Ordering tea and coffee: bir çay lütfen

The idea

Order with a number, a word for the glass or cup and the bare drink: bir çay lütfen, iki bardak çay, bir fincan kahve. Tea comes in a bardak (small glass) and coffee in a fincan (cup). Lütfen or alabilir miyim? makes the request polite. The suffixes -li and -siz mean "with" and "without": sütlü, şekersiz.

Examples

• Bir çay lütfen.One tea, please.
• Bir bardak çay lütfen.A glass of tea, please.
• Ben bir kahve istiyorum.I would like a coffee.The pronoun ben can be dropped: Bir kahve istiyorum. Adding lütfen makes it softer.
• İki fincan kahve alabilir miyim?May I have two cups of coffee?Alabilir and miyim are two words. The drink stays singular after iki, and fincan comes before it.
• Çay mı, kahve mi istersiniz?Would you like tea or coffee?Each choice gets its own mı or mi, written apart and matching the last vowel: çay mı, kahve mi.
• şekersizwithout sugarşeker·sizWithout: -siz / -sız / -suz / -süz
• sütlüwith milksüt·lü-li / -lı / -lu / -lü: with, having
• Hesap lütfen.The bill, please.No word for "the" is needed: hesap alone means the bill.

Watch out

After a number the drink stays singular: iki çay, not iki çaylar. The word for the glass or cup comes before the drink: iki bardak çay, not iki çay bardak.

Try it yourself

1. Fill the gap: two teas, please. Use çay and do not add the plural.

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   çay

   çay: the number iki already shows the amount, so the noun takes no -ler/-lar.

2. Add the suffix for "without" to şeker (sugar): without sugar.

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   şekersiz

   şekersiz: the last vowel of şeker is e, a front vowel, so the suffix is -siz (not -sız, -suz or -süz).

3. Add the suffix for "with" to süt (milk): with milk.

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   sütlü

   sütlü: the last vowel ü is front and rounded, so -li becomes -lü.

4. Fill the gap with the word for the glass tea is served in: a glass of tea, please.

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   bardak

   bardak: tea is served in the slim bardak, and the word for the glass sits between the number and the drink; fincan is for coffee.

Use it today

Role-play a cafe with a friend: order two different drinks, say that one is with milk or without sugar, then ask for the bill.