Learn how to ask questions at various levels of formality
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Hi everyone, and welcome back to TurkishClass101.com. This is Lower Beginner Season 1 Lesson 13, Where's the Nearest Bathroom in this Turkish City? I’m Becky! |
| Feyza: Merhaba. I'm Feyza. |
| Becky: In this lesson, you'll learn how to ask basic questions using various levels of formality. This conversation takes place outside. |
| Feyza:It’s between Hakan and a passerby. |
| Becky: Since they’re strangers, they’re using formal language. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Hakan: Affedersiniz. Zahmet olmazsa bizi en yakın tuvalete yönlendirebilir misiniz? |
| Adam: Çok özür dilerim ama başka birine sormalısınız. |
| Hakan: (kendi kendine) Oradaki çocuğa mı sormayı denesem… |
| Hakan: Hey, tuvalet nerede? |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Hakan: Affedersiniz. Zahmet olmazsa bizi en yakın tuvalete yönlendirebilir misiniz? |
| Adam: Çok özür dilerim ama başka birine sormalısınız. |
| Hakan: (kendi kendine) Oradaki çocuğa mı sormayı denesem… |
| Hakan: Hey, tuvalet nerede? |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation with English translation |
| Hakan: Affedersiniz. Zahmet olmazsa bizi en yakın tuvalete yönlendirebilir misiniz? |
| Hakan: Excuse me. Could you kindly point us in the direction of the closest restroom? |
| Adam: Çok özür dilerim ama başka birine sormalısınız. |
| Passerby(male): I'm very sorry, but you must ask someone else. |
| Hakan: (kendi kendine) Oradaki çocuğa mı sormayı denesem… |
| Hakan: (to self) Shall I try asking that kid over there? |
| Hakan: Hey, tuvalet nerede? |
| Hakan: Hey, where's the toilet? |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: In Turkish, it’s common to address people differently depending on how well you know them. |
| Feyza: That’s right, and formality levels depend on age, occupation and your relationship to the other person. Traditionally, Turkish culture respects elders and you can still find traces of this in the language. |
| Becky: But since big cities like Istanbul and Ankara receive a lot of migration from the rural regions, you might find people with different values there. |
| Feyza: Formal vocabulary is also expected at the office when you’re talking to your colleagues or boss, with strangers, and when you are first introduced to someone, no matter what age they are. |
| Becky: So Feyza, what are some formal ways to address people? |
| Feyza: Well, I often hear strangers calling older people amca which means ''uncle'', teyze meaning ''auntie'' or even baba meaning ''dad'' in Istanbul, as well as in other cities. Although it sounds like slang, these honorifics come from Anatolian rural dialects. |
| Becky: But big cities in Turkey are very heterogenous, so don't be surprised when you hear people using these to address each other. It doesn't necessarily mean that they are relatives. |
| Feyza: Exactly. |
| Becky: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word is… |
| Feyza: affedersiniz [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Excuse me, Pardon me |
| Feyza: affedersiniz [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Feyza: affedersiniz [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Feyza: zahmet [natural native speed] |
| Becky: burden |
| Feyza: zahmet [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Feyza: zahmet [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next.. |
| Feyza: yakın [natural native speed] |
| Becky: near |
| Feyza: yakın [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Feyza: yakın [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next.. |
| Feyza: tuvalet [natural native speed] |
| Becky: toilet |
| Feyza: tuvalet [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Feyza: tuvalet [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next.. |
| Feyza: yönlendirmek [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to direct |
| Feyza: yönlendirmek [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Feyza: yönlendirmek [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next.. |
| Feyza: çocuk [natural native speed] |
| Becky: child |
| Feyza: çocuk [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Feyza: çocuk [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next.. |
| Feyza: sormak [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to ask |
| Feyza: sormak [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Feyza: sormak [natural native speed] |
| Becky: and last is... |
| Feyza: denemek [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to try on |
| Feyza: denemek [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Feyza: denemek [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is.. |
| Feyza: zahmet olmazsa |
| Becky: Which means "I apologize for the inconvenience, but.." |
| Becky: Can you break this down? |
| Feyza: Sure! Zahmet means “inconvenience” and olmazsa is the negative version of olmak meaning “to be” or “to become,” so it literally means “If it doesn't cause you inconvenience...” |
| Becky: This is a very polite expression, especially when you put it at the beginning of the sentence in a formal dialogue. You use it when you’re asking for something, and you want to make sure it wouldn't cause any problems for the other party. |
| Feyza: You can use this expression when you’re talking to strangers or at the office, or when you’re talking to older people. |
