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A1 · 45 words
Food and drink in Turkish
Bread, cheese and olives for breakfast, fruit and vegetables from the market, tea, ayran and the meals of the day.
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From these 45 words, as many per round as you like — up to all of them: first what is due today, then new ones. First you choose, then you fill the gap, then you write it yourself. Mistakes come back again shortly.
More about this list Turkish has no “the” and no “some”. A noun with no ending stands for the thing in general: ekmek aldım “I bought (some) bread”. Only when a particular piece is meant does it take the accusative ending — which does the job of English “the”: ekmeği masaya koy “put the bread on the table”. Many words in this list change their last consonant when that happens — ekmek → ekmeği , yoğurt → yoğurdu — and su “water” takes a y: suyu . Tea and ayran are drunk (içmek ), and so is soup: çorba içmek .
The words
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Verb (1)
pişirmek to cook (something) Verb A1 Pirinci on beş dakika pişir. Cook the rice for fifteen minutes.
A definite object in the accusative. For cooking as an activity people usually say yemek yapmak .
Conjugation of pişirmek →
Noun (42)
yemek food, dish, meal Noun A1 Annemin yemekleri çok lezzetli. My mother’s cooking is delicious.
The same word is the verb “to eat”. “To cook”: yemek yapmak , “to make food”.
ekmek bread Noun A1 Bu ekmek çok taze. This bread is very fresh.
Softens: ekmeği . It ends in -mek but is not a verb.
su water Noun A1 Masada su yok. There is no water on the table.
A y before the ending: suyu , suyum , suyun .
çay tea Noun A1 Türkiye'de herkes çok çay içiyor. In Turkey everybody drinks a lot of tea.
kahve coffee Noun A1 Sabahları sütlü kahve içiyorum. In the mornings I drink coffee with milk.
süt milk Noun A1 Çocuklar her sabah süt içiyor. The children drink milk every morning.
One syllable, no softening: sütü .
şeker sugar; sweet, candy Noun A1 Çayına şeker koyuyor musun? Do you take sugar in your tea?
tuz salt Noun A1 Çorbaya biraz tuz koy. Put a little salt in the soup.
peynir cheese Noun A1 Kahvaltıda beyaz peynir yiyoruz. We eat white cheese at breakfast.
beyaz peynir is the white cheese kept in brine, a little like feta.
zeytin olive Noun A1 Siyah zeytini çok seviyorum. I really like black olives.
yumurta egg Noun A1 Sabah iki yumurta yedim. I ate two eggs this morning.
bal honey Noun A1 Ekmeğe bal sürüyorum. I spread honey on my bread.
reçel jam Noun A1 Anneannem çilek reçeli yapıyor. My grandma makes strawberry jam.
tereyağı butter Noun A1 Tereyağı buzdolabında. The butter is in the fridge.
Already carries the ending -ı : “with butter” is tereyağıyla .
et meat Noun A1 Ben et yemiyorum. I do not eat meat.
One syllable, no softening: eti .
tavuk chicken Noun A1 Bugün fırında tavuk yapıyorum. Today I am making chicken in the oven.
Softens: tavuğu .
balık fish Noun A1 Deniz kenarında balık yedik. We ate fish by the sea.
Softens: balığı .
pilav rice (cooked) Noun A1 Yanında pilav ister misiniz? Would you like rice with it?
Uncooked rice is pirinç .
makarna pasta Noun A1 Çocuklar makarnayı çok seviyor. The children love pasta.
The everyday word for pasta of any kind.
çorba soup Noun A1 Kışın sıcak çorba içiyoruz. In winter we have hot soup.
Soup is “drunk”: çorba içmek .
salata salad Noun A1 Öğlen sadece salata yedim. At lunchtime I only had a salad.
sebze vegetables Noun A1 Pazardan taze sebze aldık. We bought fresh vegetables at the market.
meyve fruit Noun A1 Çocuklar için meyve aldım. I bought fruit for the children.
elma apple Noun A1 Elmayı yıka, sonra ye. Wash the apple, then eat it.
portakal orange Noun A1 Kahvaltıda portakal suyu içtim. I drank orange juice at breakfast.
muz banana Noun A1 Bebek muzu çok seviyor. The baby loves banana.
domates tomato Noun A1 Bu domatesler çok tatlı. These tomatoes are very sweet.
patates potato Noun A1 Patatesleri soyar mısın? Will you peel the potatoes?
soğan onion Noun A1 Yemeğe soğan koymuyorum. I do not put onions in the food.
biber pepper (vegetable), chilli Noun A1 Bu biber çok acı! This chilli is very hot!
Ground black pepper is karabiber .
salatalık cucumber Noun A1 Salatalık ve domatesle salata yapıyorum. I am making a salad with cucumber and tomato.
Softens: salatalığı .
üzüm grapes Noun A1 Yazın üzüm çok ucuz. Grapes are very cheap in summer.
karpuz watermelon Noun A1 Sıcak günlerde soğuk karpuz yiyoruz. On hot days we eat cold watermelon.
yoğurt yoghurt Noun A1 Yemeğin yanında yoğurt yiyoruz. We have yoghurt with our meals.
Softens: yoğurdu .
ayran ayran (yoghurt drink) Noun A1 Kebapla ayran içiyorum. I drink ayran with my kebab.
meyve suyu juice Noun A1 Çocuklar meyve suyu içiyor. The children are drinking juice.
meyve + su with -yu : “water of the fruit”.
kahvaltı breakfast Noun A1 Pazar günleri geç kahvaltı yapıyoruz. On Sundays we have a late breakfast.
“To have breakfast”: kahvaltı yapmak .
öğle yemeği lunch Noun A1 Öğle yemeğini iş yerinde yiyorum. I have lunch at work.
akşam yemeği dinner, evening meal Noun A1 Akşam yemeği saat yedide. Dinner is at seven.
tatlı dessert, something sweet Noun A1 Yemekten sonra tatlı var mı? Is there a dessert after the meal?
As an adjective “sweet”: tatlı bir çay .
dondurma ice cream Noun A1 Çocuklara dondurma aldım. I bought the children ice cream.
çikolata chocolate Noun A1 Çantamda hep çikolata var. There is always chocolate in my bag.
Adjective (2)
aç hungry Adjective A1 Çok açım, ne zaman yiyoruz? I am really hungry, when are we eating?
The opposite is tok “full”.
lezzetli tasty, delicious Adjective A1 Bu çorba çok lezzetli. This soup is very tasty.
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Muno waves a front foot in greeting Good to see you here. “Kahvaltı” is breakfast, and at weekends it can go on for a long time: cheese, olives, tomatoes, bread and lots of tea.
This list belongs to Food and drink — five lists and 217 words that can also be practised as a whole.
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