Professional Turkish is a register, not just a vocabulary list: it layers the formal siz, the impersonal passive, reported speech, and a set of softening devices that make requests sound deferential rather than blunt. The conversation below is an original dialogue written for this guide, a short exchange between a project lead and a colleague about a postponed meeting and a favour. It concentrates four B2 patterns: formal siz address with honorifics, reported speech with the -DIK nominalizer (dediğini iletti "passed on that he said"), the passive (toplantı ertelendi "the meeting was postponed"), and the elegant past-tense politeness softener -AcAktI (rica edecektim "I was going to ask…"). Read it through first, then follow the annotations.
The dialogue
Mehmet Bey, müsait misiniz? Sizden küçük bir şey rica edecektim.
Mr. Mehmet, are you available? I was going to ask you a small favour.
Tabii, buyurun. Nasıl yardımcı olabilirim?
Of course, go ahead. How can I help?
Proje müdürü, yarınki toplantının ertelendiğini bildirdi.
The project manager has informed us that tomorrow's meeting has been postponed.
Anladım. Yeni tarihin belirlenip belirlenmediğini biliyor musunuz?
I see. Do you know whether a new date has been set?
Henüz kesinleşmedi, ama gelecek haftaya kaydırılması bekleniyor.
It hasn't been finalized yet, but it's expected to be moved to next week.
Peki, sunumu ona göre hazırlamamız gerekiyor o zaman.
Right, then we need to prepare the presentation accordingly.
Aynen. Ayrıca genel müdür, raporun cuma gününe kadar tamamlanmasını istedi.
Exactly. Also, the general manager wants the report completed by Friday.
Mümkünse rakamları bir kez daha kontrol etmenizi rica edebilir miyim?
If possible, might I ask you to check the figures once more?
Elbette, hemen bakarım. Bir sorun çıkarsa size haber veririm.
Certainly, I'll look right away. If a problem comes up, I'll let you know.
Çok teşekkür ederim, kolay gelsin.
Thank you very much — may your work go easy.
Line-by-line
Line 1 — "Mehmet Bey, müsait misiniz? Sizden küçük bir şey rica edecektim." The whole exchange is in siz, the formal/polite register obligatory between colleagues who aren't close (see register/formal-siz). Mehmet Bey = "Mr. Mehmet" — the honorific Bey ("Mr.") follows the first name in Turkish, not the surname (women take Hanım). The standout is rica edecektim: literally "I was going to request," but functionally a softener. The construction is the future-in-the-past -AcAktI (-AcAk future + -DI past), and using it for a present request makes it tentative and deferential — "I was going to ask, if it's alright." A blunt rica ediyorum ("I request") would sound abrupt; the past-future wrapping is the polite move (see pragmatics/requests-politeness). Note sizden ("from you," ablative) — rica etmek asks a favour from someone.
Line 2 — "Tabii, buyurun. Nasıl yardımcı olabilirim?" Buyurun here means "go ahead / please do." Yardımcı olabilirim = "I can be of help": yardımcı olmak ("to be helpful / assist") in the abilitative -Abil-. Note Turkish prefers yardımcı olmak ("to be a helper") over a direct "help" verb in this courteous register. Nasıl yardımcı olabilirim? is the set phrase for "how can I help?"
Line 3 — "Proje müdürü, yarınki toplantının ertelendiğini bildirdi." Two B2 jewels in one line. First, proje müdürü ("project manager") is a bare izafet (noun-noun compound): proje ("project") + müdür ("manager") + the 3rd-person possessive -ü linking them — müdür-ü, "the manager of the project." Turkish builds compound job titles this way: genel müdür-ü, insan kaynakları müdür-ü ("HR manager"). Watch the buffer/possessive vowel: it harmonizes (müdür-ü, but şef-i "the chief of"). Second, this is reported speech via nominalization. There is no "that" conjunction; instead the reported clause becomes a noun with -DIK: toplantı erte-len-diğ-i-ni = ertele- ("postpone") + passive -n- + -diği (-DIK + 3sg poss) + -ni (accusative) — "the meeting's having-been-postponed." The whole nominalized clause is the object of bildirmek ("to inform/report") (see complex/reported-speech). And the inner verb is itself a passive: ertelendi ("was postponed").
Line 4 — "Anladım. Yeni tarihin belirlenip belirlenmediğini biliyor musunuz?" This is an embedded yes/no question ("whether…"), and Turkish builds it with a striking verb + negative-verb pairing: belirlenip belirlenmediğini = "whether it has-been-set or not-been-set." Literally: belirlen-ip (passive belirlenmek "to be determined" + the -ip converb) + belirlen-me-diğ-i-ni (the same verb, negated, in the -DIK nominalizer + accusative). The "X-ip X-negative-DIK" frame is the standard way to say "whether or not X" — there is no single word for "whether." The verb belirlenmek ("to be determined/set") is again a passive.
Line 5 — "Henüz kesinleşmedi, ama gelecek haftaya kaydırılması bekleniyor." Henüz … -mAdI = "not yet": henüz kesinleşmedi ("it hasn't been finalized yet"), kesinleşmek being a -lAş verb ("to become definite"). Kaydırılması bekleniyor stacks two passives and a verbal noun: kaydır- ("to shift/move") → passive kaydırıl- ("to be moved") → verbal noun kaydırıl-ma-sı ("its being moved") → object of beklenmek ("to be expected," itself passive) = "its being moved is expected." This dense passive-on-passive nominalization is exactly the impersonal, agentless tone that formal and bureaucratic Turkish prizes — nobody is named as the mover; the event simply "is expected to be moved."
