ne zaman
/ne zaman/from spelling rules
The English phrase "when" can be translated to Turkish as ne zaman.
Ne zaman is primarily used to ask questions about a specific point in time.
Meaning: as soon as, at the time that (conj)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase ne zaman is composed of ne (what) and zaman (time), literally meaning "what time".
How does it change in a sentence?
While ne zaman is used for questions, the suffix -ince or -ınca is used as a conjunction to mean "when" or "as soon as" in a statement (e.g., gelince means "when/as soon as he comes").
How do you pronounce it?
The pronunciation is /ne zaman/. The /n/ sound is like the [n] in "not", the /z/ sound is like the [z] in "zone" and the /m/ sound is like the [m] in "much".
Did you know?
- The Turkish word for 'what' ne has a surprising distant relative in English. When used to mean 'neither' or 'nor', it is cognate with the Old English word ne meaning 'not'.
- The word ne is remarkably stable across the Turkic world. It appears almost identically in Kazakh, Kyrgyz and Azerbaijani, despite these languages being separated by thousands of miles.
- Depending on the context, the suffix -ince does more than just mark time. It often suggests that the second action happens the very instant the first is completed.
Examples in context
- O ne zaman oldu?When did it happen?This sentence shows how to ask when an event happened using ne zaman.Tatoeba #2054074 by duran, translation #687502 by lukaszpp
- O ne zaman doğdu?When was she born?This sentence shows how to ask when someone was born using ne zaman.Tatoeba #461572 by deyta, translation #310506 by CK
- O ne zaman varır?When does it arrive?This sentence shows how to ask when something will arrive using ne zaman.Tatoeba #1261142 by duran, translation #280089 by CK
- Geçen sene ne zaman gittiniz?When did you go last year?
- 2835 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Zeynep and Emre are planning a meeting.
- ZeynepNe zaman buluşuyoruz?When are we meeting?
- EmreYarın saat beşte buluşalım.Let's meet tomorrow at five o'clock.
- ZeynepTamam, ne zaman hazır olursun?Okay, when will you be ready?
- EmreSaat dörtte hazır olurum.I will be ready at four o'clock.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Turkish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ne, zaman, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
