Tamam, yani, vallah: 18 Turkish words you hear every day, and what they really mean
What tamam, vallah, abi, lan, yani, kolay gelsin, maşallah and other everyday Turkish words mean, who says them to whom, and how rude lan really is. With real clips of native speakers.
Chief Language Pedagogy Geek @ Reelang
You know some Turkish. Maybe from a course, maybe from a partner's family, maybe from years of hearing it in the school yard, at work or on the train. And still the same small words keep coming back that no textbook explained well: tamam, vallah, yani, abi, lan, kolay gelsin. People say them all day, in Istanbul and in Berlin, Rotterdam or London.
Here is what they mean:
| Word | Meaning | Who says it, and to whom |
|---|---|---|
| tamam | okay, fine, done | everyone, to everyone |
| tamam mı? | okay?, got it? | when you explain or ask for a promise |
| vallah, vallahi, valla | I swear, honestly, really | everyone, casual |
| abi | big brother, bro, sir | to an older brother, or to any man a bit older than you |
| abla | big sister | to an older sister, or to any woman a bit older than you |
| lan | man, dude (rough) | close friends, mostly young men. Rude to others |
| yani | I mean, so, that is | everyone, all the time |
| aynen | exactly, yep | everyone, very common with young people |
| kanka | buddy, bro | young friends, men and women |
| yenge | sister-in-law, a friend's wife | family, and men about a friend's wife |
| hadi | come on, let's go, bye | everyone, casual |
| kolay gelsin | may your work go easy | to anyone who is working |
| afiyet olsun | enjoy your meal | to anyone who is eating |
| eline sağlık | thank you for making this | to the person who cooked or made something |
| hayırlı olsun | congratulations, may it bring good | for a new job, home, car, shop |
| geçmiş olsun | get well soon, sorry about that | after an illness, an accident or bad luck |
| maşallah | how wonderful (and: no evil eye) | when you praise a person, a child or a thing |
| inşallah | hopefully, if all goes well | about the future, everyone |
| hani | you know, remember | when you search for a word or remind someone |
Below, each one with what it means, when and with whom people use it, and real clips of native speakers saying it. Every clip starts one sentence before the word and stops one sentence after, so you hear it in context. Tap any word in the subtitles to see what it means.
Tamam: okay, fine, done
Tamam is the Turkish "okay". You use it to agree ("tamam, geliyorum", okay, I'm coming), to say something is finished ("tamam, bitti", done), and to end a discussion. Said twice, "tamam tamam" means "fine, fine, I give in". Said sharply, "Tamam!" means "Enough!".
In this clip, Tahir finally gives in. Listen for the double tamam, and then a third one from the next speaker:
Two more forms you will hear often. "Tamamdır" is "all set, done", common on the phone and in shops. "Tamam da..." is "okay, but...", the start of an objection.
Tamam mı? Okay? Got it?
Put the question word mı after it and tamam becomes "okay?" Parents and teachers say "tamam mı?" at the end of an instruction, to make sure you agree. It can be friendly ("we meet at eight, tamam mı?") or firm, like an English "got it?". The usual answer is simply "tamam".
Here it is firm. A brother wants his money back:
Some speakers also use tamam mı as a filler while they explain something, a bit like "right?" or "you see?" in English. It doesn't wait for an answer.
Vallah, vallahi, valla: I swear, honestly
Vallahi comes from Arabic wallahi, "by God". In Turkish it is written with a v, and you will see three spellings: vallahi (the full form), vallah, and valla (the short, spoken one). Some regions also say vallaha. In German and Dutch youth speech you also hear the Arabic "wallah", from friends with Arabic or Moroccan roots. Same word, same meaning.
It has two jobs. The first is to swear that something is true: "Vallahi bilmiyorum" means "I swear, I don't know". The stronger form "vallahi billahi" (or "vallah billah") is a double oath, used when someone really does not believe you. In this clip, a friend asks to borrow money, and the answer is a vallahi:
The second job is softer. Valla at the start or end of a sentence often just means "honestly" or "really", with no oath in it at all. "İyiyim valla" is "I'm fine, really". Listen for it in this short exchange in a shop:
In everyday speech it usually has no religious meaning, much like "oh my God" in English. In a casual conversation you can say valla yourself. In a serious argument, a vallahi will sound like an oath.
