Family Members in Turkish (Aile): Parents, Siblings, Aunts, Uncles and In-Laws

“Family” in Turkish is aile: mother is anne, father is baba, and a brother or sister is kardeş. Turkish is more precise than English about relatives: there are separate words for your mother’s sister (teyze) and your father’s sister (hala), your mother’s brother (dayı) and your father’s brother (amca), and for older siblings (abla, ağabey).

Family words come up in every first conversation in Türkiye (“Are you married? Do you have children? How many siblings are you?”), and several of them double as polite ways to address strangers. This guide lists them by group, then shows the possessive forms you need to say “my mother” or “your uncle”.

Pronunciation hints are rough English approximations: uh stands for the Turkish ı, ö and ü are as in German, and ğ lengthens the vowel before it (or is silent). To hear the real sounds, use the Turkish alphabet tool.

Immediate family

Grandparents and grandchildren

Aunts, uncles and cousins

Instead of kuzen, many people name the exact relationship: teyze oğlu (maternal aunt’s son), amca kızı (paternal uncle’s daughter), dayı oğlu, hala kızı. These are compound nouns, and with “my” they become teyzemin oğlu (my aunt’s son), using the genitive case.

In-laws

Turkish has words for in-law relationships that English can only describe with a phrase:

“My mother”, “your father”: possessive forms

You almost always use family words with a possessive ending. The full system is on the possessive suffixes page; here it is for three common words:

Notes:

• Oğul loses its second vowel before a vowel suffix (oğlum, oğlu), but not before a consonant (oğulları).
• Çocuk softens its k: çocuğum (my child), çocuğun (your child). See consonant mutation.
• Kızım (my daughter) and oğlum (my son) are also how older people affectionately address any young woman or man.

Talking about your family

“To have” in Turkish is a possessive plus var (there is) or yok (there isn’t), as explained on the var/yok page:

• Kardeşin var mı? — Do you have any siblings?
• Evet, bir ablam var. — Yes, I have an older sister.
• Kaç kardeşin var? — How many siblings do you have?
• İki kardeşim var. — I have two siblings.
• Çocuğunuz var mı? — Do you have children? (formal)
• Hayır, çocuğum yok. — No, I don’t have children.
• Evli misin? — Are you married? → Evet, evliyim. / Hayır, bekârım. (Yes, I’m married. / No, I’m single.)

To describe your family in a few sentences, combine the possessive with simple “to be” and present-tense sentences:

• Annem öğretmen, babam emekli. — My mother is a teacher; my father is retired.
• Ablam evli, iki çocuğu var. — My older sister is married and has two children.
• Kardeşim üniversitede okuyor. — My younger brother/sister is at university.
• Dedem ve anneannem köyde yaşıyor. — My grandfather and grandmother live in the village.
• Ailemle birlikte oturuyorum. — I live with my family.
• Ailem çok kalabalık. — I have a big family. (lit. “My family is very crowded.”)

Note that kardeşim doesn’t say whether the sibling is male or female; add erkek or kız only when it matters.

A very Turkish question is Kaç kardeşsiniz? (lit. “How many siblings are you?”). The answer includes the speaker: Üç kardeşiz means “There are three of us”, i.e. you have two siblings.

Family words for strangers

Turkish speakers often address people with family terms:

• abi / abla: to a man or woman a little older than you, such as a shopkeeper, waiter or driver.
• amca / teyze: to an elderly man or woman.
• kardeşim: “bro”, from a man to a younger man.
• yenge: informally, to a friend’s wife.

How and when to use these, and when Bey and Hanım are better, is covered in sen vs siz and bey, hanım, abi, abla.

Dialogue: talking about family

Sara: Kaç kardeşsiniz? How many siblings are there in your family?

Emre: Üç kardeşiz. Bir ablam, bir de erkek kardeşim var. Sen? There are three of us. I have an older sister and a younger brother. You?

Sara: Ben tek çocuğum ama çok kuzenim var. Annemin dört kız kardeşi var. I’m an only child, but I have lots of cousins. My mother has four sisters.

Emre: Vay! Dört teyzen var yani. Wow! So you have four aunts on your mother’s side.

Sara: Evet, bayramlarda anneannemin evi çok kalabalık oluyor. Yes, my grandmother’s house gets very crowded during the holidays.

Emre: Anneannen nerede oturuyor? Where does your grandmother live?

Sara: İzmir’de, dayımla birlikte. In İzmir, with my uncle.

Oturmak literally means “to sit”, but in everyday speech it also means “to live (somewhere)”.

Common mistakes

• Kızkardeş. It is two words: kız kardeş, erkek kardeş.
• Oğulum. The vowel drops: oğlum.
• Çocukum. The k softens: çocuğum.
• Calling your father’s brother dayı. Dayı is your mother’s brother; your father’s brother is amca.
• Ben iki kardeşim var. Drop ben: İki kardeşim var. The possession is in the suffix.
• Overusing benim. Benim annem is correct, but annem is enough unless you are contrasting (“my mother, not yours”).

Mini-quiz

1. What do you call your mother’s brother?
2. Say “my father’s sister” in one word.
3. Translate: “I have two sisters.”
4. Say “their son”.
5. Someone says Üç kardeşiz. How many siblings does the speaker have?
6. Which word could you use to address an elderly woman politely?

Answers: 1. Dayı. 2. Halam. 3. İki kız kardeşim var. 4. Oğulları. 5. Two. 6. Teyze.

Next steps

Family vocabulary is the best place to practice possessives, so work through the possessive suffixes guide, and break down longer forms like anneannemin with the suffix deconstructor.