 'saat kaç,' and they think that it's like 'run away, run away,' and they say 'saat kaçmıyor,' meaning something like 'the clock is not running away.' It's very well translated. These things don't sound funny, but in the language of small children, they are supposed to be funny. So, keep that in mind as well. |
| Okay, so you know how to ask the question. And the answer, if we are talking about like one, two, three, four, it's very, very easy. You can either just say the numbers without saying anything. You can, if someone says 'saat kaç,' you could just say 'one,' for example, 'bir,' 'bir.' Or if you want a proper sentence, 'it is, “saat bir” ' let's say, 'I want to tell it's three,' can you say 'üç'? Let's wait, you know the numbers. Yes, let's wait a second. Yeah, okay, that's it. Okay, I'm saying it “saat üç” It is saat üç, saat dört, saat beş. you don't even have to say 'saat' in this sense. |
| And with the half an hour, for example, 1:30, 2:30, it's again very simple. You just add 'buçuk.' 'Buçuk' means 'half.' Buçuk,' it's a funny word when you hear it. Yeah, I know, “buçuk” 'half.' So, if you want to say, for example, it's 7:30, we would say 'yedi buçuk.' 5:30, we would say 'beş buçuk.' Okay, now let's try 11:30. Let's wait a couple of seconds. I'm giving you time. Yes, time, 11:30. What was 11 in Turkish? On bir buçık. Saat kaç? On bir buçuk. So, that's it. Already, you can say that you know one, two, three, or 1:30, 2:30, 3:30. It's easy. |
| Now comes the tricky part. If you want to talk about “past” time and “to” time, I couldn't find the words to explain it, but I will in a bit. Let's check my example. Okay, if you want to talk about past the hour, we have a formula, we have a rule. First, we put the hour, okay? First, the hour. Then we add some letters. It's either '”ı-i-u- or ü” What decides which letter will go there? It's Turkish vowel harmony rules. I'm sorry, I know it's a little bit complicated, but you have to know this rule. This rule goes everywhere. When you want to speak Turkish, you have to think about Turkish vowel harmony rules all the time. |
| So, according to the word, we add one of these letters. And don't forget, in Turkish, normally, as a rule, two vowels can't come together. So 'a' and 'a' can't come together. If they come together, you have to put a buffer letter in between. In this case, we have to add the letter 'y' in between. So, if our number ends with a vowel, in the case of, for example, 'iki,' so we have to add the buffer letter 'y' in between because of the rule. |
| And you may ask, 'Seda, then why you have the word 'time' or 'clock' with two vowel letters, 'saat'? That would be a very good question. It's because some of the words are coming from different languages. In this case, 'saat' is coming from the language Arabic. And those words that are coming from other languages don't have to follow the rules of Turkish. So, you don't try to make this rule to every word you see in Turkish. I know this doesn't help, but it gets more, it gets easier in time. Don't worry. Okay, Turkish is a little bit hard at first, but it gets easier because you get the idea where to put what, and it won't be this scary after some points. |
| So, the rule is you add the hour, then one of the letters I said, then the minutes, then you have to say 'geçiyor.' I will put the formula here or here somewhere. You will see it. And 'geçiyor' means it's a conjugated version of the verb 'to pass,' 'to pass.' So, the minutes are passing. They are. That's the idea. And the conjugation is in a third singular form of present continuous tense. |
| So, let's give you an example. For example, let's say 10 past 3. You can either start with, again, you can say 'saat,' or you can just say the number. Doesn't matter. Sounds the same. Saat üçü on geçiyor,' I added “ü” here because of the Turkish vowel harmony rules. and sometimes I get the questions of why you are not saying some vowels. Normally, when I speak clearly and slowly, I would say 'geçiyor.' But in my daily life, I would a little bit omit, a little bit swallow the last letter of 'r.' Okay, I would just say 'geçiyo,' as if there is no 'r.' So, when you are listening to some series, some native speakers, you would wonder why, where is this last letter? So, the last letter, I just swallow it. I don't know. That daily language is a little bit different. |
| So, okay, let's give you another example. Okay, perfect example. Let's say it's 15 or quarter past five. So, we, as in English, have a separate word for 'quarter.' It is 'çeyrek.' So, we either can say 15, or we can say 'quarter.' So, let's try with both. 'Saat beşi on beş geçiyor,' or we can say “saat beşi çeyrek geçiyor.” Let's give you another example. It's 20 past 7. Let's say that. Let's wait a little. Can you guess it? Okay, tell me. Twenty past seven, 'saat yediyi yirmi geçiyor.' That's it. That's the whole rule. |
| Okay, now you got this. And let's go over to the time that, to the time, I couldn't say 'to the time.' The 'to tell the time to the hour,' the to hours,' as in 'ten to five,' as in 'five to six,' things like that. Okay, let's start. |
| We have a rule here as well. Now we add again the 'hour,' first. Then we either add 'e' or 'a.' Then we would add 'minute,' and we would say 'var.' 'Var,' okay? Again, we would add the 'hour,' either 'e' or 'a,' according to the vowel harmony rules. And don't forget, if we need the buffer letter, we add the buffer letter 'y,' the y,' here as well. And we would add the 'minute,' and we say 'var.' Do you remember what 'var' means? 'Var' means either 'have,' 'has got,' or 'there is,' 'there are.' So, when I translate it, for example, it's '10 to 5.' In Turkish, it would translate something like 'there is 10 to five,' something like that. |
| Okay, it's not that complicated. You just need to practice a little. Okay, let's practice together. Let's say it's 'ten to five' together. “Beşe on var. “And let's say it's 'quarter to seven.' Again, we could say '15,' but generally for time, we would say 'quarter.' So, it's 'çeyrek.' “Yediye çeyrek var.” Okay, let's say 25 to 9. “ Dokuza yirmi beş var.” Okay, so that's it. |
| Okay, let's practice together now. I'll tell you a time, and you'll try to say it. Okay, it's 12:30. On iki buçuk. And note, we have a special saying for 12:30 in Turkish. You would just say 'yarım.' That's it. You can't use it. You can either say '12:30,' 'on iki buçuk,' or you could just say 'yarım.' Both are the same. |
| Okay, okay. I hope you liked it, and I want you to leave some comments and tell me what time is it right now when you are writing. Okay, see you guys. Bye. |
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