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How to Say and Write Dates in Turkish

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We all know that dates are used for timekeeping. The purpose of dates seems to be very simple, right? Yes, it may seem so, but dates are much more important for us.

Have you ever thought if dates hadn’t existed;

  • How we would know and celebrate special days and holidays;
  • How we would set appointments;
  • How we would follow up on our deadlines and schedules;
  • How we would make travel arrangements
  • How we would determine academic calendars?

Schedule

As such, you need to learn about date and time in Turkish if you are interested in learning Turkish for some reason. Considering all the facts above, dates are not required only in our native languages, but also in foreign languages we are exposed to.

Therefore, this article will help you with dates in Turkish language. However, if you are also interested in telling the time in Turkish, you can click here. 

Don’t forget that date related questions and phrases will also aid you in starting conversations.

Conversation

Log in to Download Your Free Cheat Sheet - Time Phrases in Turkish Table of Contents
  1. Vocabulary Related to Dates
  2. Days of the Week in Turkish
  3. Months in Turkish
  4. How to Tell Dates in Turkish
  5. Must-Know Phrases to Talk about Dates
  6. How to Make an Appointment
  7. Discover More About the Turkish Language on TurkishClass101.com

1. Vocabulary Related to Dates

Before learning how to write the date in Turkish and Turkish date format, let’s take a look at some vocabulary relevant to dates.

TurkishEnglish
TarihDate
GünDay
AyMonth
HaftaWeek
Yıl/SeneYear
HaftasonuWeekend
Hafta içiWeekday
DünYesterday
BugünToday
YarınTomorrow
Gelecek Hafta/Ay/YılNext Week/Month/Year

Date Related Vocabulary

2. Days of the Week in Turkish

Knowing the days of the week in Turkish will definitely help you in your date related small talks, which will keep your conversations going.

TurkishEnglish
PazartesiMonday
SalıTuesday
ÇarşambaWednesday
PerşembeThursday
CumaFriday
CumartesiSaturday
PazarSunday

I will provide you with some info, which might be helpful in remembering some days. The word “Pazartesi” (Monday) comes from the phrase “Pazar ertesi”, which means after “Pazar” (Sunday).

Same logic is true for “Cumartesi” (Saturday). It means “Cuma ertesi”, which specifies the day after Friday.

Here are a few rules on how to write days:

  • Days used to indicate a specific date start with a capital letter:

Ex: Bu yıl okullar 18 Haziran Cuma günü kapanacak. – Schools will be closed on Friday, June 18th this year.

  • Days are written in small letters unless they are the first word of the sentence or they are used with a number next to them.

Ex: Her perşembe spor salonuna gidiyorum. – I go to the gym every Thursday.  

Salı sınavım var. – I have an exam on Tuesday.

15 Aralık Çarşamba günü orada olacağım. – I will be there on Wednesday, December 15th.

Weekdays

3. Months in Turkish

Months are the essential parts of dates. Therefore, you should also learn the names of the twelve months in Turkish.  

TurkishEnglish
OcakJanuary
ŞubatFebruary
MartMarch
NisanApril
MayısMay
HaziranJune
TemmuzJuly
AğustosAugust
EylülSeptember
EkimOctober
KasımNovember
AralıkDecember

Here are some rules on how to write months:

  • Months used to indicate a specific date start with a capital letter:

Ex: 29 Ekim kutlamaları başladı. – October 29th celebrations have started.  

  • Months are written in small letters unless they are the first word of the sentence or they are used with a number before or after them.

Ex:.Seçimler eylülde yapılacak. – Elections will be held in September.

   Sınavlar 21 Ocak’ta yapılacak. – Exams will be held on January 21.

   Otelimiz Şubat’ın 14’ünde bir parti düzenleyecek. – Our hotel will organize a party on the 14th of February.   

  • Months are not abbreviated in Turkish, so you wouldn’t write “Haz” for “June.”
Months

4. How to Tell Dates in Turkish

Now that you know the basic vocabulary about dates in Turkish, days and the months of the year in Turkish, let’s put together all you have learnt and get the hang of the date format in Turkish and how to write dates in Turkish.

1. Date Format in Turkish

Don’t be surprised if you see a date like this in Turkey: 31.03.2021

This is definitely not a mistake. Unlike the “Month-Day-Year” date format of the USA, “Day-Month-Year” (dd/mm/yyyy) date format is used in Turkish.

