I can say where I'm from, my nationality, and where I live, ask “Haralısınız?”, and correct the person I'm talking to: “I'm not Turkish, I'm American.”
Haralısınız?: country, inhabitant, and -lı
Haralısınız?: country, inhabitant, and -lı
To say where you're from and ask the other person, you need the question Haralısınız? “Where are you from?” The answer is a city or country + -lı + the personal ending: Gəncəliyəm “I'm from Ganja”. The form -lı / -li / -lu / -lü follows the last vowel, as with -dır (see the table).
Some countries have a special word for the person: türk, gürcü, alman, ingilis, fransız (not fransalı). rus is Russian by nationality, rusiyalı a citizen of Russia; likewise qazax ↔ qazaxıstanlı, özbək ↔ özbəkistanlı. Unlike English, only the country takes a capital (Rusiya); the person is lowercase (rusiyalı, amerikalı). The -stan of Qazaxıstan is said [sdan].
Two set phrases: Amerikadanam “I'm from America”, Bakıda yaşayıram “I live in Baku”; how they're built comes later. A contrast (“whereas”) is isə after the word: Anna rusdur, Maykl isə amerikalıdır. Belarus is the same in English; rusdilli means “Russian-speaking”. Some names differ from English: Almaniya “Germany”, İngiltərə “England”, Gürcüstan “Georgia”.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “Mən Amerikayam.” → Mən amerikalıyam: a country is not a person.
• NOT “Mən fransalıyam.” → fransızam.
• NOT “Mən ruslu.” → rusam: -lı goes on a place, not on a nationality.
Country and inhabitant
Unlike English, only the country takes a capital letter; the inhabitant is lowercase. Belarus is the same in English; rusdilli means “Russian-speaking”.
| Country | Inhabitant |
|---|---|
| Azərbaycan | azərbaycanlı |
| Rusiya | rus / rusiyalı |
| Amerika | amerikalı |
| Ukrayna | ukraynalı |
| İran | iranlı |
| Çin | çinli |
| Türkiyə | türk |
| Gürcüstan | gürcü |
| Almaniya | alman |
| İngiltərə | ingilis |
| Fransa | fransız |
| Qazaxıstan | qazax / qazaxıstanlı |
| Özbəkistan | özbək / özbəkistanlı |
From: four forms of -lı
As with -dır: the last vowel of the name decides.
| The last vowel | Ending | Example |
|---|---|---|
| a, ı | -lı | qazaxıstanlı |
| e, ə, i | -li | gəncəli |
| o, u | -lu | tovuzlu |
| ö, ü | -lü | göygöllü |
Lesson notes
Haralısınız?: country, inhabitant, and -lı
To say where you're from and ask the other person, you need the question Haralısınız? “Where are you from?” The answer is a city or country + -lı + the personal ending: Gəncəliyəm “I'm from Ganja”. The form -lı / -li / -lu / -lü follows the last vowel, as with -dır (see the table).
Some countries have a special word for the person: türk, gürcü, alman, ingilis, fransız (not fransalı). rus is Russian by nationality, rusiyalı a citizen of Russia; likewise qazax ↔ qazaxıstanlı, özbək ↔ özbəkistanlı. Unlike English, only the country takes a capital (Rusiya); the person is lowercase (rusiyalı, amerikalı). The -stan of Qazaxıstan is said [sdan].
Two set phrases: Amerikadanam “I'm from America”, Bakıda yaşayıram “I live in Baku”; how they're built comes later. A contrast (“whereas”) is isə after the word: Anna rusdur, Maykl isə amerikalıdır. Belarus is the same in English; rusdilli means “Russian-speaking”. Some names differ from English: Almaniya “Germany”, İngiltərə “England”, Gürcüstan “Georgia”.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “Mən Amerikayam.” → Mən amerikalıyam: a country is not a person.
• NOT “Mən fransalıyam.” → fransızam.
• NOT “Mən ruslu.” → rusam: -lı goes on a place, not on a nationality.