It has been a long time since I saw him.

My Turkish structure needs a little refreshment, please.  Thanks!

 I was wondering about that....if sýk with i instead had become an acceptable word in polite Turkish society since I left that country in 1969!

olsun is the 3rd person singular imperative "May it be".  So we have geçmiþ, affiyet and many other expressions which do imply wishing.  My fellow students and I called them the Olsun brothers.

Olmak is that Turkish verb for ´to be´, which doesn´t exist.  Yorgun oldum = I becacme tired.  The verb can be used as any other verb to form the verbal noun.  "Nerede olduðunu bilmiyordum = I didn´t know where you were.

 Furthermore, I understand that the stress on all words in isolation is on the final syllable (exception: the names of cities).  Then, when adding elements some are stressed, some are not. 

Bende = at my house, ´de´ is stressed

Ben de gidiyorum = also, ´de´ is not stressed

yazmak, yazma, yazıyor, yaziyorum

Thanks to all, especially Faruk.

Is there a native speaker who can verify the answer given by Lady in Red?  Thanks!

I hope I haven´t asked this before:  is the stress on the 2nd or 3rd syllable?

Teşekkürederim!

And don't forget nereli to ask where from, meaning nationality.

On another forum I have encountered what seems to be a translation of Turkish (Good morning after dinner). Is this a familiar expression in Turkish? If so, when is it used? Or is it just one person's way of being sarcastic?

Many thanks!

I originally posted this in another spot, but it received no answer. Perhaps this is the place for it:

Does the name of this charming city mean something in general usage? I have a little phrase that I can't quite understand. Bursalı mısın kadifeli gelin çaydan mı geçtin.
I think kadifeli means velvet. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Teşekkürler!

Does the name of this charming city mean something in general usage? I have a little phrase that I can't quite understand. Bursalı mısın kadifeli gelin çaydan mı geçtin.
I think kadifeli means velvet. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Teşekkürler!

Thank you all! It has been fun reading all your explanations...I gather that the thing about the grasshopper is a sort of proverb. Again Teşekküur ederim!

çekirge bir sıçrar iki sıçrar üçüncüde yakalınir derler bizim buralarda hiç duydun mu?

Haven't you ever heard that among us....... (I'm lost).

Thanks. I was close, but "no cigar".

.....insanlarlar algılayabildikleri şeylere tepki verirler.

çok mersi!!!

Sayılmasam kaç olsam: If I can't be countable and be how much.

Can someone improve on the translation to English?
Teşekkür ederim.

Did I know you at that time?

O zamanda sizi tanıyor muydum?

Mersi!

Kusura bakmayın. I originally posted this in the wrong category.

Did I know you at that time?

O zamanda sizi tanıyor muydum?

Mersi!

Kusura bakmayın. I have placed this in the wrong category...and now I have posted it in the proper place.

First of all, Happy Cumhuriet Bayramı to everyone! Last night, at a party celebrating the same, the host had a video of new Turkish music. A Turkish lady there was unhappy about the "Turkish rap", to which I responded, "Turkish crap>". Then I attempted to put that into Turkish and offered "Türk boğu", which she corrected to "boku". Why not the "ğ"? I thought I was going to impress her with how correct I was.

Hope I don't offend anyone with my "gutter" language.

It's a great suffix when using two verbs in the same tense...translated just as the other verb.

It's also convenient as in "gidip gitmiyeceğini bilmiyordum" - I didn't know if you were going or not.

Thanks to you all. I had tried to find the dictionary on the homepage but couldn't find it. I didn't know it was so simple. Tedkrar mersi.

My first guess when I saw "görev yapmak" was that it meant to go on strike. The context, however, doesn't support that guess; so I went to "strike" and found "grev", which made me feel good about my original guess. However, I cannot find "görev" in my dictionary. Yardım edebilir misiniz? Mersi.

And then, there are koç yumurta, which are often fried but never scrambled.

In France they use only one egg to make an omlette because in France "one egg is un Å“uf". Sorry, couldn't resist this little bi-lingual pun.

Scrambled eggs are scrambled before cooking and stirred during cooking. Omlettes are scrambled before cooking and left alone during cooking (often covered to make them fluffy).

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk "happened". It was part of his attempt to westernize the country.

My next-door neighbor had an unusual last name. It seems his ancestor from the time had taken the name "Eşsiz" because he wasn't married at the time. Well, he must have married and had children because the name has come down through the years.

Solved: I guess it means fox-hunter.

I'm surpised that no Türk or türkçe bilen responded.

I believe a more polite version would be "anlatabildim mi?", "was I able to make myself understood?". This wouldn't work unless you had just tried to explain something...not good if you're asking "do you understand this paragraph in the book?".

I came across a Turkish surname this morning, and while I understand all the components, I'm not sure of something. The name is Tilkicioğlu. I understand 'tilki' as fox, 'oğlu', and the general use of 'ci', as in 'eskici', 'kapicı'. But I don't understand what a 'tilkici' is. Is it a furrier? hunter? I even thought it might be an evolved corruption of 'tilkili' as 'sly'. Thanks, arkadaşlar.

I was told to use it as "no, thank you", when offered, for example, more food at the table. I was also told that the appropriate accompanying gesture was the open palm against the chest. Was I wrong in doing so?

What is the one word used along the Black Sea that describes any color in the blue-green range? Is it 'gök'?

Especially for non-Turks, but not exclusive of our Turkish friends: what is your favorite Turkish word? Mine: misafirperverlik - partly because it just rolls off the tongue, partly because that's what I felt so strongly during the two years that I lived in Turkey.

Does anyone here live in that charming little city? If so, please send me a Personal Message. Thanks!

On the front page of İstanbul, Orhan Pamuk quotes Ahmet Rasim. I have the English translation, but I'd like to print the original in my copy of the book. "The beauty of a landscape resides in its melancholy". Does this come close? "Manzarın güzelliğini hüznünde oturur [yatar?]."

Çok mersi!

Thanks for the great lesson!

If I had come, he would have left. = Gelseydim, o giderdi.