Participle Definition

A participle is a verbal form that has the qualities of both a

verb and an adjective, such as

the following present

participle in red

…

Yan

I

tlanmas

I

zor gelen

s

I

nav

sorular

I

n

I

en sona

b

I

rakmal

I

s

I

n, Aristotle.

You should leave examination questions

that you find difficult

to answer until last, Aristotle.

[

present participle

used in a participle phrase

modifying

,

questions

.]

Need step-by-step help

translating the preceding example?

The Standard way to make the 'Present' Participle in
Turkish…

The present participle is made in the following manner:

1. From the infinitive of any verb, strip the 'mek' or 'mak'
ending.

2. To the remaining verb stem add '(y)en' if the verb is from the
'mek' family or '(y)an' if it's from the 'mak' family.

[Note: the 'y' is

only inserted if the verb stem ends in a vowel -- to avoid the occurrence of two
consecutive vowels.]

Examples of Present Participle Construction:

Infinitive form

of a Verb

Correct
Participle
Suffix

The Participle English

Gelmek

-en

Gelen

coming (who
[whom, that,
which] is coming)

SarIlmak

-an

SarIlan

hugging (who
[whom, that,
which] is hugging)

Anlamak

-yan

Anlayan

understanding
(who is [whom,
that, which]
understanding)

Beklemek

-yen

Bekleyen

waiting (who
[whom, that,
which] is waiting)

Gelmemek

-yen

Gelmeyen

not coming (who
[whom, that,
which] is not
coming)

SarIlmamak

-yan

SarIlmayan

not hugging (who
[whom, that,
which] is not
hugging)

Anlamamak

-yan

Anlamayan

not understanding
(who [whom, that,
which] is not
understanding)

Beklememek

-yen

Beklemeyen

not waiting (who
[whom, that,
which] is not
waiting)

Another Present Participle Example:

Babel'den dцrt bin dokuz yuz yirmi ьз dili ak

I

c

I

bir sekilde

konusan

bir

adam

tan

I

yorum.

I know a man from Babel

who speaks

4,923 languages fluently.

[

present participle

used in a participle phrase

modifying

,

man

]

Need step-by-step help

translating the preceding example?

Standard Way to Make the

(Aorist)

'Wide-Tense' Participles

in Turkish...

The Type 'A' Participles

The

(Aorist)

Wide-Tense -- a verbal factoid

Example with the Type 'A' Wide-Tense Participle:

Atlantis yцresinde pek зok

akar

su

var.

There's a lot of

flowing

water

in the vicinity of Atlantis.

(...water that flows,

all the time

...)

[

Type 'A' wide-tense participle

used as pure adjective

modifying

,

water

]

Need step-by-step help

translating the preceding example?

The Type 'A' Wide-tense participle is made in the following
manner:

1. From the infinitive of any verb, strip the 'mek' or 'mak'
ending.

2. Affirmative participles -- To the remaining verb stem, add
the suffix '-(e)r'

['-(i)r', '-(ь)r']

, if the verb is from the 'mek' family,

or

...

'(a)r'

['-(

I

)r', '-(u)r']

, if it's from the 'mak' family.

3. Negative participles -- To the remaining verb stem, add
'-mez'

(for '-mek' family verbs)

or

'-maz'

(for '-mak' family verbs)

.

Keep in mind that,

for

each

of the two verb families,

there is only one possible negative suffix, but that there are three

possible affirmative suffixes. And remember too that suffix choices

are always subject to

the

Rule of Vowel Harmony

...

Examples of Type 'A' Wide Tense
Participle Construction:

Infinitive form

of a Verb

Correct
Participle
Suffix

The Participle English

Beklemek

-er

Bekler

waiting (who
[whom, that, which]
waits)

Gelmek

-ir

Gelir

coming (who
[whom, that, which]
comes)

Yьrьmek

-r

Yьrьr

walking (who
[whom, that, which]
walks)

Adamak

-ar

Adar

dedicating(who
[whom, that, which]
dedicates)

SarIlmak

-

I

r

SarIl

I

r

hugging (who
[whom, that, which]
hugs)

Bulmak

-ur

Bulur

finding (who [whom,
that, which] finds)

[negative]
Gelmek

-mez

Gelmez

not coming (who
[whom, that, which]
doesn't come)

[negative]
SarIlmak

-maz

SarIlmaz

not hugging (who
[whom, that, which]
doesn't hug)

Note: Quite a few of the wide-tense participles have now entered the Turkish language
as free-standing nouns or adjectives. Such as the nouns: dьsьnьr;

thinker

and yazar;

writer

. Such as the adjectives: зalar; зalar saat;

alarm clock

, and bilir; bilir kisi;

a

wise man, expert

...

