Turkish Greetings: How to Say Hello, How Are You and Goodbye

The most common Turkish greetings are Merhaba (“hello”), Nasılsınız? (“how are you?”) and, when you leave, Hoşça kalın (“goodbye”). Merhaba works with anyone at any time of day. One surprise for English speakers is that Turkish has two goodbyes: the person leaving says hoşça kal, and the person staying says güle güle.

Below you will find greetings for each part of the day, what people really answer to “how are you?”, when to use the polite siz instead of sen, holiday wishes and the body language that goes with them. Every example has a play button so you can hear it. For café, shopping and emergency phrases, see our guide to Turkish phrases for travel.

Here is a quick reference before the details:

Merhaba or selam: how to say hello in Turkish

Merhaba is the safe, all-purpose hello. You can say it to a shopkeeper, a neighbor, a new colleague or a friend, in the morning or late at night.

Selam is the casual “hi”. Use it with friends, family and people your own age in relaxed settings. In messages you will often see Selamlar, a warm “hi there”. Selam also means “greetings” in phrases like Annene selam söyle (“Say hi to your mom”).

• Merhaba!

  Hello!

• Selam, nasılsın?

  Hi, how are you?

• Hoş geldiniz!

  Welcome!

• Hoş bulduk!

  Thank you! (reply to “welcome”)

• Annene selam söyle.

  Say hi to your mom.

When you walk into someone’s home or a small shop, people often greet you with Hoş geldiniz (“welcome”), or Hoş geldin if they use sen with you. The fixed reply is Hoş bulduk, literally “we found it pleasant”. Some people, especially men in more traditional settings, greet each other with Selamünaleyküm (“peace be upon you”), and the answer is Aleykümselam.

Good morning, good day, good evening: greetings by time of day

Turkish also has greetings for each part of the day, and some of them double as goodbyes.

Günaydın literally means something like “bright day”. People say it at breakfast, on arriving at work and to neighbors in the elevator. The reply is simply Günaydın, or Sana da günaydın (“Good morning to you too”).

İyi günler and İyi akşamlar are what you say when you leave a shop, a café or an office. The other person will usually repeat the phrase or answer Size de (“To you too”). Keep İyi geceler for when someone is going home late or going to bed. It is never a hello.

• Günaydın, anne!

  Good morning, Mom!

• Size de iyi akşamlar.

  Good evening to you too.

• Sana da iyi geceler.

  Good night to you too.

• İyi geceler, tatlı rüyalar.

  Good night, sweet dreams.

You may see tünaydın (“good afternoon”) in some phrase lists. The word exists, but you will rarely hear it in everyday speech. In the afternoon, most people simply say Merhaba or İyi günler.

How are you in Turkish: nasılsın, nasılsınız and how to reply

The basic question is Nasılsın? with friends and family, and Nasılsınız? with people you address politely. The ending -sın means “you are” for sen, and -sınız is the siz version. The standard answer is İyiyim, teşekkür ederim (“I’m fine, thank you”), followed by the same question in return: Sen nasılsın? or Siz nasılsınız?

Notice the y in iyiyim. İyi ends in a vowel and the ending -im (“I am”) starts with one, so Turkish adds a buffer y between them. The ending also changes its vowel to match the word, so “I’m tired” is yorgunum, not yorgunim. That is vowel harmony, explained step by step in our guide to Turkish vowel harmony. If the dotless ı in nasılsın still looks strange, the Turkish alphabet guide covers every letter and its sound.

Real answers are more varied than İyiyim:

• Çok iyiyim, teşekkürler.

  I’m very well, thanks.

• Fena değil.

  Not bad.

• İdare eder.

  It’s OK. / Could be worse.

• Eh işte.

  So-so.

• Biraz yorgunum.

  I’m a bit tired.

• Allah'a şükür, iyiyim.

  Thank God, I’m fine.

• Hiç sorma!

  Don’t even ask!

Hiç sorma invites the other person to ask what happened, so only use it if you are ready to tell the story.

