Learn Hardcore Turkish: Çaysız sabah zor. - A morning without tea is difficult.

Turkish vowel harmony requires that suffix vowels match the preceding vowel’s back/front and rounded/unrounded quality. Çay has a back unrounded vowel a, so the correct form of the suffix is -sız.

Why is sabah in the singular instead of plural (sabahlar)?

Turkish often uses the singular noun for general or habitual statements. Çaysız sabah zor literally means “A morning without tea is hard” in a generic sense. You could say çaysız sabahlar zor (“mornings without tea are hard”), but the singular generic form is more idiomatic for broad truths.

There’s no word for “is” in the sentence. How does that work?

In Turkish, the present‐tense copula (to be) is usually omitted. Here, zor (“hard” or “difficult”) serves as the predicate adjective, and the verb “is” is understood. So çaysız sabah zor means “(A) morning without tea is hard.”

Why is the word order çaysız sabah zor and not sabah çaysız zor?

Turkish word order places adjectives (including derived adjectives like çaysız) before the noun they modify. Then comes the predicate adjective or verb. So:

çaysız sabah = “tea-less morning”
zor = “is hard”

What part of speech is zor here?

Zor is an adjective meaning “hard” or “difficult.” It describes the noun phrase çaysız sabah.

Do I need an indefinite article like bir before sabah?

In Turkish, bir (a/an) is optional and often omitted in general statements. You can say bir çaysız sabah zor (“a morning without tea is hard”), but most speakers simply say çaysız sabah zor.

How would I make this a question or a negative statement?

To ask “Is a morning without tea hard?” you add the question particle mu:
• Çaysız sabah zor mu?
To negate it:
• Çaysız sabah zor değil. (“A morning without tea is not hard.”)