Learn Hardcore Turkish: Zencefil çayı günde iki defa içmek faydalı. - Drinking ginger tea twice a day is beneficial.

In Turkish, verbs like içmek (to drink) require their definite direct objects to take the accusative suffix. çay becomes çayı because you’re referring to that specific beverage (ginger tea) as the object of drinking.

What case is günde, and how does it mean “per day”?

günde is the locative case of gün (day), formed with the suffix -de. When a time noun is in the locative, it often expresses frequency or periodicity. So günde iki defa literally “in a day two times” means “twice a day” or “per day.”

Why do we say iki defa, and can we use iki kere or iki kez instead?

defa, kez, and kere all mean “times” in frequency expressions.

defa and kez are a bit more formal.
kere is slightly more colloquial.
You can say günde iki defa, günde iki kez, or günde iki kere interchangeably.

Why is içmek in the infinitive form and not conjugated?

Turkish can nominalize verbs with the infinitive suffix -mek/-mak. Here, Zencefil çayı günde iki defa içmek is a verbal noun phrase (the subject of the sentence), and faydalı comments on that action.

What does faydalı mean, and why is there no word for “is” before it?

faydalı means “beneficial” or “useful.” In Turkish, the copula “to be” in the present tense is usually omitted; adjectives can stand alone as predicates. So faydalı implies “(it) is beneficial.”

Could we add the copula -dır to make it more formal?

Yes. Attach the copula suffix -dır (with vowel harmony: -dır, -dir, -dur, or -dür) to get faydalıdır.
Example: Zencefil çayı günde iki defa içmek faydalıdır.

Why is faydalı placed after içmek instead of before, like faydalı içmek?

Word order matters: faydalı after the nominalized verb phrase acts as a predicate (“is beneficial”). If you put faydalı before the verb—faydalı içmek—it would mean “to drink in a beneficial way,” describing how you drink, not stating that drinking is beneficial.