yemek: meal, dish and akşam yemeği

The idea

Yemek means a meal, food or a cooked dish. Its final k becomes ğ before an ending that starts with a vowel: yemeği, yemeğe, yemeğin, yemeğim. Before a consonant it stays: yemekler, yemekte, yemekten. In a compound the second noun takes -i, so dinner is akşam yemeği and lunch is öğle yemeği, and any further ending needs a joining n: akşam yemeğinde (at dinner).

Examples

• Annem yemek yapıyor.My mother is cooking.A general object stays bare: yemek yapıyor means "is cooking". Add -i only when one particular meal is meant.
• Annemin yemeğini çok seviyorum.I love my mother's cooking.The owner takes -in (annemin) and the thing owned takes -i (yemeği); the accusative -i then needs a joining n: yemeğini.
• Yemeğe geliyor musun?Are you coming for the meal?
• Akşam yemeği saat yedide.Dinner is at seven.Two nouns side by side form a compound: akşam (evening) and yemeği, with -i on the second noun. Öğle yemeği is lunch.
• Yemekten sonra çay içiyoruz.After the meal we drink tea.The word sonra (after) takes the ablative: yemekten sonra. The k stays because -ten starts with a consonant.
• Bu yemeğin tarifi kolay.The recipe for this dish is easy.Here yemeğin means "of this dish" (genitive). The same form also means "your meal", so the rest of the sentence decides.
• yemeklerimizour dishesyemek·ler-ler / -lar: the plural suffix·imiz-imiz / -ımız / -umuz / -ümüz: our
• yemeğimizdenfrom our mealyemeğ·imiz-imiz / -ımız / -umuz / -ümüz: our·den-den / -dan / -ten / -tan: from, out of
• yemekteat the mealyemek·te-de / -da / -te / -ta: in, at, on

Watch out

Do not say akşam yemek: in a compound the second noun carries -i, as in akşam yemeği. Watch yemeğin too: it means both 'of the meal' and 'your meal', and the sentence has to tell you which.

Try it yourself

1. Add "my" to yemek (meal): my meal.

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   yemeğim

   yemeğim: the ending -im starts with a vowel, so the k softens to ğ, and i follows the front vowel e.

2. Make the plural of yemek (meal).

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   yemekler

   yemekler: the plural ending begins with l, a consonant, so the k stays as it is.

3. Dinner is at seven. Complete the compound with yemek.

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   yemeği

   yemeği: in the compound akşam yemeği the second noun takes -i, and the k softens before that vowel.

4. Add the locative to yemek (meal): at the meal.

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   yemekte

   yemekte: -te starts with a consonant, so the k stays, and it is t because k is voiceless.

Use it today

Write three sentences about your meals: one about dinner with akşam yemeği, one about your own meal with yemeğim, and one about what you do afterwards with yemekten sonra.