Another Wide-tense Participle Example:

Nero,

yanmaz

ipek

tan yap

I

lm

I

s elbiseler giyer.

Nero always wears clothing made from

fire-proof

silk.

(...from silk

that doesn't burn

,

ever

...)

[wide-tense participle used as pure adjective modifying,

silk

]

Need step-by-step help

translating the preceding example?

Standard Way to Make the

(Aorist)

'Wide-Tense' Participles

in Turkish...

The Type 'B' Participles

Example with the Type 'B' Wide-Tense Participle:

Paris, Helena'ya

geзiзi

hevesler

i yьzьnden Troy'a zarar

verecek mi? Elbette!

Will Paris bring harm to Troy over his

passing

desires for

Helena? You betcha!

[

Type 'B' wide-tense participle

used as pure adjective

modifying

,

desires

]

Need step-by-step help

translating the preceding example?

The Type 'B' Wide-tense participle is made in the following
manner:

1. From the infinitive of any verb, strip the 'mek' or 'mak'
ending.

2. Affirmative participles -- To the remaining verb stem, add
the suffix '-ici'

['-ьcь']

, if the verb is from the 'mek' family,

or

...

'

I

c

I

'

['-ucu']

, if it's from the 'mak' family.

3. Negative participles -- Unlike the Type 'A' Wide Tense
participles, there are no negative Type 'B' participles. As is the
case with the Present Participles, all negative expressions are
controlled through the main verb(s) in the sentence

(or noun clause)

where this participle is used. For example,

Size daha

ьzьcь

haberler vermek istemem, Job;

I don't want to give more

worrying

news to you, Job

.

In the example, the main verb istemem;

I don't want

, happens to be in the negative,

and so controls the negative sense in which the participle

ьzьcь

is used. And if the

verb were in the affirmative, the sense of the sentence would be reversed, but there'd

be no change at all in the participle.

Keep in mind that,

for a verb stem ending in a vowel, you need to insert '

y

' before attaching

the 'future' participle suffix,

e.g. koruyucu;

protecting, who protect(s)

...

Examples of Type 'B' Wide Tense
Participle Construction:

Infinitive form

of a Verb

Correct Participle
Suffix

The Participle English

Gelmek

-ici

Gelici

coming (who
[whom, that,
which] comes)

Beklemek

-yici

Bekleyici

waiting (who
[whom, that,
which] waits)

Gьlmek

-ьcь

Gьlьcь

smiling (who
[whom, that,
which] smiles)

Bьyьmek

-yьcь

Bьyьyьcь

growing (who
[whom, that,
which] grows)

Almak

-

I

c

I

Al

I

c

I

taking (who
[whom, that,
which] takes)

Tan

I

mak

-y

I

c

I

Tan

I

y

I

c

I

recognizing (who
[whom, that,
which]
recognizes)

Doyurmak

-ucu

Doyurucu

filling up (who
[whom, that,
which] fills up)

Korumak

-yucu

Koruyucu

protecting (who
[whom, that,
which] protects

Note: Quite a few of the Type 'B' wide-tense participles have now entered the Turkish
language as free-standing nouns or adjectives. Such as the nouns: bцcek цldьrьcь;

insecticide (bug killer)

and uyusturucu;

(narcotic) drugs

. Such as the adjectives:

gьldьrьcь;

amusing

, and etkileyici;

effective, influential

...

Another Type 'B' Wide-tense Participle Example:

Emek Atlas

I

yorarsa, o

yorucu

bir

emek

tir.

If the work exhausts Atlas, it's

exhausting

work.

[

Type 'B' wide-tense participle

used as pure adjective

modifying

,

work

]

Need step-by-step help

translating the preceding example?

Standard Way to Make the 'Past Personal' Participle in
Turkish...

Other writers on the Turkish language, have called this category

of participle,

"

the Past Participle

"

(Hengirmen)

, "

an Object Participle

"

(Underhill)

,

"

a '-dik' adjective

"

(The Pollards)

, "

a Relative Participle

", and "

a

Personal Participle

"

(Lewis)

.

Since they can't agree, we won't either, and have decided to call
it "

The Past Personal Participle

" -- based solely on its

appearance.

For example, look at the '

Past Personal

' Participle, iste

dig

in

,

which may mean,

that you wanted

, as in,

The suit

that you wanted

cost $9,000, but

the checking account was in my name!

Firstly, you'll see that it's made

from the verb stem of, istemek;

to want

.

Then hopefully, you'll notice two things about its suffix/ending,

dig

in

.

