Turkish months, days, and dates: vocabulary, pronunciation, and examples

TL;DR: Learning months, days, and dates in Turkish makes it easier to discuss events, make appointments and plan for travel. The days of the week are “pazartesi” (Monday), “salı” (Tuesday), “çarşamba” (Wednesday), “perşembe” (Thursday), “cuma” (Friday), “cumartesi” (Saturday), and “pazar” (Sunday). The months are “ocak” (January), “şubat” (February), “mart” (March), “nisan” (April), “mayıs” (May), “haziran” (June), “temmuz” (July), “ağustos” (August), “eylül” (September), “ekim” (October), “kasım” (November), and “aralık” (December). Turkish dates follow the day-month-year order.

Understanding a few pronunciations and grammar rules helps learners use calendar vocabulary naturally. However, pay close attention to the Turkish letters in these words because some are different from English. The dotless “ı” in “kasım” and “mayıs” is different from the dotted “i” in “nisan”.

What are the days of the week in Turkish?

The Turkish word for day is “gün”, and the days of the week are “haftanın günleri”. Generally, the week starts on Monday and ends on Sunday. Here are the days of the week in Turkish, with a pronunciation guide:

The pronunciation guide above is an approximation to help learners get started with Turkish. Use language-learning apps like Memrise with native-speaker videos to help you get the right pronunciation. This is essential because Turkish has several sounds that do not correspond exactly to English letters, especially “ı”, “ş”, and “ç”.

Here are a few useful sentences to help learners remember the vocabulary:

• Bugün pazartesi: Today is Monday
• Yarın cuma: Tomorrow is Friday
• Dün pazar günüydü: Yesterday was Sunday
• Cumartesi günü çalışmıyorum: I don’t work on Saturday

When “günü” (“day”) follows a day name, it marks that specific day. For instance, “pazartesi günü” translates to “on Monday”. Learners can use the day itself when discussing plans, as in “Pazartesi görüşürüz” (See you on Monday).

What are the 12 months of the year in Turkish?

The Turkish word for month is “ay” and the plural (months) is “aylar”. Learning how to say all the months from January to December in Turkish helps with dates, appointments, holidays, and seasonal conversations.

When learning Turkish, learners should focus on the letters. The letter “ş” sounds like “sh” in English, while “ç” sounds like “ch”. In the word “ağustos” (August), the “ğ” is generally not pronounced as a separate hard consonant and instead affects the transition between vowels. Practise the months in sentences to become more fluent in Turkish:

• My birthday is in May: Doğum günüm mayısta
• Schools open in September: Okullar eylülde açılıyor
• It may snow in December: Aralık ayında kar yağabilir

To say “in” a month, Turkish adds the locative suffix -da/-de, which becomes -ta/-te after a voiceless consonant (ç, f, h, k, p, s, ş, or t). Vowel harmony chooses the vowel: words whose last vowel is a, ı, o, or u take -da/-ta, while words ending in e, i, ö, or ü take -de/-te. That is why “mayıs” becomes “mayısta”, “eylül” becomes “eylülde”, and “ekim” becomes “ekimde”. To ask the date, say “Bugün ayın kaçı?” (What’s the date today?), and answer with “Bugün ayın beşi” (Today is the fifth).

How do you pronounce Turkish letters in calendar words?

Turkish pronunciation becomes easier when learners practise the alphabet’s distinctive sounds. With apps like Memrise, they can practise saying calendar words aloud after learning the rules below:

• The dotless “ı” has the sound /ɯ/ and does not have an exact English equivalent. It appears in “salı”, “mayıs”, and “kasım”
• “Ş” is pronounced like “sh” in “shoe”
• “Ç” is pronounced like “ch” in “chair”
• “C” is pronounced like the “j” in “jam”
• “ğ” does not have a strong independent consonant sound, and its effects depend on the surrounding vowel

Turkish word stress often falls towards the final syllable, although there are exceptions. Learners should listen to native speakers consistently and repeat complete words to become more fluent.

How do you write dates in Turkish?

When writing dates in Turkish, use the day-month-year order. This differs from the month-day-year format that is more common in American English. Here is how to write dates in Turkish:

The dates can also be written numerically, using the day, month, and year in that order. For instance, 5 January 2026 becomes 05.01.2026.

Frequently asked questions

Do Turkish months and days start with capital letters?

In ordinary sentences, Turkish months and days are in lowercase. However, they begin with capital letters when used as part of a specific date, such as 23 Nisan 2026. Knowing these differences helps learners write these words correctly in sentences.

How do you ask someone for their birthday in Turkish?

“When is your birthday?” translates to “Doğum günün ne zaman?” in Turkish. For someone you do not know well, use the formal “Doğum gününüz ne zaman?”. You can answer with an exact date, such as “10 Mayıs’ta” (on 10 May). This phrase gives you practical vocabulary for everyday communication.