Я хочу чай, а не кофе.

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Breakdown of Я хочу чай, а не кофе.

• хотеть: to want
• чай: the tea
• кофе: the coffee

Questions & Answers about Я хочу чай, а не кофе.

Why is there no verb meaning to drink in this sentence?

Russian often leaves out пить when the object already makes the action obvious. With drinks, Я хочу чай naturally means I want tea or I want some tea. If you want to make the action explicit, you could say Я хочу пить чай, а не кофе, but that is less necessary in ordinary conversation.

What case are чай and кофе in here?

They are functioning as the objects of хочу. In modern Russian, that usually means the accusative.

For this sentence:

• чай is masculine inanimate, so its accusative singular looks the same as the nominative: чай
• кофе is an indeclinable noun, so it also stays кофе

So even though both words look unchanged, they still fit the grammar of the sentence.

Could I also say Я хочу чая, а не кофе?

Yes. Чая is the genitive form, and with хотеть it often gives the sense of some tea or an amount of tea, rather than tea in a very general or categorical way.

So:

• Я хочу чай = straightforward, neutral
• Я хочу чая = often sounds a bit more like I want some tea

Both are common and correct.