Line 6 — "Peki, sunumu ona göre hazırlamamız gerekiyor o zaman." Peki = "alright / okay then," a discourse marker accepting what was said. Ona göre = "accordingly / according to that" (o + dative + göre "according to"). Hazırlamamız gerekiyor = "we need to prepare": hazırla- + verbal noun -ma + 1pl possessive -mız ("our preparing") + gerekiyor ("is necessary"). The accusative sunumu ("the presentation") marks it as the specific, known object.
Line 7 — "Aynen. Ayrıca genel müdür, raporun cuma gününe kadar tamamlanmasını istedi." Aynen = "exactly / precisely," very common in agreement. Genel müdür ("general manager") is another izafet title. The big structure is a nominalized want-clause: istemek ("to want") here takes not a that-clause but a verbal noun — raporun tamamlanması = "the report's being-completed" (raporun, genitive subject; tamamlan-ma-sı, passive verbal noun + possessive) + accusative -nı → tamamlanmasını istedi ("wanted the report to be completed"). Cuma gününe kadar = "by Friday" (kadar "until/by" takes the dative). Once more the inner verb tamamlanmak ("to be completed") is passive — the manager cares that it gets done, not who does it.
Line 8 — "Mümkünse rakamları bir kez daha kontrol etmenizi rica edebilir miyim?" A model polite request. Mümkünse = "if possible" (mümkün "possible" + conditional -se), a softening preface. The request itself is kontrol etmenizi rica edebilir miyim? — kontrol etmek ("to check") → verbal noun kontrol et-me-niz ("your checking," 2pl possessive) + accusative -i → object of rica etmek, all wrapped in the abilitative question rica edebilir miyim? ("might I request?"). So three layers of politeness stack up: the mümkünse preface, the nominalized request, and the -Abilir miyim? hedge. Bir kez daha = "once more"; rakamları is accusative (the specific figures).
Line 9 — "Elbette, hemen bakarım. Bir sorun çıkarsa size haber veririm." Elbette = "certainly / of course." Bakarım uses the aorist for a willing, on-the-spot commitment ("I'll look") — the aorist, not the future, is the register for offering to do something now. Bir sorun çıkarsa = "if a problem comes up" (çık- "come out/arise" + aorist conditional -arsa). Size haber veririm = "I'll let you know" (haber vermek "to give news/notify," with dative size "to you"), again aorist for the promise.
Line 10 — "Çok teşekkür ederim, kolay gelsin." A warm professional close: Çok teşekkür ederim ("thank you very much") plus Kolay gelsin — literally "may it come easy," the standard thing you say to someone who is working or about to work. It uses the 3rd-person optative gelsin ("let it come"). Saying Kolay gelsin to a colleague, a shopkeeper, or anyone mid-task is a small but expected courtesy in Turkish workplace culture.
Common mistakes
❌ Toplantı erteledi.
Incorrect — without the passive, this means 'the meeting postponed (something)'; you need the passive ertelendi for 'was postponed'.
✅ Toplantı ertelendi.
The meeting was postponed.
❌ Müdür dedi ki toplantı ertelendi diye bildirdi.
Incorrect — overstuffed; standard reported speech nominalizes with -DIK, no 'that' word needed.
✅ Müdür, toplantının ertelendiğini bildirdi.
The manager reported that the meeting had been postponed.
❌ Rakamları kontrol et.
Incorrect for this register — a bare imperative to a colleague is too blunt; soften with a nominalized request.
✅ Rakamları kontrol etmenizi rica edebilir miyim?
Might I ask you to check the figures?
❌ Mehmet Yılmaz Bey, müsait misin?
Incorrect — Bey follows the first name (Mehmet Bey), and a colleague you don't know well takes siz, not the informal sen.
✅ Mehmet Bey, müsait misiniz?
Mr. Mehmet, are you available?
Key takeaways
- Formal siz + honorifics: address colleagues with siz and (first name) + Bey / Hanım — the honorific follows the first name.
- Soften requests with -AcAktI (rica edecektim "I was going to ask"), the mümkünse preface, and the -Abilir miyim? hedge; a bare imperative is too direct.
- Reported speech nominalizes with -DIK / -AcAK — no word for "that": ertelendiğini bildirdi, tamamlanmasını istedi.
- The passive is the default professional voice: toplantı ertelendi, belirlenmedi, kaydırılması bekleniyor — agentless, impersonal, formal.
- Izafet builds job titles: proje müdürü, genel müdür; close a work exchange with Kolay gelsin.
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Start learning Turkish→Related Topics
- Formal Register: siz, -(y)InIz, HonorificsA2 — How spoken and written Turkish signals respect through siz, the polite imperative -(y)InIz, and honorifics like Bey, Hanım, and Sayın.
- Reported Speech: diye, -DIK, and demekB2 — How Turkish reports what people say — direct quotation with diye and dedi versus indirect nominalized clauses with -DIK and -(y)AcAK.
- The Passive -Il / -In / -nB1 — How to build the Turkish passive from any verb stem, choosing -Il, -In, or -n by the final sound, and how the impersonal passive expresses generic 'one/you'.
- Making Polite RequestsA2 — The Turkish request politeness scale — from the bare imperative (gel) up through the plural -(y)InIz and buyurun, the workhorse aorist question -Ir mIsInIz ('would you…?'), and the abilitative -(y)Abilir mIsInIz ('could you…?'), with lütfen 'please'.