Learn how to ask "Can you speak English?"
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| Introduction |
| Merhaba! Hello and welcome to Turkey Survival Phrases brought to you by TurkishClass101.com. This course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to Turkey. You will be surprised at how far a little Turkish will go. |
| Now, before we jump in, remember to stop by TurkishClass101.com, and there you will find the accompanying PDF and additional info in the post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment. |
| Turkish Survival Phrases, Lesson 7: Use English to your advantage in Turkish. |
Lesson focus |
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| In this lesson we'll cover another extremely important phrase: "Do you know English?" Using this phrase as opposed to speaking English at someone is important for many reasons. For one, if the party you're speaking to doesn't understand English, at least they'll be able to understand what you're asking. Furthermore, it shows a lot of respect on your part, because you've made an effort to learn even a little bit of the language. For these reasons and many more, we're going to cover this very important phrase. |
| In Turkish, "Do you know English?" is İngilizce biliyor musunuz? Let's break it down. İn-gi-li-zce bi-li-yor mu-su-nuz? Once more. İngilizce biliyor musunuz? |
| The first word, İngilizce, means "English." İn-gi-li-zce. İngilizce. After this comes Biliyor, a form of the word for "to know." Biliyor. Biliyor. The last part, Musunuz, makes the sentence a question. Puts Biliyor in the second person and makes it plura. |
| All together, that's İngilizce biliyor musunuz? İngilizce biliyor musunuz? |
| The phrase that we just learned is formal. This means you can use it in situations with older people or with people you don't know. |
| When you're speaking to young people, it's okay to use informal speech. In that case, you will say İngilizce biliyor musun? |
| Here we just changed the final word Musun. While the difference seems small, it is very significant and completely changes the formality level. Let’s break the whole phrase down. İn-gi-li-zce bi-li-yor mu-sun? Once more, İngilizce biliyor musun? |
| Again, you can use İngilizce biliyor musunuz? In a formal way with older people or those you don't know. İngilizce biliyor musun is more direct. Do not use it with people you don't know or with elders. |
| Now, for a change, let's try a different language: German. "Do you know German?" is Almanca biliyor musun? The word for German is Almanca. Let's break it down. Al-man-ca. Almanca. Here, just the word for language changes. The rest is the same. Al-man-ca bi-li-yor mu-sun? Almanca biliyor musun? |
| When you ask somebody if they speak another language besides Turkish, you might get the answers in Turkish. Here are few ways they might answer this question. |
| "Yes, I know English," would be Evet, İngilizce biliyorum. Let's hear that slowly now. E-vet, İn-gi-li-zce bi-li-yo-rum. And one more time in native speed. Evet, İngilizce biliyorum. |
| The first word, Evet, means "yes." Evet. Evet. After this comes the word for "English," İngilizce, which we've seen before. Finally, we have Biliyorum, which comes from the word for "to know." Bi-li-yo-rum. Biliyorum. |
| All together, that's Evet, İngilizce biliyorum. Evet, İngilizce biliyorum. |
| This phrase could be made shorter just by saying "Yes," which is Evet in Turkish. |
| Or by taking out the word for English and just saying, "Yes, I do know." Evet, biliyorum. E-vet, bi-li-yo-rum. Evet, biliyorum. |
| If the answer is negative, Turkish people could say "No, I don't know English": Hayır, İngilizce bilmiyorum. Let's break it down by syllable. Hayır. İn-gi-li-zce bil-mi-yo-rum. And again, in natural native speed. Hayır, İngilizce bilmiyorum. |
| The first word, Hayır, means "no." Hayır. Hayır. Again, we have the word for "English," İngilizce. Finally, we have our form of the word "to know," Bilmiyorum. |
| All together, that's Hayır, İngilizce bilmiyorum. Hayır. İn-gi-li-zce bil-mi-yo-rum. Hayır, İngilizce bilmiyorum. |
| Sometimes, people will leave out the word for "English" and then just say simply "I don't," which means Hayır, bilmiyorum. Ha-yır, bil-mi-yo-rum. Hayır, bilmiyorum. |
Outro |
| Okay, to close out today's lesson, we would you to practice what you have just learned. I will provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you're responsible for shouting it aloud. You have a few seconds before I give you the answer. So, Iyi şanslar, which means "good luck" in Turkish. |
| "Do you know English?" formal - İngilizce biliyor musunuz? |
| İn-gi-li-zce bi-li-yor mu-su-nuz? |
| İngilizce biliyor musunuz? |
| "Do you know English?" informal - İngilizce biliyor musun. |
| İn-gi-li-zce bi-li-yor mu-sun. |
| İngilizce biliyor musun. |
| "Do you know German?" informal - Almanca biliyor musun? |
| Al-man-ca bi-li-yor mu-sun? |
| Almanca biliyor musun? |
| "Yes. I do know English." - Evet, İngilizce biliyorum. |
| E-vet, İn-gi-li-zce bi-li-yo-rum. |
| Evet, İngilizce biliyorum. |
| "No. I don’t know English." - Hayır, İngilizce bilmiyorum. |
| Ha-yır, İn-gi-li-zce bil-mi-yo-rum. |
| Hayır, İngilizce bilmiyorum. |
| Alright. That's going to do for today. Remember to stop by TurkishClass101.com, and pick up the accompanying PDF. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment. Görüşürüz! |
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