The Dolmabahçe Palace in İstanbul.

About the ubiquitous - buyurun - "would you kindly.. etc" - in Turkish. This "formula speak" is used in many circumstances in daily conversational Turkish. Below we show a few examples...

All about - buyurun - "Please be so kind..."

buyurun - or the more formal - buyurunuz - is a widely used word in Turkish. There are many translations in English according to context.

It is the second person Singular or Plural of the Simple Present tense of the verb - buyurmak - which basically means: Would you be so kind as to...
Literally: Would you deign to.. to command.. to decree.. to make an order..

All or any of these meanings can be applied according to context - and in fact this word has become a sort of universal polite request, plea ar command, and is in constant daily use in all areas of Turkish life. A sort of catch-all word for most situations..

It is a very important word to learn and use.

Let us consider how it is used:

When calling on someone's house and they say -
buyurun it means - Please come in...

When they point to a chair -
buyurun - Please sit down...

When they serve tea -
buyurun - Please drink and enjoy...

On entering a shop the shopkeeper may say -
buyurun efendim - meaning - Can I help you, sir?..

In a restaurant or cafe when the waiter or bar man says -
buyurun -it means - What would you like?..

In many busy places markets, souvenir shops, cafes etc. there is often a professional "barker" who will be saying to all passers by -
buyurun - Come and buy...

If in a cafe you ask to see what food is being prepared in the kitchen (normal in Turkey) then the answer would be -
buyurun - meaning in this case - Of course you may...!

When answering the telephone you say -
buyurun meaning - I'm listening to your call...

When passing people in narrow places or entering lifts etc. -
buyurun - means - After you..!

You can see there are many cases where - buyurun - is used and there are probably many more, you will hear it all the time when in Turkey.