# Sorry, I don't drink coffee/tea



## DearPrudence

Hi again,

Still preparing my trip to Istanbul.
If I am offered tea or coffee, how can I say:
*"No thanks/Sorry, I don't drink coffee/tea".*
"Teşekkür ederim/Özur dilerim, kahve/çay içmem."

Or maybe this is really not correct/appropriate/polite and I should use something else and in this case, what should it be?

Thanks again for your help


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## Rallino

That's correct. We don't say özür dilerim in this context. Teşekkür ederim is fine.
Alternatively: *Teşekkür ederim. Kahve/çay almayayım*.* (Thanks. I won't have coffee/tea." Literally in French "que je ne prenne pas de café / thé.)

It's a common phrase in Turkish. 

*almayayım is often pronounced /almıyım/, with the stress on 'al'.


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## DearPrudence

Great, thanks again, Rallino.
I'm all for common phrases


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## Primarch7

Rallino's sentence might differ a bit than what you are actually intended to say.

"Kahve almayayım" is probably the kindest way of rejecting a coffee, but it only expresses that you don't want to drink it at that particular moment.
That is, some people may think you're just being kind and they may insist further.

But if you'd like to express that you "don't" drink coffee, then you can say "Teşekkür ederim, ama kahve içmiyorum." or "Teşekkür ederim, ama pek kahve sevmem".
The first one literally tells that you don't drink coffee, and the latter one says you don't like it much, so people won't offer it again )


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## Rallino

I agree with Primarch.


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## DearPrudence

Thanks, great, Primarch7. It could be useful as I know that not liking coffee or tea is a very strange thing in general and therefore, it is something I would like to be able to say, not to be asked repeatedly.
And I would have got the tenses wrong! 
In a book, I learnt "[portakalı/peyniri/…] sevmiyorum" (well, the list is actually even longer than this!! ) so I would have used "sevmiyorum", not "sevmem".


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## Primarch7

Well I can tell you that the English grammar structure does not exactly match up with the Turkish grammar structure.

"Kahve içmiyorum." would mean exactly the same thing as "Kahve içmem.", yet the former one sounds more natural.
In fact, "içmiyorum" would indicate that you just don't drink it, while "içmem" would sound like you detest it.

I know it sounds strange and definitely is not something you would see in language books, but it's just how we perceive things 
You're welcome~


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