Learn Hardcore Turkish: Konuk salonda çay içiyor. - The guest is drinking tea in the living room.

Konuk means “guest” in Turkish. To make it plural, add the plural suffix -lar (or -ler after front vowels), giving you konuklar (“guests”).

Why is there no word for “a” or “the” before Konuk?

Turkish does not have articles like “a” or “the.” Definiteness is inferred from context or by using other markers (e.g., the accusative for definite objects). So konuk can mean “a guest” or “the guest” depending on context.

What is salonda, and what does it express?

Salonda is the locative form of salon (“living room”). The suffix -da (locative case) indicates “in” or “at,” so salonda means “in the living room.”

Why is the suffix -da and not -de, -ta, or -te?

Turkish locative suffixes follow vowel harmony and consonant harmony. Since salon has a back vowel o, you use -da rather than -de. And because salon ends in the voiced consonant n, the suffix remains d (it would become t after a voiceless consonant).

Why is çay not in the accusative case (i.e., why not çayı)?

Only definite objects take the accusative suffix (-ı, -i, -u, -ü). Here çay is indefinite (“some tea” or “tea in general”), so it stays unmarked. If you meant “the tea,” you would say çayı içiyor.

What tense/aspect does içiyor express, and how is it constructed?

İçiyor is the present continuous tense (“is drinking”). It’s formed from the verb stem iç- (“to drink”) + the continuous tense suffix -iyor. For third-person singular, there is no additional personal ending after -iyor.

Why is there no subject pronoun like o in the sentence?

Turkish verbs are conjugated for person, so the subject is clear from the verb ending. Third-person singular has a zero ending here, so adding o (“he/she/it”) is optional and often omitted unless for emphasis or clarity.

What is the typical word order in Turkish, and how does this sentence reflect it?

The default Turkish word order is Subject–(Adverbial/Locative)–Object–Verb (S-(A)-O-V). Here: Konuk (Subject) + salonda (Locative) + çay (Object) + içiyor (Verb).

How would I make the sentence plural to say “Guests are drinking tea in the living room”?

Make konuk plural: konuklar. For the verb, you can add the plural suffix -lar (“içiyorlar”) or leave it zero-marked because the subject is clear. A fully marked plural sentence is: Konuklar salonda çay içiyorlar.