Learn Hardcore Turkish: Çay şekerle güzel.

In Turkish, the copula to be is usually omitted in simple present statements. You don’t say “is”; context and word order do the job. Thus Çay şekerle güzel literally means “Tea with sugar [is] nice.”

What does the suffix -le in şekerle signify?

The suffix -le is the instrumental case marker meaning “with.” It attaches directly to the noun:

şeker (sugar) + -le = şekerle (“with sugar”).

Why isn’t çay marked with an article like a or the?

Turkish has no separate words for a/the. Definiteness is either clear from context or (for a specific object) shown by the accusative case. Here we’re talking about tea in general, so çay stays unmarked.

Could I say Çayı şekerle güzel with çayı in the accusative case?

You could, but çayı (accusative) makes it sound like you’re referring to a specific cup of tea: “That tea (the one) is nice with sugar.” For a general statement about tea, we leave it in the nominative: Çay şekerle güzel.

Is it correct to use şeker ile instead of şekerle?

Yes. ile is the full form of the instrumental marker, so Çay şeker ile güzel is grammatically correct. However, the suffixed form -le is more colloquial and common in speech.

Why is güzel at the end of the sentence, and is the word order flexible?

Turkish normally places the predicate (verb or adjective) at the end. Here güzel is the predicate adjective, so it comes last. You can shuffle parts (e.g. Şekerle çay güzel) to add emphasis, but the default neutral order is Topic – Modifier – Predicate.

Is güzel functioning as an adjective or an adverb here?

güzel is an adjective used predicatively to describe çay. Even though English says “tea tastes good,” Turkish uses güzel directly after the noun.

Why isn’t güzel placed before çay as in güzel çay?

Putting an adjective before a noun (as in güzel çay) makes it an attributive adjective: “nice tea.” In our sentence, güzel is predicative—it describes tea’s quality (“Tea … is nice”)—so it stays after the noun, without a copula.