affedersiniz
“affedersiniz” — excuse me in Turkish. Interjection, level A0, topic — polite words. The polite way to stop a stranger. Shorter and easier is "pardon" — borrowed and understood everywhere. In a live sentence: “Affedersiniz, biraz geç kaldım” — Excuse me, I am a bit late. You can hear how it sounds right here. One of 8 words in the set “polite words” in the Turkish course.
In short
| Written in Turkish | affedersiniz |
| Translation | excuse me |
| Part of speech | interjection |
| Level | A0 |
- affedersinizexcuse me
Why it looks that way
The polite way to stop a stranger. Shorter and easier is "pardon" — borrowed and understood everywhere.
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- Affedersiniz, biraz geç kaldımExcuse me, I am a bit late
Nearby words: polite words
“Thank you”, “please” and “sorry” carry you while the rest of the words are still missing: with them even a gesture reads as a request rather than a demand.
- teşekkürlerthanksş sounds like "sh" in "ship"; ü like German ü, say "ee" with rounded lips: teh-shewk-KEWR-lehr
- lütfenplease (for requests)Only for asking for something. The answer to "thank you" is "rica ederim".
- nasılsınız?how are you (formal)?The same word wearing the -sınız ending — polite and plural at once, your "how do you do".
- sizyou (formal or plural)Both the polite "you" to one person and "you" for a group — English "you" pulled double duty, with the verb ending telling you which.
- Bir dakika bekleyinwait a momentIn speech it is usually cut down to bir dakika, "one sec". Even shorter, very Istanbul: bi dakka.
- rica ederimyou are welcomeLiterally "I insist, I beg". Between friends the shorter ne demek — "say no more" — works too; both answer teşekkürler.
- buyurunhere you areHanding something over — buyurun; inviting someone in or to sit — the same word. lütfen is the "please" of asking; buyurun is the "please" of offering.
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “polite words”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “excuse me” in Turkish?
The polite way to stop a stranger. Shorter and easier is "pardon" — borrowed and understood everywhere.
- How do you say “here you are” in Turkish?
Handing something over — buyurun; inviting someone in or to sit — the same word. lütfen is the "please" of asking; buyurun is the "please" of offering.
- How do you say “you are welcome” in Turkish?
Literally "I insist, I beg". Between friends the shorter ne demek — "say no more" — works too; both answer teşekkürler.
- How do you say “wait a moment” in Turkish?
In speech it is usually cut down to bir dakika, "one sec". Even shorter, very Istanbul: bi dakka.
- How do you say “you (formal or plural)” in Turkish?
Both the polite "you" to one person and "you" for a group — English "you" pulled double duty, with the verb ending telling you which.
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- 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.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “excuse me” in Turkish?
«affedersiniz». In a live sentence: “Affedersiniz, biraz geç kaldım” — Excuse me, I am a bit late. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Interjection, level A0, from the set “polite words”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
The polite way to stop a stranger. Shorter and easier is "pardon" — borrowed and understood everywhere. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how it sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.