Lesson: How to Order Turkish Coffee? – Audio

Transcript

Garson: Türk kahvenizi nasıl alırsınız efendim?
Müşteri: Şekersiz.
Garson: Yiyecek bir şey ister misiniz?
Müşteri: Yanında lokum istiyorum. Bir de soğuk su lütfen.
Garson: Hemen…
…
Garson: Buyurun efendim.
Müşteri: Ama bu kahve şekerli. Ben şekersiz kahve istiyorum.
Garson: Nasıl olur? Kusura bakmayın efendim. Hemen şekersiz kahve getiriyorum.
Kız: Tamam, sorun değil, bekliyorum.
…
Garson: Buyurun şekersiz kahveniz.
Müşteri: Teşekkür ederim.
Garson: Bu da elmalı kurabiye.
Müşteri: Ama ben elmalı kurabiye istemiyorum.
Garson: Bu bizim ikramımız efendim. Afiyet olsun.
Müşteri: Gerek yoktu ama teşekkür ederim.

Translation

Waiter: How do you get your Turkish coffee, miss?
Customer: Without sugar.
Waiter: Would you like something to eat?
Customer: I want Turkish delight with the coffee. And cold water, please.
Waiter: I’ll bring it right away …
…
Waiter: Here you are, miss.
Customer: But this coffee has sugar. I want coffee without sugar.
Waiter: How come? Sorry, miss. I bring sugar-free coffee immediately.
Girl: Okay, no problem, I’m waiting.
…
Waiter: Here’s your sugar-free coffee.
Customer: Thank you.
Waiter: This is an apple cookie.
Customer: But I don’t want apple cookies.
Waiter: This is our treat. Bon Appetit.
Customer: No need… (You didn’t need to) but thank you.

Grammar Notes

Maybe the most useful structure in the dialogue is “istiyorum”. You can express whatever you want by using this structure.

Kahve istiyorum.
I want coffee.

Taksi istiyorum
I want a cap

Gitmek
To go

Gitmek istiyorum
I want to go

Gitmek istemiyorum
I don’t want to go.

There are many words having the suffix -lI that gives a sense of belonging. Also the suffix -sIz that gives the meaning of without. When you are attaching these suffixes, you have to consider vowel harmony rules that you have just covered in the previous lessons.

-lI can be one of: -li, -lı, -lü, -lu

Elmalı
With apple

Sabır
Patience

Sabırlı
Patient

Sabırsız
Impatient

Sabırlı ol!
Be patient!

Do you remember how to ask “Do you want?”.

İster misin? or İster misiniz? The question suffix here is –mi. For the third person singular, it turns into:

İster mi?
Does he want?

İster miyim?
Do I want?

Suffixes coming after –mi indicate the personal pronoun. –mi also changes depending on the previous vowels. For example,

Uçar mı?
Does he fly? / Does she fly? / Does it fly?

This time, it is mı because a is a back vowel and the close version of a is ı.

Uçar mıyım?
Do I fly?

*The tense structures in the examples will be covered in detail. At the moment, you are learning the question suffix.

Bir şey
lit. One thing / Something

Bir şey ister misiniz?
Do you want something?

Her
Every

Her şey
Everything

So, how to answer this question?:

Elmalı kurabiye ister misiniz?
Do you want apple cookie?

Hayır, teşekkür ederim.
No, thank you.

Hayır, gerek yok.
No, not necessary.

Gerek yok.
Not necessary.

Gerek yoktu.
I was not necessary.

–tu indicates past tense. Since the waiter already brought the apple cookies, it is more appropriate to use gerek yoktu.

“Kahvenizi nasıl alırsınız?” — is the question you’d receive if you want to order Turkish coffee. How do you get (want) your coffee? The answers to this question are:

Şekersiz
Without sugar

Az şekerli
With little sugar

Orta şekerli
Medium-sugared

Çok şekerli
Well-sugared

You are supposed to add sugar while you are preparing your Turkish coffee. For that reason, the amount of sugar you want is important. You never add sugar after the coffee is prepared.

Nasıl olur?
How come?

Vocabulary

Kahve
Coffee

Çay
Tea

Türk kahvesi
Turkish coffee

Efendim
Sir/Madam

Yiyecek
Food

İçecek
Beverage

İçki
Drink/Liqour

Lokum
Turkish delight

Elma
Apple

Kurabiye
Cookie

Elmalı kurabiye
Apple cookie

Şeker
Sugar

Şekersiz
Sugar-free

Şekerli
With sugar

İkram
Treat

Elmalı kurabiye ikram etmek
To offer apple cookie

Hemen
Right now, immediately

Buyurun/Buyrun
Here you go.

… istiyorum
I want

… istemiyorum
I don’t want

Ben elmalı kurabiye istemiyorum.
I don’t want apple cookie.

Afiyet olsun
Bon appetit

Gerek yok
It’s not necessary

Gerek yoktu
I was not necessary

Sorun değil / Problem değil
No problem

Soğuk
Cold

Sıcak
Hot

Soğuk su
Cold water

Kusura bakmayın
Sorry about that