Everyday Turkish: Vocabulary for Real Conversations
Language learning materials sometimes prioritize formal or literary vocabulary over what people actually say. This guide focuses on the Turkish you'll use and hear in real everyday situations.
At Home
- kahvaltı — breakfast
- öğle yemeği — lunch
- akşam yemeği — dinner
- uyumak — to sleep
- kalkmak — to get up
- temizlemek — to clean
- pişirmek — to cook
At Work
- toplantı — meeting
- proje — project
- müşteri — client, customer
- rapor — report
- çalışan — employee
- maaş — salary
Social Situations
- davet — invitation
- parti — party
- buluşmak — to meet up
- eğlenmek — to have fun
- gülmek — to laugh
- sohbet — conversation, chat
Shopping and Services
- market — supermarket
- fiyat — price
- indirim — discount, sale
- ödeme — payment
- kasa — checkout, cash register
- çanta — bag
Health
- doktor / hekim — doctor
- hastane — hospital
- ilaç — medicine
- ağrı — pain
- yorgun — tired
- hasta — sick, ill
Digital Life
- telefon — phone
- internet — internet
- mesaj — message
- paylaşmak — to share
- aramak — to call, to search
Conversation Fillers
Natural conversation in any language includes discourse markers and fillers that signal thinking, agreement, or continuation:
- yani — I mean, that is to say
- işte — you see, there you go
- aslında — actually, in fact
- tabii — of course
- kesinlikle — definitely, absolutely
These words appear constantly in real Turkish speech. Find them and more in the 2,000 Most Common Turkish Words frequency dictionary.