Ben her hafta sonu geleneksel yemek pişiriyorum.

I cook traditional food every weekend.

Breakdown of Ben her hafta sonu geleneksel yemek pişiriyorum.

• ben: I
• yemek: the food
• pişirmek: to cook
• her: every
• hafta sonu: the weekend
• geleneksel: traditional

Questions & Answers about Ben her hafta sonu geleneksel yemek pişiriyorum.

Why does her require a singular noun in her hafta sonu and what does her mean?

her means every in English. In Turkish, her always pairs with a singular noun because it literally refers to “each one” in a series. For example:

• her gün = every day
• her ay = every month
  You would never say her günler or her aylar.

Why is it hafta sonu written as two words, and why does sonu carry the -u ending?

hafta sonu = “week’s end,” i.e. weekend. It’s a compound of hafta (week) + son (end) + third-person singular possessive -u, literally “the end of the week.” That -u is not an accusative but a possessive suffix marking “end” as belonging to the week.

How can I say “on weekends” using a plural form instead of her?

You can pluralize hafta sonu to hafta sonları and use it as a time adverb:

• Hafta sonları geleneksel yemek pişiriyorum.
  This means essentially the same as her hafta sonu, but now you’re treating “weekends” as a general group rather than “each weekend one by one.”

Why is the pronoun Ben included? Can I drop it?

In Turkish the verb ending already tells you the subject (here -um = “I”). So Ben is optional and is only used for emphasis or contrast. You can perfectly say:

• Her hafta sonu geleneksel yemek pişiriyorum.

How is the verb pişiriyorum formed? What do its parts mean?

pişiriyorum breaks down into three parts:

1. pişir- → the verb root “to cook (something)”
2. -iyor- → present continuous tense marker (like English “am/is cooking”)
3. -um → first-person singular ending (“I”)
   Put together, pişir-iyor-um = “I am cooking.”

Could I use the simple present (aorist) pişiririm instead of pişiriyorum for a habitual action?

Yes.

• Her hafta sonu geleneksel yemek pişiririm.
  Both forms can express a habit:
  • -iyor emphasizes an ongoing or regularly repeated action in the present period.
  • -r (aorist) simply states a general habit or capability.

Why doesn’t geleneksel yemek take the accusative -i ending?

In Turkish, only definite direct objects get the accusative suffix -i/-ı/-u/-ü. Here geleneksel yemek is indefinite (“some traditional food”), so no -i. If you meant a specific traditional dish, you would say:

• Geleneksel yemeği pişiriyorum. (“I am cooking the traditional food.”)

How is the adjective geleneksel formed from gelenek?

gelenek = “tradition” (noun)

• -sel = adjective-forming suffix (can be thought of as “-al/-ic” in English)
  → geleneksel = “traditional”

Where do time expressions like her hafta sonu usually go in a Turkish sentence?

The neutral word order in Turkish is Subject–Time–Object–Verb (S-T-O-V). So a typical placement is:

• Ben (S) her hafta sonu (T) geleneksel yemek (O) pişiriyorum (V).
  However, Turkish is flexible: you can move time or object for emphasis without changing the core meaning.

Can I change the word order to emphasize a part of the sentence?

Yes. For example, if you want to stress traditional food, you could say:

• Geleneksel yemekleri her hafta sonu pişiriyorum.
  Or to highlight weekends:
• Her hafta sonu ben geleneksel yemek pişiriyorum.
  Such shifts draw attention to the element you move, but the basic meaning remains “I cook traditional food every weekend.”