Asking the way in Turkish
18 words Turkish words on the topic “asking the way”: nerede? — where?, burada — here, orada — there, sağ — right. 18 words can be played from recordings.
18 words on the topic
- nerede?where?nere is "place", -de is the "in/at" ending. Turkish has no prepositions; everything glues on.
- buradaherebura plus the same -da: "in this place".
- oradathereTurkish runs three steps where English has two: bu ("this, near me") — şu ("that, near you") — o ("that, over there"). orada is the locative of o: "in that place".
- sağrightğ is not pronounced, it only stretches the vowel: SAA
- solleftLike sağ, it works as both adverb and adjective: sola dön is "turn left", sol taraf is "the left side".
- düzstraightBoth "straight" of motion and "flat, even" of a surface: düz yol is "a flat road". "Go straight" is düz gidin, with no preposition at all.
- yakıncloseDemands the -a/-e case: eve yakın is "close to the house", not "ev yakın". From it, yakında means both "nearby" and "soon".
- uzakfarThe partner of yakın, but it governs the ablative: şehirden uzak is "far from the city". The voiceless k voices before a vowel: uzağa, uzakta.
- nasıl gidilirhow do I get there?The impersonal gidilir — "how is it walked": the destination stands in the directional case.
- ulaşmakto reachTakes the directional -e: otele ulaşmak, "to reach the hotel". The same verb reaches a person by phone.
- karşı taraftaon the other sideThe locative goes dull after the voiceless f too: taraf becomes tarafta. To cross over: karşıya geçmek.
- iki adım ötedetwo steps awayAfter a number the noun stays singular: iki adım, not adımlar.
- köşeyi dönüncearound the cornerLiterally "once you turn the corner": köşe in the accusative, and -ince as the time adverbial.
- solundato the left ofThe word before it takes the genitive while sol wears the possessive tail: kapının solunda.
- sağındato the right ofThe same genitive-plus-tail bond; sağ softens already in the stem: sağ becomes sağında.
- ortadain the middleorta is "the middle", -da the locative. "In the middle of something" takes the genitive: odanın ortasında.
- sonraki dönemeçthe next turndönemeç is a bend in the road; dönüş is a turn as an action. The final ç voices: dönemeç becomes dönemeci.
- yol üstündeon the wayLiterally "on the road": an errand on the way is yol üstünde; simply being on the road is yolda.
How it sounds in a sentence
A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.
What is worth knowing about these words
nerede? — where?. nere is "place", -de is the "in/at" ending. Turkish has no prepositions; everything glues on.
burada — here. bura plus the same -da: "in this place".
orada — there. Turkish runs three steps where English has two: bu ("this, near me") — şu ("that, near you") — o ("that, over there"). orada is the locative of o: "in that place".
sağ — right. One word for the direction and the trait: sağa dön is "turn right", sağ el is "the right hand". sağ also means "alive, sound" — hence sağ ol, "be well", that is, thanks.
Test yourself
First by ear — the way you will meet the word in conversation. Click the speaker and pick the translation.
- What is this word?
It is nerede? — where?.
- What is this word?
It is uzak — far.
- What is this word?
It is sağında — to the right of.
- What is this word?
It is sağ — right.
- What is this word?
It is karşı tarafta — on the other side.
Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “where?” in Turkish?
nere is "place", -de is the "in/at" ending. Turkish has no prepositions; everything glues on.
- How do you say “far” in Turkish?
The partner of yakın, but it governs the ablative: şehirden uzak is "far from the city". The voiceless k voices before a vowel: uzağa, uzakta.
- How do you say “to the right of” in Turkish?
The same genitive-plus-tail bond; sağ softens already in the stem: sağ becomes sağında.
- How do you say “right” in Turkish?
One word for the direction and the trait: sağa dön is "turn right", sağ el is "the right hand". sağ also means "alive, sound" — hence sağ ol, "be well", that is, thanks.
- How do you say “on the other side” in Turkish?
The locative goes dull after the voiceless f too: taraf becomes tarafta. To cross over: karşıya geçmek.
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
Right, left, straight on, how far. You ask the way rarely — and always at the moment when there is no time to work it out.
A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- This holds not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “where?” in Turkish?
«nerede?» nere is "place", -de is the "in/at" ending. Turkish has no prepositions; everything glues on. It is one of 18 words in the set “asking the way” — the rest are in the table above.
How many direction words do you need to start?
A dozen is enough. The set of 18 words on this page covers nearly every everyday case on the topic — but it is best taken a few at a time, not all at once.
Is there audio?
Yes, 18 words on this page can be played — click the speaker next to the word. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.