I can answer a call and say who I am, ask someone to call back, write a short message that I'll be late or where I'll be, and ask for the Wi-Fi password — with siz to my teacher and with sən to a friend.
Calls and text messages
Calls and text messages
A call starts with alo. To answer the phone: alo, eşidirəm (literally “I hear”). To ask who is calling: kim danışır? To say who you are, use the personal ending: Mən Güneləm (English “It's Günel”). If you can't talk: sonra zəng edin (with siz) or sonra zəng et (with sən).
To call or write to someone, put the person in the dative, unlike English “call Kamran” (and not the -ı object): Kamrana zəng edirəm, anama mesaj yazıram. A text message is mesaj, a password şifrə: wi-fi şifrəsi. Not working (a phone, the internet): işləmir.
Plans in a message take the future tense: bir az gec gələcəyəm, saat beşdə evdə olacağam.
With your teacher and with strangers, siz from the first sentence to the last; with a friend, sən. See the table.
Common mistakes:
• ×Mən Günel. → Mən Güneləm.
• ×Kamran zəng edirəm. → Kamrana zəng edirəm.
• ×Salam, Nigar xanım! … Sağ ol, hələlik! → … Sağ olun, salamat qalın!
A call: with siz and with sən
Choose siz or sən at the start; the register doesn't change within one conversation.
| Step | With siz | With sən |
|---|---|---|
| starting | alo, salam, Nigar xanım | alo, salam, Günel |
| asking who's calling | kim danışır? | kim danışır? |
| saying you can't talk now | sonra zəng edin | sonra zəng et |
| ending the call | sağ olun, salamat qalın | sağ ol, hələlik |
Lesson notes
Calls and text messages
A call starts with alo. To answer the phone: alo, eşidirəm (literally “I hear”). To ask who is calling: kim danışır? To say who you are, use the personal ending: Mən Güneləm (English “It's Günel”). If you can't talk: sonra zəng edin (with siz) or sonra zəng et (with sən).
To call or write to someone, put the person in the dative, unlike English “call Kamran” (and not the -ı object): Kamrana zəng edirəm, anama mesaj yazıram. A text message is mesaj, a password şifrə: wi-fi şifrəsi. Not working (a phone, the internet): işləmir.
Plans in a message take the future tense: bir az gec gələcəyəm, saat beşdə evdə olacağam.
With your teacher and with strangers, siz from the first sentence to the last; with a friend, sən. See the table.
Common mistakes:
• ×Mən Günel. → Mən Güneləm.
• ×Kamran zəng edirəm. → Kamrana zəng edirəm.
• ×Salam, Nigar xanım! … Sağ ol, hələlik! → … Sağ olun, salamat qalın!