Abi and abla: big brother, big sister
Abi (from ağabey) means "older brother", and abla means "older sister". You call your own older siblings this, and you don't use their first names. But Turkish also uses abi and abla for almost anyone a little older than you: a shop owner, a taxi driver, a waiter, the older boy next door, a stranger on the street. It is friendly and polite at the same time.
Here a stranger asks a man in a car why he is honking:
And here a woman stops to give someone a lift up a steep road. Abla is the friendly way to call her:
A few things to know:
- With a name, abi and abla come after it: "Mert abi", "Nihal abla". This is how you speak to a family friend or an older colleague you know well.
- Among young men, abi is also an exclamation, like "dude" or "man": "Abi, efsane bir yer!" (Dude, it's an amazing place!). It doesn't matter who is older. You will hear one in the aynen clip below.
- For people much older than you, Turkish switches to amca (uncle) and teyze (aunt). Calling a 70-year-old "abi" sounds odd.
- Abla can sound like "you are older than me". With a woman about your own age, her first name is safer. In a shop, abla is normal.
You will also hear abim (my big brother) and the warmer abiciğim and ablacığım, with -ciğim, a suffix that makes a word sweet. For more of these warm words, see our guide to Turkish terms of endearment.
Lan: man, dude, and how rude it is
Lan is a short form of ulan, which comes from oğlan (boy). It is like "man" or "dude" in English, but rougher. It adds strong feeling to a sentence: surprise, impatience, anger, or simply that you are close friends.
Among friends, it is normal. These two are playing with slime, and the lan is just impatience:
So who can you say lan to? Be careful here. Lan is fine with close friends of your own age, especially among young men, and between siblings. Many women use it with close friends too. It is not fine with your parents, your partner's parents, older people, teachers, your boss, customers or strangers. To them it sounds disrespectful, and in an argument "Ne bakıyorsun lan?" (What are you looking at?) sounds like a threat. If you are not sure, don't say it. Understanding it is enough.
The first line of that clip has another useful phrase: "Nasıl yani?" means "What do you mean?".
Yani: I mean, so, that is
Yani is one of the most common words in spoken Turkish. At the start of a sentence, it means "I mean" or "so": you are about to explain or correct what you just said. "Yani, ben bilmiyorum" is "I mean, I don't know". In the middle of a sentence it can mean "that is" or "in other words".
At the end of a sentence, yani adds emphasis, often with a little frustration. "Ne yapalım yani?" is "So what are we supposed to do?". Here two people are caught after making a mess of the house:
Yani is also a filler, like "you know" or "like" in English. Some speakers put one in almost every sentence. You don't need to translate each one. Read it as a small pause while the speaker thinks.
Aynen: exactly, yep
Aynen comes from aynı (same) and means "exactly" or "just like that". In everyday speech it has become a short "yep", "right" or "true", the answer when you agree with someone. "Aynen öyle" is "exactly so". Young people say aynen constantly, in speech and in messages.
In this travel vlog, two friends agree about the view. Listen for aynen, and then the abi that follows it:
Said slowly and flatly, aynen can also be sarcastic: "yeah, sure". Tone decides which one you got.
Kanka: buddy, bro
Kanka comes from kan kardeşi, "blood brother". It means "buddy" or "bro", and it is the word for a close friend among young people. Men and women both use it, and you will hear "kankam" (my buddy) too. It is very common in Turkish-German and Turkish-Dutch youth speech, even among friends who don't speak Turkish at home.
Two friends try to choose a bag of chips. Listen for kanka twice, with a tamam in between:
Kanka is casual but not rude. You would not say it to your teacher, but you can say it to almost any friend your age.
Yenge: sister-in-law, and a friend's wife
Yenge is the wife of your brother, or the wife of your uncle. Like abi and abla, it is also used outside the family. A man calls his close friend's wife yenge, as a sign of respect for the friendship and the marriage. And among young people, a friend's girlfriend often becomes "yenge" too, half as a joke.
