Anneannem, “Damat da gelin de çok kibar,” dedi.

Anneannem means my maternal grandmother — literally, my mother’s mother.

It breaks down like this:

• anneanne = maternal grandmother
• -m = my

So:

• anneannem = my maternal grandmother

Turkish often makes family relationships very specific. For example:

• babaanne = paternal grandmother
• anneanne = maternal grandmother

So anneannem is not just my grandmother in a general sense; it specifically tells you which side of the family.

The comma separates the subject from the quoted speech.

The structure is:

• Anneannem = my grandmother
• Damat da gelin de çok kibar = the thing she said
• dedi = said

So the sentence means:

• My grandmother said, “The groom and the bride are both very polite.”

In English, we usually put a comma before the quote too, so this will feel familiar.

Dedi means said.

It comes from the verb:

• demek = to say

In the past tense:

• dedi = he/she said

Turkish often puts the main verb at the end of the sentence, so:

• Anneannem ... dedi = My grandmother ... said

That final placement is very normal in Turkish.

This is a very common Turkish word order for direct speech.

Turkish often uses:

• [quoted words] + dedi
• or [speaker], [quoted words], dedi

So here:

• Anneannem, ... dedi.
  = My grandmother said, ...

This is natural Turkish style. English can do both:

• My grandmother said, “...”
• “...” my grandmother said.

Turkish very commonly places dedi after the quote.

Here, da ... de ... means both ... and ... or ... too / ... also.

So:

• Damat da gelin de çok kibar.
• Both the groom and the bride are very polite.

This pattern emphasizes that the statement applies to both nouns.

Compare:

• Damat çok kibar. = The groom is very polite.
• Gelin çok kibar. = The bride is very polite.
• Damat da gelin de çok kibar. = Both the groom and the bride are very polite.

This da/de is written separately from the word before it.

No. They look the same, but they are different things.

1. Separate da/de = also / too / both

Written separately:

• damat da
• gelin de

2. Suffix -da / -de = in / at / on

Written attached:

• evde = in the house
• okulda = at school

So:

• damat da = the groom too
• damatta would be something completely different and is not what we have here

A very useful rule:

• If it means also / too, write it separately
• If it means in / at / on, write it attached

This is because of vowel harmony.

The particle changes form depending on the vowel in the previous word:

• da
• de

Here:

• damat has a back vowel pattern, so damat da
• gelin has a front vowel pattern, so gelin de

This is very normal in Turkish. The meaning stays the same; only the form changes to match vowel harmony.

Turkish often leaves out the verb to be in simple present-tense sentences.

So:

• Damat da gelin de çok kibar. literally looks like:
• The groom too, the bride too, very polite.

But the real meaning is:

• The groom and the bride are both very polite.

This is normal Turkish grammar. In the present tense, especially in third person, Turkish often has no separate word for is/are.

Compare:

• Ben mutluyum. = I am happy.
• O mutlu. = He/she is happy.

In third person, the copula is often just understood.

Because Turkish adjectives do not change for singular or plural.

So:

• kibar = polite

It stays kibar whether it describes one person or many people.

Compare:

• Damat kibar. = The groom is polite.
• Damat ve gelin kibar. = The groom and the bride are polite.
• İnsanlar kibar. = People are polite.

Unlike English, Turkish adjectives do not become plural.

Because the sentence is talking about the groom and the bride as roles in a wedding, not multiple grooms or multiple brides.

So:

• damat = groom
• gelin = bride

No plural ending is needed because each noun refers to one person.

Also, Turkish often does not use a word like the. Context tells you whether the meaning is general or specific. In this sentence, it clearly means the specific bride and groom being talked about.

Çok means very or a lot, and kibar means polite / courteous.

So:

• çok kibar = very polite

This is a common pattern in Turkish:

• çok güzel = very beautiful
• çok iyi = very good
• çok nazik = very kind/polite

Here it describes both people:

• Damat da gelin de çok kibar.
• Both the groom and the bride are very polite.

Yes, if you changed it into indirect speech or simply described what your grandmother said.

For example:

• Anneannem damadın da gelinin de çok kibar olduğunu söyledi.

That would mean something like:

• My grandmother said that both the groom and the bride were very polite.

But the original sentence uses direct speech, so the exact words are presented inside quotation marks:

• Anneannem, “Damat da gelin de çok kibar,” dedi.

No. Turkish has a few possibilities.

Common ones include:

• anneanne = maternal grandmother
• babaanne = paternal grandmother
• büyükanne = grandmother (more general/formal)

So anneannem is very specific: my mother’s mother.

A learner might expect just one basic word for grandmother, but Turkish often prefers these more precise family terms.

Yes. That would also be grammatical.

• Damat da gelin de çok kibar.
• Gelin de damat da çok kibar.

Both mean:

• Both the groom and the bride are very polite.

The difference is only a slight shift in emphasis depending on which noun comes first. In most situations, the meaning is essentially the same.

Because Turkish commonly marks each item with da/de in this kind of both ... and ... structure.

So:

• damat da gelin de

This is more natural than using it only once.

It signals:

• the groom too
• the bride too

Together, that gives the sense of:

• both the groom and the bride

This repeated pattern is very common in Turkish:

• Annem de babam da geldi. = Both my mother and my father came.
• Sen de ben de biliyoruz. = Both you and I know.