Questions & Answers about İster parkta ister kafede çay içelim.
What does the pair İster ... ister ... do in this sentence?
It presents two alternatives (either ... or / whether ... or) and says the main suggestion holds in either case. It often implies indifference: both options are equally fine.
Is ister here the verb istemek?
Historically yes—it’s the 3rd-person aorist of istemek. But in the fixed correlative ister ... ister ..., it acts like a conjunction and doesn’t mean wants.
Do I have to repeat ister before each option?
Yes. Standard Turkish repeats it: İster parkta ister kafede ... Dropping the second ister is not idiomatic. You can add olsun for emphasis: İster parkta olsun ister kafede, ...
Why is it parkta but kafede? What suffix is this?
It’s the locative suffix -DA (in/at/on), shaped by harmony and voicing:
- park + -DA → parkta (final k is voiceless → t; back vowel a → a)
- kafe + -DA → kafede (ends in a vowel → d; front vowel e → e)
Could I say parka or kafeye instead?