In this clip, a man introduces his childhood friend to his wife. To the friend, she is "yengen" (your yenge), and the friend greets her that way:
If you are the new girlfriend or wife in a Turkish family, your partner's younger siblings and friends may call you yenge. It means they accept you.
Hadi: come on, let's go, bye
Hadi (also haydi) gets people moving. "Hadi gidelim" is "come on, let's go". "Hadi bakalım" is "well then, let's see" or "off you go". Parents say "hadi!" to children who are taking too long.
Hadi also starts a goodbye. "Hadi görüşürüz" is "okay, see you". In this clip, two brothers say goodbye at the door:
And with a different tone, "Hadi ya!" or "Hadi canım!" means "No way!" or "You're kidding!".
Kolay gelsin: may your work go easy
Turkish has a fixed phrase for many everyday moments. The next five are the ones you will hear most.
Kolay gelsin means "may it come easy". You say it to anyone who is working: a cashier, a waiter, a colleague at their desk, a neighbor carrying boxes, your mother-in-law in the kitchen. People also say it as a greeting when they walk into a shop. The answer is "sağ ol" or "teşekkürler" (thanks).
In this family sketch, the son says it to his mother. Her answer is a joke: "Kolaysa başına gelsin", roughly "if it's so easy, you do it":
Afiyet olsun: enjoy your meal
Afiyet olsun is the Turkish "enjoy your meal" or "bon appétit". You say it to someone who is eating, or who is about to eat. The cook says it when the food arrives. A host says it again when a guest says thank you after the meal. Recipe videos often end with "Şimdiden herkese afiyet olsun", "enjoy, everyone, in advance".
Listen to this exchange at a food stall in İzmir. The cook says afiyet olsun, and the customer answers with elinize sağlık:
Eline sağlık: thank you for making this
Eline sağlık means "health to your hand". It thanks someone for the work their hands did. After a home-cooked meal you say it to the person who cooked, and the usual answer is "afiyet olsun". Elinize sağlık is the polite or plural form, as in the clip above.
It is not only for food. You can say it to someone who fixed your bike, cut your hair, or made something nice. Here a father sees his daughter's drawings. Listen for a maşallah first, and then eline sağlık:
Hayırlı olsun: congratulations on something new
Hayırlı olsun means "may it bring good". You say it when someone has something new: a new job, a new apartment, a new car, a new shop, an engagement. It is close to "congratulations", with a wish for the future in it. The answer is "sağ ol" or "teşekkürler".
In this sketch, a friend has just heard that the other one got a new job:
When someone opens a new shop, friends and family visit to wish them luck. This visit is called "hayırlı olsuna gitmek", going to say hayırlı olsun.
Geçmiş olsun: get well soon
Geçmiş olsun means "may it be in the past". You say it to someone who is ill, who had an accident or an operation, or who had any kind of bad luck: a stolen phone, a broken car, a hard week. It works like "get well soon" and "sorry to hear that" at the same time. "Çok geçmiş olsun" is the stronger version. The answer, again, is "sağ ol".
In this comedy sketch, a "doctor" comes to cure a woman who is lovesick. She greets her patient with a çok geçmiş olsun:
Maşallah: praise, and protection from the evil eye
Maşallah literally means "what God has willed". In everyday Turkish it is how you admire something: a healthy baby, a clever child, a beautiful view, a new house, good food. Religious and non-religious people use it in the same way.
It has a second job, connected to the nazar, the "evil eye". A common belief in Turkey is that too much praise, or envy, can bring bad luck to the person you praise. Saying maşallah with a compliment takes that risk away. This is also why you see the blue nazar boncuğu (evil-eye bead) on babies, doors and cars. So when someone compliments a child, they very often add a maşallah:
You will also hear it used ironically, for something that is not admirable at all: "Maşallah, yine geç kaldın" is "Wow, late again". In subtitles and messages you may see maşşallah, maşaallah or mashallah. They are the same word.
