Introduce Yourself in Turkish: Audio Dialogue + PDF

Introducing yourself in Turkish is one of the first real conversations you might have. Starting a conversation with your classmates in Turkish would help you to blend in the class smoothly. Below you can find some important solid patterns you could make use of. You can make your own speech by using these blocks. Pay special attention to the phrases and what makes them formal and informal. Turkish treats the two very differently.

The Simplest Way to Introduce Yourself in Turkish

At its shortest, introducing yourself in Turkish takes just one sentence:

Once you want to say a bit more about yourself, here’s a complete model introduction:

Useful Patterns to Introduce Yourself

Mix and match these patterns to build your own introduction:

Formal vs. Informal: Sen and Siz

Turkish has two ways to say “you” — sen (informal) and siz (formal/plural) — and which one you use changes more than just one word.

Informal
Selam, ben David. Senin adın ne?
Hi, I’m David. What’s your name?

Formal
Merhaba, benim adım David. Sizin adınız nedir?
Hello, my name is David. What is your name? (formal)

Use siz with strangers, older people, teachers, and anyone in a professional setting until they invite you to switch. Use sen with classmates, friends, and people your own age once you know each other a little.

Dialogue: First Day of Turkish Class

Here’s that mix in action — a real conversation between two classmates on their first day.

Transcript

Antoni: Merhaba
Paula: Merhaba, nasılsın?
Antoni: İyiyim. Teşekkür ederim. Siz nasılsınız?
Paula: Ben de iyiyim. Biraz heyecanlıyım.
Antoni: Heyecanlı mısınız? Neden?
Paula: Evet çünkü bugün ilk Türkçe dersi.
Antoni: Ah… tabii. Ee, ismim Antoni bu arada. Sizin isminiz ne?
Paula: Benim ismim Paula. Bana sen diyebilirsin. Siz demene gerek yok.
Antoni: Peki, Paula. Tanıştığıma memnun oldum.
Paula: Ben de çok memnun oldum.

Translation

Antoni: Hello
Paula: Hello, how are you?
Antoni: I’m fine. Thank you. How are you? (formal)
Paula: I’m fine, too. I am a little nervous/excited.
Antoni: Are you nervous/excited? Why?
Paula: Yes because today is the first Turkish lesson.
Antoni: Ah… sure. My name is Antoni, by the way. What is your name?
Paula: My name is Paula. You can call me “sen”. You don’t need to say “siz”.
Antoni: Okay, Paula. Nice to meet you.
Paula: Nice to meet you, too.

Notice how Antoni plays it safe at first: even though Paula greets him informally (“nasılsın?”), he replies with the formal “siz” (“Siz nasılsınız?”) — and keeps using it until she explicitly invites him to switch to “sen”. That instinct, defaulting to formal with someone new and relaxing once invited, is exactly how Turkish speakers handle this in real life.

Grammar Notes

When learning first words and phrases in a foreign language, learners do not need to learn about grammar. It’s expected from them to memorize the common words such as hello or how are you?.

So, in this lesson, you are not supposed to learn the grammar structures because they’ll be covered in-depth in the later lessons. But we wanted to show you anyway so you can understand the logic of Turkish grammar.

The meaning of the verb ‘to be’ is given by attaching suffixes. Each personal pronoun has its own suffix.

*These suffixes are covered in detail in the next lessons.

Since you can give the same meaning without using Benim, natives tend to omit using Benim.

You can use bu arada both at the beginning or at the end of sentences.

Vocabulary

More Ways to Introduce Yourself in Turkish

Here are three more introductions pitched at different situations — from the shortest possible beginner version to a professional one.

Very Short Beginner Introduction

Casual Introduction Between Classmates

Formal Professional Introduction