nasılsınız?
“nasılsınız?” — how are you (formal)? in Turkish. Phrase, level A0, topic — greetings and goodbyes. The same word wearing the -sınız ending — polite and plural at once, your "how do you do". In a live sentence: “Merhaba hocam, nasılsınız?” — Hello teacher, how are you? You can hear how it sounds right here. One of 10 words in the set “greetings and goodbyes” in the Turkish course.
In short
| Written in Turkish | nasılsınız? |
| Translation | how are you (formal)? |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | A0 |
- nasılsınız?how are you (formal)?
Why it looks that way
The same word wearing the -sınız ending — polite and plural at once, your "how do you do".
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.
- Merhaba hocam, nasılsınız?Hello teacher, how are you?
Nearby words: greetings and goodbyes
Every conversation starts here, and so does every first impression: say hello in the local language and you stop being a stranger in about a second.
- merhabahelloAn Arabic loanword that fits any time of day and any company — the one safe greeting everywhere, halfway between formal and friendly.
- selamhiCasual, for people on familiar terms; use merhaba with strangers and elders. Same root as "salaam" and "shalom" — literally "peace".
- hoşça kalgoodbyeSaid by the one who leaves: "stay well". The one staying answers güle güle — "go with smiles".
- güle gülebye (said by the one staying)The other half of the farewell pair with hoşça kal: whoever stays behind is the one who says this.
- nasılsın?how are you?"nasıl" is "how" and -sın is the "you" ending — there is no separate "you" word in the phrase, it lives inside the verb.
- günaydıngood morning"gün" is "day" and "aydın" is "bright" — literally "may your day be bright". Comes with built-in sunshine.
- iyi gecelergood nightThe plural geceler — you wish not one night but all of them. Said when going off to sleep; for meeting in the evening there is iyi akşamlar.
- iyi günlergood afternoonBefore noon it is günaydın; after that, this. It also doubles as a daytime farewell when leaving a shop.
- iyi akşamlargood eveningThe suffix is -lar, not -ler: vowel harmony looks at the "a" in akşam. Before bed it is already iyi geceler.
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “greetings and goodbyes”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “how are you (formal)?” in Turkish?
The same word wearing the -sınız ending — polite and plural at once, your "how do you do".
- How do you say “good night” in Turkish?
The plural geceler — you wish not one night but all of them. Said when going off to sleep; for meeting in the evening there is iyi akşamlar.
- How do you say “bye (said by the one staying)” in Turkish?
The other half of the farewell pair with hoşça kal: whoever stays behind is the one who says this.
- How do you say “hello” in Turkish?
An Arabic loanword that fits any time of day and any company — the one safe greeting everywhere, halfway between formal and friendly.
- How do you say “good afternoon” in Turkish?
Before noon it is günaydın; after that, this. It also doubles as a daytime farewell when leaving a shop.
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 “how are you (formal)?” in Turkish?
«nasılsınız?» In a live sentence: “Merhaba hocam, nasılsınız?” — Hello teacher, how are you? You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Phrase, level A0, from the set “greetings and goodbyes”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
The same word wearing the -sınız ending — polite and plural at once, your "how do you do". 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.