With friends, the question is often shorter. Naber? comes from Ne haber? (“What news?”) and means “What’s up?”. Nasıl gidiyor? (“How’s it going?”) is another casual option. Typical replies are İyi, senden naber? (“Good, what about you?”) and İyilik sağlık, senden naber? (literally “Goodness and health, what about you?”). İyi misin? (“Are you well?”) can be a friendly greeting too, but said with a worried tone it means “Are you all right?”, the question you ask after a fall or bad news.

Here is how two friends, Deniz and Can, might greet each other at a café:

• Selam Can! Naber?

  Deniz: Hi Can! What’s up?

• İyidir, senden naber?

  Can: Good, what about you?

• İdare eder. Bu hafta çok çalıştım.

  Deniz: So-so. I’ve worked a lot this week.

• Hadi, bir çay içelim.

  Can: Come on, let’s grab a tea.

Sen or siz: formal and informal Turkish greetings

Turkish has two words for “you”. Sen is informal and singular. Siz is the polite form for one person, and also the normal plural for several people. Many greetings change with it:

Merhaba, Günaydın, Güle güle and Görüşürüz stay the same either way.

Use sen with friends, family, children and, among younger people, with others your age. Use siz with strangers, older people, shopkeepers, officials and in most professional settings. Polite address often adds a title after the first name: Bey for men and Hanım for women. So a polite good morning to your colleague Ayşe is Günaydın, Ayşe Hanım. Students call their teachers hocam (“my teacher”).

Family words are used with strangers too: abi (older brother) and abla (older sister) for someone a little older, amca (uncle) and teyze (aunt) for older people.

When a relationship gets friendlier, someone, usually the older or more senior person, suggests switching to sen:

• Bana sen diyebilirsin.

  You can call me sen.

• Artık birbirimize sen diyelim mi?

  Shall we call each other sen from now on?

• Tabii, olur.

  Sure, OK.

When in doubt, start with siz. Too much politeness is very rarely taken badly, and the other person will tell you if they prefer sen. Using sen with an adult stranger, on the other hand, can sound overfamiliar.

Introducing yourself: your name and “nice to meet you”

To give your name, say Benim adım... (“My name is...”) or simply Ben... (“I’m...”). To ask someone’s name, say Adın ne? or, politely, Adınız ne? If you forget a name a minute later, Adınız neydi? (“What was your name again?”) is perfectly normal.

“Nice to meet you” is Memnun oldum, literally “I became pleased”. The reply is Ben de memnun oldum (“I’m pleased too”), or just Ben de. A slightly more formal version is Tanıştığımıza memnun oldum (“I’m pleased we met”).

Here is a formal introduction at work. Emma meets her new colleague, Murat:

• Günaydın, hoş geldiniz.

  Murat: Good morning, welcome.

• Hoş bulduk. Benim adım Emma.

  Emma: Thank you. My name is Emma.

• Ben Murat. Tanıştığımıza memnun oldum.

  Murat: I’m Murat. Pleased to meet you.

• Ben de memnun oldum, Murat Bey.

  Emma: Pleased to meet you too, Murat Bey.

Goodbye in Turkish: who says hoşça kal and who says güle güle

Turkish has two goodbyes, and the one you use depends on whether you are leaving or staying. The person who leaves says Hoşça kal (“stay well”), or Hoşça kalın to someone you call siz or to a group. The person who stays answers Güle güle, literally “smiling, smiling”, a wish that you go happily. Güle güle has no formal version, so it works for everyone.

• Hoşça kal!

  Bye! (you are leaving, informal)

• Hoşça kalın!

  Goodbye! (you are leaving, formal or to a group)

• Güle güle!

  Bye! (you are staying)

• Görüşürüz!

  See you!

• Yarın görüşürüz.

  See you tomorrow.

• Görüşmek üzere.

