Learn Hardcore Turkish: Akşam saatlerinde parkta çay içmek keyifli. - Drinking tea in the park in the evening hours is enjoyable.

Turkish often omits the copula to be when using adjectives or nouns as predicates. Here keyifli (pleasant/enjoyable) serves as the predicate on its own, so you don’t need a separate word for is.

Why is çay içmek in the infinitive form rather than a conjugated verb phrase?

In Turkish, the infinitive ending -mek/-mak allows the verb to act like a noun (similar to a gerund in English). Çay içmek literally means “to drink tea,” but here it functions as the subject: “drinking tea.”

What does parkta mean, and why is -ta added?

Parkta is park (park) + the locative case suffix -ta/-te, indicating location. So parkta means “in the park” or “at the park.”

What does Akşam saatlerinde mean, and how is that word formed?

Literally “in the hours of the evening.” It’s built as:
• saat (hour)
• + -ler (plural → hours)
• + -in (genitive, “of the”)
• + -de (locative → “in/at”)
So saatlerinde means “in its/their hours.” With akşam in front, you get “in the evening hours.”

Why does the sentence use saatlerinde instead of just saatlerde?

Time expressions with a dependent noun (like saat modified by akşam) require the genitive-locative pattern (-in + -de). Saatlerde without the genitive would sound odd here; saatlerinde correctly means “in the hours belonging to evening.”

Can we simplify Akşam saatlerinde to akşamda or akşam vakti?

Yes. Akşamda means “in the evening,” while akşam vakti means “at evening time.” Both are more general. Akşam saatlerinde emphasizes the span of evening hours.

Why is keyifli placed at the end, and what role does it play?

Turkish follows a subject-object-predicate order. Keyifli is an adjective meaning “pleasant/enjoyable,” but here it functions as the predicate (comparable to “is pleasant”).

Where is the subject in this sentence?

The subject is the noun phrase çay içmek (“drinking tea”). In Turkish, the infinitive can act as the subject, and the language often drops explicit pronouns when context is clear.

Why are there no words equivalent to “a” or “the” used?

Turkish does not use articles like a or the. Definiteness or generality is understood from context, so you won’t see separate words for them.

How would you literally translate the word order into English?

Literally: “Evening-hours-locative park-locative tea drinking pleasant.”
A natural translation is: “Drinking tea in the park in the evening hours is enjoyable.”