A packet, a pot and a sauce give you three ways to talk about the same food in Turkish.

The idea

Makarna means pasta. Because it ends in a vowel, object -ı and dative -a need y: makarnayı, makarnaya. Location -da attaches directly: makarnada, “in the pasta”.

Examples

  • Makarnayı büyük bir tencerede pişiriyorum.I am cooking the pasta in a large pot.
  • Makarnaya domates sosu ekliyorum.I am adding tomato sauce to the pasta.
  • Bu makarnada yumurta var.This pasta contains egg.
  • İki paket makarna alalım.Let’s buy two packets of pasta.
  • Makarnanın suyu kaynıyor.The water for the pasta is boiling.
  • Akşam için sebzeli makarna hazırlıyorum.I am preparing pasta with vegetables for the evening.

Read-aloud uses a synthetic Turkish voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.

Watch out

Do not add y before the consonant in makarnada. Makarna is broader than English “macaroni”: it does not specify one pasta shape.

Try it yourself

  1. Use the specified object form. makarna ___ büyük bir tencerede pişiriyorum.

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    makarnayı

    makarnayı: vowel-final makarna needs y before object -ı.

  2. Use the dative form. makarna ___ domates sosu ekliyorum.

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    makarnaya

    makarnaya: y separates the final a from dative -a.

  3. Use the location form. makarna Bu ___ yumurta var.

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    makarnada

    makarnada: location -da starts with a consonant and needs no y.

Use it today

Write what you add to pasta and ask whether a particular ingredient is in it.