Sade kahve seviyorum.

the coffee

Breakdown of Sade kahve seviyorum.

• sevmek: to like
• sade: plain

Questions & Answers about Sade kahve seviyorum.

What exactly does sade mean here—“black” or “unsweetened”?

Sade means “plain,” i.e., with nothing added. In the context of coffee:

• With Turkish coffee, sade specifically means “no sugar” (the standard sugar-scale is sade = no sugar, orta = medium sugar, şekerli = sweet).
• For non-Turkish coffee, people may say sade kahve to mean “black coffee,” but you’ll also hear siyah kahve (black coffee) or şekersiz (without sugar). So the safest readings are “plain/unsweetened,” and often “black,” depending on context.

Why is there no ben? Shouldn’t it say “Ben sade kahve seviyorum”?

Turkish verbs carry the subject in their endings. Seviyorum ends with -um, which already means “I.” Ben is optional and used mainly for emphasis or contrast:

• Neutral: Sade kahveyi seviyorum.
• Emphatic/contrasting: Ben sade kahveyi seviyorum (başkaları değil).

Shouldn’t it be sade kahveyi seviyorum with the -i (accusative) on kahve?

Often, yes. In Turkish, a direct object that is specific or treated as a whole category typically takes the accusative -i:

• General preference (very common): Sade kahveyi seviyorum.
• Bare form (sade kahve seviyorum) is also heard and understood as a general preference, but many speakers find the version more natural with verbs of liking/disliking. Use the as your default for preferences.