I can ask about prices and weight at the market — Elmanın kilosu kaç lira? — understand an answer with hundreds and thousands, say “I need half a kilo”, “it's expensive”, and “is there a discount?”, and pay.
At the market: how much it costs and how much you need
At the market: how much it costs and how much you need
Why: to ask the price, buy by weight and by the piece, and pay.
To ask the price, say Ne kadar? or Kaç lira?: Domatesin kilosu otuz lira — “tomatoes are thirty lira a kilo”, limonun tanesi beş lira — “lemons are five lira each”.
Numbers from a hundred up go in order, as separate words (see the table): yüz elli, iki yüz, bin beş yüz. No bir before yüz and bin, and no “and”. Weight: yarım kilo — half a kilo, bir buçuk kilo — a kilo and a half. One lira is a hundred kuruş.
After quantity words the noun stays singular, as after a number: çok elma — a lot of apples, az para — little money, birkaç limon — a few lemons. Çok before a thing is “a lot of, many”; before a quality, “very”: çok pahalı. Biraz is “a little”.
Set phrases:
• Sizde … var mı? — “Do you have …?” (for sale)
• Bende … yok — “I don't have … on me”
• Bana … lazım — “I need …” (literally “to me … is needed”)
• … olur mu? — “Is … OK? Will it do?” — Olur. / Olmaz.
The seller will ask: Başka? — “Anything else?” At the end: Hepsi ne kadar?
Pazar is both “Sunday” and “market”: pazarda — “at the market”.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “çok elmalar” → çok elma
• NOT “bir yüz lira” → yüz lira
• NOT “Ben su lazım” → Bana su lazım
Numbers from a hundred up
In a Turkish price the period separates thousands (1.500 lira), and the comma separates the kuruş (10,50 TL).
| In figures | In words |
|---|---|
| 100 | yüz |
| 200 | iki yüz |
| 500 | beş yüz |
| 1.000 | bin |
| 1.500 | bin beş yüz |
| 2.000 | iki bin |
| 10.000 | on bin |
| 1.000.000 (recognition only) | bir milyon |
| 1.000.000.000 (recognition only) | bir milyar |
Set phrases for customers and sellers
The ellipsis is a slot for a word: learn the phrase as a whole.
| Phrase | When people say it |
|---|---|
| Sizde … var mı? | to ask whether they sell it |
| Bende … yok | to say you don't have it on you |
| Bana … lazım | to say “I need …” |
| … olur mu? — Olur. / Olmaz. | to ask “May I? Is it OK?” and answer |
| Başka? | “Anything else?” — the seller asks |
| Hepsi ne kadar? | “How much altogether?” — the customer asks |
Lesson notes
At the market: how much it costs and how much you need
Why: to ask the price, buy by weight and by the piece, and pay.
To ask the price, say Ne kadar? or Kaç lira?: Domatesin kilosu otuz lira — “tomatoes are thirty lira a kilo”, limonun tanesi beş lira — “lemons are five lira each”.
Numbers from a hundred up go in order, as separate words (see the table): yüz elli, iki yüz, bin beş yüz. No bir before yüz and bin, and no “and”. Weight: yarım kilo — half a kilo, bir buçuk kilo — a kilo and a half. One lira is a hundred kuruş.
After quantity words the noun stays singular, as after a number: çok elma — a lot of apples, az para — little money, birkaç limon — a few lemons. Çok before a thing is “a lot of, many”; before a quality, “very”: çok pahalı. Biraz is “a little”.
Set phrases:
• Sizde … var mı? — “Do you have …?” (for sale)
• Bende … yok — “I don't have … on me”
• Bana … lazım — “I need …” (literally “to me … is needed”)
• … olur mu? — “Is … OK? Will it do?” — Olur. / Olmaz.
The seller will ask: Başka? — “Anything else?” At the end: Hepsi ne kadar?
Pazar is both “Sunday” and “market”: pazarda — “at the market”.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “çok elmalar” → çok elma
• NOT “bir yüz lira” → yüz lira
• NOT “Ben su lazım” → Bana su lazım