2. How to write the date in Turkish

You know the Turkish date format, now. Let’s see the different ways of writing dates in Turkish:

  • 7 Aralık 2021 (7 December 2021)
  • 7.12.2021
  • 7/12/2021
  • 7-12-2021

3. How to say the years in Turkish

Years are pronounced like any other big numbers in Turkish. Here are a few examples followed by some hints:

YearTurkishEnglish
2021İki bin yirmi birTwo thousand twenty-one
1968Bin dokuz yüz altmış sekiz.

Literally: Thousand nine hundred sixty eight
Nineteen sixty-eight.

You need to pay attention to 2 things here:

  • In Turkish you never say “ondokuz altmış sekiz” (nineteen sixty-eight.); “yirmi yirmibir” (twenty twenty-one) You pronounce them as 4-digit numbers.
  • In Turkish, if the year starts with a “one”, you never say “one thousand”; you just say “thousand.” Please refer to the literal translation above.

You can click here if you’d like to know more about numbers in Turkish.

5. Must-Know Phrases to Talk about Dates

1. Ordinal numbers

In English, it’s a common way to use ordinal numbers to tell the dates. However, this is not the case in Turkish.  Ordinal numbers are used only to tell which day of the week or the month represents a date. A few examples will follow the ordinal numbers in Turkish:   

TurkishEnglishTurkishEnglish
BirinciFirstÜçüncüThird
İkinciSecondDördüncüFourth
BeşinciFifthOn dokuzuncuNineteenth
AltıncıSixthYirminciTwentieth
YedinciSeventhYirmi birinciTwenty first
SekizinciEighthYirmi ikinciTwenty second
DokuzuncuNinethYirmi üçüncüTwenty third
OnuncuTenthYirmi dördüncüTwenty fourth
On birinciEleventhYirmi beşinciTwenty fifth
On ikinciTwelfthYirmi altıncıTwenty sixth
On üçüncüThirteenthYirmi yedinciTwenty seventh
On dördüncüFourteenthYirmi sekizinciTwenty eighth
On beşinciFifteenthYirmi dokuzuncuTwenty ninth
On altıncıSixteenthOtuzuncuThirtieth
On yedinciSeventeenthOtuz birinciThirty first
On sekizinciEighteenth

Ordinal Numbers

Ex: Her yıl mayıs ayının ikinci haftasonu Anneler Gününü kutlarız. – We celebrate Mother’s Day on the second weekend of May every year.

Her ayın üçüncü iş gününde satış toplantım var. – I have a sales meeting on the third business day of every month.

Doktor 2022’nin yedinci ayına kadar çalışmama izin vermedi. – The doctor did not let me work until the seventh month of 2022.

2. Sample phrases

Here are some questions and answers for your reference:

A: Bugün günlerden ne? – What´s the day today?
B: Bugün günlerden pazartesi. – Today is Monday.

A: Bugün ayın kaçı? – What’s the date today?
B: Bugün ayın 10’u. – Today is the tenth.

A: Doğum günün ne zaman? – When is your birthday?
B: Doğum günüm 10 Eylül’de – My birthday is on September 10th.

A: Doğum tarihin ne? – What is your birthdate?
B: 3 Aralık 2007. – December 3rd, 2007.

A: Ne zaman mezun oldun? – When did you graduate?
B: 2019’da. – In 2019.

A: Sömestr tatili ne zaman başlıyor? – When does the semester break start?
B: Mart’ta – In march.

Numbers

6. How to Make an Appointment

It’s always good to know how to make an appointment in another language as you may need it both in your personal and professional life. Let’s take a look at the following examples to see how you can set an appointment in Turkish:

  • 26 Nisan için bir randevu rica edebilir miyim? – May I request an appointment for April 26th?
  • 14 Şubat için herhangi bir planın var mı? – Do you have any plans for February 14th?
  • Bundan böyle her ayın 5. günü buluşalım mı? – Shall we meet on the 5th day of every month from now on?
  • 1 Ocak’ta buluşalım mı? – Shall we meet on January 1st?

Make an Appointment

7. Discover More About the Turkish Language on TurkishClass101.com

You’ve now learnt quite a bit about dates in Turkish language. Since dates are used from agricultural purposes to social reasons, from civil needs to religious principles, there is more to explore about them!

Best way to learn Turkish dates further is to check TurkishClass101,  which has numerous audio recordings, tons of vocabulary lists and free resources including the dictionary you can refer to, in order to get a better grasp of Turkish language and the culture.

Don’t forget that there is also MyTeacher, which is the premium service of TurkishClass101 that you can use to practice 1-on-1 with a private teacher.

Do you know what is also good about it? You can download the app for free and use it wherever you are.

Last but not the least; please continue to provide us feedback about all the resources provided at TurkishClass101!

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