İyiyim
/ijijim/from spelling rules
To say I am fine in Turkish, meaning you are doing well, say İyiyim.
İyiyim is the standard, polite response to Nasılsın?, how are you.
What does it mean word for word?
İyiyim is the adjective iyi, good, plus the ending -yim, I am.
Which one should you use?
Ben iyiyim. adds the pronoun for I. The pronoun is usually left out because the ending already shows who is speaking. In rural areas people may say Sağım solum yerinde, literally my right and left are in place, to say all is well.
How do you pronounce it?
İyiyim is pronounced /ijijim/. The i sounds like the ee in creek and the j sound like the y in yes.
Did you know?
- While İyiyim means 'I am fine', adding the word Şükür or Çok şükür before it attributes one's well-being to a higher power or fate.
- Turkish uses a system of 'vowel harmony' that forces the ending of İyiyim to match the vowels in iyi. If the root vowel changed, the 'I am' suffix would also have to change its vowels to sound natural.
- While English speakers often use 'I am fine' to politely end a conversation, a Turkish speaker using İyiyim is almost always expected to immediately reciprocate the question to show politeness.
Examples in context
- Ben iyiyim. Ya sen?I am fine, and you?iyiyim is followed by a question asking and you.Tatoeba #1280122 by duran, translation #872223 by japegon
- İyiyim, size çok teşekkür ederim.I am fine, thank you very much.İyiyim is followed by a warm thank you very much.Tatoeba #5935038 by deyta, translation #5933526 by astru
- İyiyim, teşekkür ederim.I am fine, thank you.Tatoeba #1260794 by duran, translation #926934 by zvaigzne
- 2 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Selin and Burak meet in a cafe.
- SelinMerhaba Burak, nasılsın?Hello Burak, how are you?
- Burakİyiyim, sen nasılsın Selin?I am fine, how are you Selin?
- SelinBen de iyiyim, teşekkürler.I am fine too, thanks.
- BurakHarika, sevindim.Great, I am glad.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Turkish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