İnşallah: hopefully, if all goes well
İnşallah means "if God wills". In daily speech it means "hopefully" or "if all goes well", and it goes with almost any plan or wish: "Yarın görüşürüz inşallah" (see you tomorrow, hopefully), "inşallah iyi geçer" (I hope it goes well). Again, people use it whether they are religious or not.
Here a cook says she hasn't filmed the recipe yet, but she will try to soon, inşallah:
Sometimes inşallah is honest hope. Sometimes it is a polite "maybe" for something that probably won't happen, like a vague English "we'll see". The context tells you which. You may also see it written inşaallah.
Hani: you know, remember
Hani helps a speaker who is looking for the right words, a bit like "you know" in English. "Hani var ya" means "you know the one" and comes before a description.
Here a child explains what hail is:
Hani can also remind someone of something they said: "Hani bana söz vermiştin?" is "Hey, didn't you promise me?". And sometimes it asks where something is: "Hani benim çayım?" is "So where is my tea?".
Two more fillers live next to hani. İşte (literally "here it is") often means "well" or "so, like I said". Şey means "thing" and is the word people say when the right word won't come, like "um" or "whatsit". You may have noticed one in the yenge clip: "yengen seni şey yaptı ya".
How to learn these words
A table helps you recognize these words. Understanding them in a fast conversation, with a family, a group of friends or in a TV series, comes from hearing them many times in real speech. That is what Reelang is for: short videos of native Turkish speakers, with subtitles you can tap, at your level.
Start with Turkish videos at your level, or open the app and let the feed pick for you. Listen for tamam, yani and vallah while you watch. In our Turkish catalog, about one clip in three has a tamam in it, and one in five has a yani.
Questions and answers
What does tamam mean?
Tamam means "okay", "fine" or "done". You use it to agree, to say something is finished, or to end a discussion. "Tamam mı?" means "okay?" or "got it?", and the usual answer is "tamam".
What does vallah mean?
Vallah (also vallahi or valla) comes from Arabic wallahi, "by God". In Turkish it means "I swear" when you insist something is true, and often just "honestly" or "really" in casual speech. Turkish spells it with a v, Arabic speakers say wallah.
What does abi mean in Turkish?
Abi means "older brother". Turks also use it for any man a little older than them, like a shopkeeper, a taxi driver or a family friend, and among young men it can mean "dude". With a name it comes after it: "Mert abi".
What does abla mean in Turkish?
Abla means "older sister". It is also a friendly, polite way to speak to any woman a little older than you, for example in a shop. With a name it comes after it: "Nihal abla".
Is lan rude?
Lan is like a rough "man" or "dude". Between close friends of the same age, especially young men, it is normal. To parents, in-laws, older people, teachers, your boss or strangers it sounds rude, and in an argument it can sound aggressive.
What does yani mean?
Yani means "I mean", "so" or "that is". At the end of a sentence it adds emphasis, as in "Ne yapalım yani?" (So what are we supposed to do?). It is also a very common filler, like "you know" in English.
What does kolay gelsin mean?
Kolay gelsin means "may it come easy". You say it to anyone who is working, like a cashier, a colleague or someone cooking, and as a greeting when you enter a shop. The answer is "sağ ol" or "teşekkürler".
What do afiyet olsun and eline sağlık mean?
Afiyet olsun means "enjoy your meal" and is said to someone who is eating. Eline sağlık means "health to your hand" and thanks the person who cooked or made something. The cook usually answers eline sağlık with afiyet olsun.
What is the difference between hayırlı olsun and geçmiş olsun?
Hayırlı olsun (may it bring good) is for something new and good: a new job, home, car or shop. Geçmiş olsun (may it be in the past) is for something bad: an illness, an accident or bad luck. Answer both with "sağ ol".
Do non-religious Turks say maşallah and inşallah?
Yes. Maşallah is the normal way to admire a child, a view or a new house, and it is also said to keep away the evil eye (nazar). İnşallah means "hopefully" and goes with plans and wishes. Both are part of everyday Turkish, whatever the speaker believes.
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