Kafede sıcak çay sunuluyor.

Hot tea is served in the cafe.

Breakdown of Kafede sıcak çay sunuluyor.

• çay: the tea
• sıcak: hot
• kafe: the cafe
• -de: in
• sunulmak: to be served

Questions & Answers about Kafede sıcak çay sunuluyor.

What does kafede mean, and which case is the -de suffix indicating?

“kafede” is made up of the noun kafe plus the locative case suffix -de, literally meaning “at the café.” The locative answers “where?” and is used to mark a location.

Why isn’t sıcak çay marked with the accusative suffix -ı (i.e. why not sıcak çayı)?

In Turkish, definite direct objects in active sentences take the accusative (e.g. sıcak çayı). But in a passive construction, the original object becomes the grammatical subject, and Turkish subjects are unmarked. That’s why we see sıcak çay in the nominative, not sıcak çayı.

How is the passive voice formed in sunuluyor, and what are its parts?

sunuluyor breaks down as:
• Root: sun- (to offer/serve)
• Passive suffix: -ul- (marks the verb as passive)
• Progressive tense suffix: -uyor (indicates “is …-ing”)
Putting them together: sun + ul + uyor → sunuluyor (“is being served”).

What tense/aspect is conveyed by the form sunuluyor?

The suffix -uyor is the present continuous (progressive) tense. In passive form sunuluyor it means “is being served.”

How would you say the same idea in the active voice?

You could say:
“Kafede sıcak çay sunuyorlar.”
Here, sunuyorlar is the active, 3rd person plural present continuous (“they are serving”), and sıcak çay is the object in the accusative if it’s definite: sıcak çayı sunuyorlar.

How can you explicitly mention who is doing the serving in the passive sentence?

You can add an agent with tarafından (“by”):
“Kafede garson tarafından sıcak çay sunuluyor.”
Literally: “Hot tea is being served at the café by the waiter.”

Why is the word order Kafede sıcak çay sunuluyor instead of another arrangement?

Turkish generally follows Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) order, but adverbials (like places) often come first for emphasis or clarity. Here you have:
1) Kafede (locative adverbial “at the café”)
2) sıcak çay (subject in passive)
3) sunuluyor (verb)
You could rearrange parts for nuance, but this order is the most neutral.