Bu akşam koşuya çıkacağım, sonra çay içeceğim.

Breakdown of Bu akşam koşuya çıkacağım, sonra çay içeceğim.

içmek
to drink
çay
the tea
bu akşam
tonight
sonra
then
koşuya çıkmak
to go for a run
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Questions & Answers about Bu akşam koşuya çıkacağım, sonra çay içeceğim.

What is the difference between bu akşam and bu gece?

Both can translate as “tonight”, but they’re used a bit differently:

  • Bu akşam = this evening, usually until late evening (around when it’s still considered “evening” in English).
  • Bu gece = tonight / this night, usually referring to late evening and night-time, often when it’s dark and later in the day.

In your sentence, Bu akşam koşuya çıkacağım suggests the run will happen in the evening, not very late at night.
If you said Bu gece koşuya çıkacağım, it would sound like you’re going for a run later at night.

Why is it koşuya çıkacağım and not just koşacağım?
  • Koşmak = “to run” (the physical act of running)
  • Koşuya çıkmak literally = “to go out to (for) a run”

Koşuya çıkmak is an idiomatic phrase meaning “to go for a run / to go running”, which is exactly what we say in English.

  • Bu akşam koşacağım = “I will run this evening.”
    (grammatically fine, but sounds a bit more like the act of running itself)
  • Bu akşam koşuya çıkacağım = “I’ll go (out) for a run this evening.”
    (more natural in everyday conversation)

So koşuya çıkmak focuses on the activity/event (like going jogging), not just the movement.

What does the -a in koşuya mean?

The -a / -e ending is the dative case, usually meaning “to / towards”.

  • koşu = run (noun)
  • koşu + ya = koşuya = “to the run / for a run”

In the phrase koşuya çıkmak:

  • çıkmak = to go out / to leave / to go up
  • koşuya marks the goal or purpose: go out for a run.

So koşuya is “to (for) a run,” not just “run”.

Can I say Bu akşam koşu çıkacağım without -ya?

No, that would be incorrect.

The set phrase is koşuya çıkmak, and koşu needs the dative ending -ya:

  • koşuya çıkacağım
  • koşu çıkacağım

Without -ya, it sounds ungrammatical, because çıkmak here expects a complement marked with the dative to express purpose (go out for something).

How is çıkacağım formed and what does each part mean?

Çıkacağım can be broken down like this:

  • çık- = verb stem “go out / exit”
  • -acak- / -ecek- = future tense marker (here: -acak- because of vowel harmony)
  • -ım / -im / -um / -üm = 1st person singular “I”

When combined:

  • çık- + -acak + -ım → çıkacağım
    (spelling and sound changes cause it to appear as -acağım)

Meaning: “I will go out” / “I’m going to go out.”

In the full phrase:

  • koşuya çıkacağım = “I will go out for a run.”
Why don’t we say ben? Why is there no subject pronoun?

In Turkish, the person ending on the verb already shows who the subject is:

  • çıkacağım = “I will go out”
  • içeceğim = “I will drink”

Because -ım / -im / -um / -üm on the verb already means “I”, the pronoun ben is usually dropped unless you want to emphasize it:

  • Bu akşam BEN koşuya çıkacağım.
    (emphasis: I, not someone else, will go for a run)

In neutral sentences, leaving ben out is more natural.

Does içeceğim work the same way as çıkacağım?

Yes, the structure is parallel:

  • iç- = verb stem “to drink”
  • -ecek- / -acak- = future tense marker (here: -ecek- because of vowel harmony)
  • -im (becomes -ğim after k) = 1st person singular “I”

So:

  • iç- + -ecek + -im → içeceğim
    (the consonant k in -ecek softens to ğ before -im, giving içeceğim)

Meaning: “I will drink.”

In the sentence:

  • sonra çay içeceğim = “then I will drink tea.”
Why is there no “and” in … koşuya çıkacağım, sonra çay içeceğim?

The comma + sonra already work as a connector:

  • ..., sonra ... = “..., then ... / and then ...”

You could say:

  • Bu akşam koşuya çıkacağım ve sonra çay içeceğim.

But in practice:

  • Bu akşam koşuya çıkacağım, sonra çay içeceğim.
    is more natural and not missing anything. The idea of “and” is understood from the structure.
What exactly does sonra mean here, and can it be used differently?

In this sentence, sonra is an adverb meaning “afterwards / then”:

  • ..., sonra çay içeceğim.
    = “..., then I will drink tea.”

Sonra can also be used as a postposition after a noun in the ablative (‑dan / ‑den):

  • Koşudan sonra çay içeceğim.
    = “After the run, I will drink tea.”

So:

  • adverb: sonra = “afterwards / then”
  • postposition: X-dan sonra = “after X”
Could I say Bu akşam koşuya çıkıyorum, sonra çay içeceğim instead of using the future tense twice?

Yes, and it’s natural, but there is a nuance:

  • Bu akşam koşuya çıkacağım, sonra çay içeceğim.
    = both actions are future plans; neutral future.

  • Bu akşam koşuya çıkıyorum, sonra çay içeceğim.
    = çıkıyorum (present continuous) often implies a fixed plan / arrangement (like saying “I’m going for a run this evening” in English). It can sound slightly more definite or already scheduled.

Both are correct; the original sentence is a straightforward statement of future intentions.

Why is çay used without any article? How would I say “some tea” or “the tea”?

Turkish has no articles like “a / an / the”.

Bare nouns often cover meanings like:

  • “tea”
  • “some tea”
  • “the tea”
    depending on context.

In your sentence:

  • çay içeceğim ≈ “I will drink tea / I will have some tea.”

To be more specific:

  • Biraz çay içeceğim. = “I’ll drink a bit of tea / some tea.”
  • O çayı içeceğim. = “I’ll drink that tea.” (with o = that, and = definite object marker)

But in everyday speech, çay içeceğim is perfectly natural for “I’ll have some tea.”

Is the subject of both verbs the same person, even though it’s only shown on the verbs?

Yes. In:

  • Bu akşam koşuya çıkacağım, sonra çay içeceğim.

both çıkacağım and içeceğim contain the 1st person singular ending, so both mean “I will …”.

There is no need to repeat ben, and there is no ambiguity:

  • I will go for a run this evening,
  • then I will drink tea.
How do I pronounce çıkacağım and içeceğim? What does ğ do?

Approximate pronunciation:

  • çıkacağım:

    • ç = like “ch” in church
    • ı = a close, central vowel (no exact English equivalent; like a very relaxed “uh”)
    • ğa: ğ doesn’t make its own sound here; it lengthens / smooths the preceding vowel
    • Stress is usually near the end: çı-ka-CAA-m
  • içeceğim:

    • i = “ee” in see
    • ç = “ch”
    • e = “e” in bed
    • ce = like “je” in jet
    • ğim: “geem” but with soft ğ, so it sounds like a lengthened vowel + “eem”
    • Stress near the end: i-çe-CEE-im

The letter ğ (yumuşak g) usually:

  • does not have a strong consonant sound,
  • lengthens or glides the surrounding vowels instead of being pronounced like an English “g”.