| Becky: Are there any times when you should avoid it? |
| Feyza: Since it’s a formal expression, it might sound out of context or odd if you use it with close friends or in any kind of informal situation. |
| Becky: Can you give us an example? Let’s say Person A drops his phone in the cinema, and it lands under the seat of the person sitting next to him. He can’t reach his phone, so he asks for help. |
| Feyza: He might say Zahmet olmazsa, telefonumu uzatabilir misiniz? |
| Becky: Which means “Could you pass me my phone, if it doesn't cause you inconvenience?” Okay, next we have.. |
| Feyza: affedersiniz |
| Becky: Which means "I am sorry,” “Pardon me,” or “I beg your pardon". What’s the background of this word? |
| Feyza: Well, we need to start from Affetmek, which is a verb that means “to forgive.” It’s a compound verb composed of af, which is a noun meaning “forgiveness” or “dismissal,” and etmek, which is an auxiliary verb generally meaning “to do.” Altogether, the meaning becomes “to offer your dismissal,” or “forgiveness.” And affedersiniz comes from Affetmek. |
| Becky: When can you use this phrase? |
| Feyza: You can use affedersiniz if you bump into someone when you’re in a hurry and you don't have time to make a proper apology. Simply say affedersiniz. |
| Becky: It’s efficient, polite and easy. You can also use it when you want to attract a stranger’s attention to ask them a question. |
| Feyza: In that case, you’d say Affedersiniz, en yakın ATM nerede acaba?” which means, “Excuse me, where is the nearest ATM, I wonder.” You’re apologizing for taking their time to answer your question. It is considered very polite to use Affedersiniz, and you will receive your answer faster if you do it. |
| Becky: Are there any times when you should avoid it? |
| Feyza: You can't use affedersiniz if you hurt someone seriously or if you damage or lose somebody else's belongings. |
| Becky: So, it won't be appropriate to use this apology if you break something by accident at your friend’s house, for example. Can you give us an example of this word in a sentence? |
| Feyza: Sure! Affedersiniz, nereden bilet alabilirim? |
| Becky: “Excuse me, where can I buy a ticket?” Okay, next we have.. |
| Feyza: özür dilerim |
| Becky: Which means "to apologize,” “to ask for an apology,” or “to ask for pardon"' |
| Feyza: Özür is a noun that means “excuse,” or “apology,” and dilemek is a verb meaning “to wish”, so the phrase literally means “to wish for an apology.” |
| Becky: When can you use this phrase? |
| Feyza: Özür dilerim is warmer and more personal than affedersiniz. It’s appropriate for both formal and informal conversations, but it’s quite direct. |
| Becky: You can use it as an apology if you break, damage, or lose someone else's belongings, accidentally hurt someone badly, or simply do something bad that hurts the other person's feelings. When should you avoid this expression? |
| Feyza: You can’t use it to get a stranger's attention. For that purpose, you should use affedersiniz. |
| Becky: Could you give us an example? |
| Feyza: Sana yalan söylediğim için özür dilerim. |
| Becky: "I apologize for lying to you.” Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Becky: In this lesson, you'll learn how to attract someone’s attention while asking formal and informal questions. |
| Feyza: In the dialogue, we had Affedersiniz. Zahmet olmazsa bizi en yakın tuvalete yönlendirebilir misiniz? |
| Becky: Which means “Excuse me. Could you kindly point us in the direction of the closest restroom? |
| Feyza: Let’s start by creating a question with the verb “to eat”. |
| Becky: But first, let's introduce some basic verbs in their interrogative forms in Turkish in both their formal and informal forms. |
| Feyza: In Turkish, in order to make formal sentences, the plural second person siz is used. In other cases, formality is expressed by using words like lütfen, affedersiniz, pardon, acaba and so on. |
| Becky: These mean ‘’please,” “excuse me,” “pardon me,” and “I wonder if...’’ Feyza, how can we translate “Did you buy?” in both formal and informal Turkish? |
| Feyza: The informal version is satın aldın mı? And the formal version is satın aldınız mı? |
| Becky: And how can you translate “did you use?” in formal and informal Turkish? |
| Feyza: Informal Turkish is kullandın mı? Formal Turkish is kullandınız mı? |
| Becky: How can you translate “did you go?” in formal and informal Turkish? |
| Feyza: Informal Turkish is gittin mi? Formal Turkish is gittiniz mi? |
| Becky: Now let’s look at some examples. How can you say "I'll drink black tea. Thanks", in different situations? |
| Feyza: If it’s a formal situation, you can say Çay içerim. Teşekkürler. If you are with friends, you can say Çay içerim. You don’t need to add Teşekkürler. |
| Becky: Okay, next example. How do you say "Will you drink black tea?", in different situations? |
| Feyza:If it’s a formal situation, say Çay içer misiniz? If you are with friends, you can simply say Çay içer misin? |
| Becky: Good to know. Are there any more useful examples we should know? |
| Feyza: Hmm, another example is Affedersiniz, yardımcı olabilir misiniz acaba? |
| Becky: Which means “Excuse me, I wonder if you could help me?” |
Outro |
| Becky: Well, that’s all for this lesson. Thanks for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Feyza: Görüşürüz. |
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