  See you soon. (formal)

Görüşürüz (“we’ll see each other”) works for both sides and is very common among friends and colleagues. Görüşmek üzere is more formal, typical at the end of meetings and TV programs. Some older people say Allah'a ısmarladık when they leave, and the answer is still güle güle. When you leave people who are still working, İyi çalışmalar (roughly “have a productive day”) is a common and friendly goodbye.

Learners often say güle güle as they walk out of the door, because it sounds like a cheerful “bye-bye”. An easy way to remember the pair: whoever is walking out of the door says hoşça kal, and whoever is holding it open says güle güle.

Greetings for holidays, birthdays and the weekend

Most wishes for special days get the same answer: Size de or Sana da (“To you too”). Birthday wishes are the exception, because the reply is simply Teşekkür ederim (“Thank you”).

• İyi hafta sonları!

  Have a nice weekend!

• İyi tatiller!

  Have a nice vacation!

• İyi ki doğdun!

  Happy birthday! (literally “I’m glad you were born”)

• Doğum günün kutlu olsun!

  Happy birthday!

• Mutlu yıllar!

  Happy New Year! (also for birthdays)

• İyi bayramlar!

  Happy Bayram!

• Bayramınız kutlu olsun.

  Happy Bayram. (formal)

Colleagues say İyi hafta sonları to each other on Friday afternoon. For birthdays, İyi ki doğdun is the warmest and most common wish. Mutlu yıllar (literally “happy years”) is the standard New Year wish, and you will hear it at birthdays too.

Bayram means a holiday or festival. The two big religious holidays are Ramazan Bayramı (also called Şeker Bayramı, the “Sugar Holiday”) at the end of Ramadan, and Kurban Bayramı, the Feast of the Sacrifice. People visit family and send each other İyi bayramlar or Bayramınız kutlu olsun, and the reply to the second is Sizin de bayramınız kutlu olsun (“Happy Bayram to you too”). National holidays use the same words: on Republic Day, 29 October, you will hear Cumhuriyet Bayramımız kutlu olsun (“Happy Republic Day”).

Handshakes, cheek kisses and greeting elders

Handshakes are the norm when you meet someone new, in business and in formal situations. Some religious men and women prefer not to shake hands with the opposite sex. If someone places a hand on their chest instead of offering it, a smile and a small nod are a polite response.

Cheek kisses, usually one on each cheek or a light touch of cheeks, are common between friends and relatives, including between men who are close friends or family. With people you have just met, especially of the opposite sex, let the other person lead.

Greeting elders. When you enter a room, it is good manners to greet the oldest people first. At bayram, and often when visiting grandparents, children and younger adults kiss an elder’s right hand and then touch it to their forehead. This is called el öpmek (hand-kissing). In return, children get sweets or a little pocket money, which at bayram is called bayram harçlığı. Visitors are not expected to do it: a warm handshake and a respectful Bayramınız kutlu olsun are enough.

The same respect shows up at a distance. At the end of a phone call or message to older relatives, many people still say Ellerinizden öperim (“I kiss your hands”).

Frequently asked questions

How do you say hello in Turkish? Say Merhaba. It works with anyone at any time of day. With friends, Selam (“hi”) is more casual.

What is the difference between hoşça kal and güle güle? Both mean goodbye. Hoşça kal is said by the person who leaves, and güle güle by the person who stays.

How do you reply to Nasılsın? Say İyiyim, teşekkür ederim. Sen nasılsın? (“I’m fine, thank you. How are you?”). If someone asks Nasılsınız?, return the question with Siz nasılsınız?

How do you answer the phone in Turkish? Most people pick up with Alo? (“Hello?”) or Efendim? (“Yes?”). When you are the one calling, start with Merhaba or İyi günler and then give your name: Ben Emma.

Practice Turkish greetings in the free A1 lessons

Greetings become automatic when you hear and say them many times. Unit 1 of the A1 course, which is free, covers hello and goodbye, “how are you?” and introducing yourself, with audio for every phrase and speaking practice.

To practice them in real conversation, you can also book 1-on-1 live lessons with Kerem, a native Turkish teacher. İyi dersler! (“Enjoy your lessons!”)