Learn Turkish: İyi akşamlar! Bu ev güzel. - Good evening! This house is beautiful.

In Turkish, many common greetings use the plural form to sound more polite and expansive. So, İyi akşamlar literally translates to 'Good evenings,' similar to how İyi günler means 'Good days.'

Where is the word for 'is' in Bu ev güzel?

There isn't one! In Turkish, you do not need a separate word for 'is' when describing a third person or object in the present tense. You simply put the subject (Bu ev) and the adjective (güzel) right next to each other.

How do we know it means 'This house is beautiful' and not 'This beautiful house'?

It comes down to word order. If you wanted to say 'This beautiful house,' you would put the adjective before the noun just like in English: Bu güzel ev. By placing güzel after the noun, it acts as the description for the subject, creating the full sentence Bu ev güzel (This house is beautiful).

Can I use İyi akşamlar when saying goodbye, or only when greeting someone?

You can use it for both! It is perfectly natural to say İyi akşamlar when arriving at an evening gathering or a shop, and also when leaving to wish someone a good rest of their evening.