What you will notice, we hope, is

a

) that it's based on the root suffix '-dik' (softened here to

dig

) --

which makes it 'appear' (at first glance) to be in the Past Tense and,

b

) that it definitely does include use of one of the

Personal

Possessive Endings

, in this

case, -

in

, meaning,

your

.

So, Participles in this category, look like they're in Past Tense and, also, make use of

the Personal Possessive Suffixes...

And, that's why we call them the 'Past Personal' Participles.

Whew!

In fact, as we'll see just below, looks can be deceiving. Because it turns out that the

'

Past Personal

' Participle's time zones are subject to the whims of other stronger

passions, and so, it can be used for any tense except the future tense...

Example with the '

Past Personal

' Participle:

[Notice how the '

Past Personal

' Participle's tense can get twisted in translation -- to

conform to the tense of the 'stronger' verb in the sentence.]

Bilmediginiz

insanlar

a fikrinizi

sцylemeyiniz

, Socrates.

Senin bas

I

n

I

belaya sokabilir.

Don't tell

your ideas to people

you don't know

, Socrates. It

could get you into trouble.

[

Past Personal participle

used as an adjective

modifying

,

people

.

Observe that, in this translation, the participle takes on the 'present tense feeling' of the

sentence's main verb --

which is the negative command,

sцylemeyiniz

;

don't tell

.]

Need step-by-step help

translating the preceding example?

The 'Past Personal' Participle is made in the following
manner :

1. From the infinitive of any verb, strip the 'mek' or 'mak'
ending.

2. To the remaining verb stem,
add the suffix '-dik'

['-dьk']

, if the verb is from the 'mek' family,

or

...

'-d

I

k'

['-duk']

, if it's from the 'mak' family.

3. To

that

resulting construction, attach an appropriate

Personal

Possessive Ending (PPE)

.

Note: Before attaching the PPE, you may

need to soften the final 'k' of

that

construction by substituting the

Turkish 'yumasak-g' character. See following examples...

Keep in mind that,

for

each

of the two verb families,

there are two possible suffixes -- that are subject to

the

Rule of Vowel Harmony

...

Examples of 'Past Personal' Participle Construction:

Infinitive form

of a Verb

Correct
Participle
Suffix

The Participle
Usage

English

Зizmek

-digim

Зizdigim resim...

The picture
[that] I drew...

SarIlmak

-d

I

g

I

n

SarIld

I

g

I

n k

I

z...

The girl [who]
you hugged...

Okumak

-dugu

(see the vowel
harmony at work)

Okudugu kitap...

The book [that]
she read...

Beklemek

-digimiz

Bekledigimiz gьn...

The day [that]
we were waiting
for...

Gцrmek

-dьgьnьz

(see the vowel
harmony at work)

Gцrdьgьnьz atlar...

The horses
[that] you saw...

Aramak

-d

I

klar

I

Arad

I

klar

I

sevgili...

The lover [that]
they were
searching for...

Зizmemek

-digim

Зizmedigim
resim...

The picture
[that] I didn't
draw...

SarIlmamak

-d

I

g

I

n

SarIlmad

I

g

I

n k

I

z...

The girl [who]
you didn't hug...

Okumamak

-d

I

g

I

(see the vowel
harmony at work,
compare with
'Okumak' above)

Okumad

I

g

I

kitap...

The book [that]
she didn't read...

Beklememek

-digimiz

Beklemedigimiz
misafir...

The guest [that]
we weren't
expecting...

Gцrmemek

-diginiz

(see the vowel
harmony at work,
compare with
'Gцrmek' above)

Gцrmediginiz
atlar...

The horses
[that] you didn't
see...

Gьlmemek

-dikleri

Gьlmedikleri
saka...

The joke [that]
they didn't laugh
at...

Another 'Past Personal' Participle Example:

Also includes an example of a '

faux-pa

rticiple' [

in green below

]

Osmanl

I

Saray

I

na,

hos geldiniz, Bayan Borgia.

Duydugumuz

Avrupal

I

barbarlardan

biri

olmad

I

g

I

n

I

z

I

bilmek bizi зok memnun etti.

Note: '

olmad

I

g

I

n

I

z

I

' is only a Turkish participle look-a-like, and has

no adjectival qualities. Some prefer to call it a noun that functions as the direct object

of 'bilmek'.

In that case it translates something like, '

[the likelihood of] your not being

'.

For easier translation, though, it's useful to think of it as a verb in a noun clause. If

we do that, we can translate it more simply as,

you aren't

.

A '

faux-pa

rticiple

' like this one is usually easy to spot, because you most always find

it sitting directly to the left of another verb formation, as in the above case,

olmad

I

g

I

n

I

z

I

bilmek; to know [that]

you aren't

.

Welcome to the Ottoman Court, Miss Borgia. We're glad to

know

[that]

you aren’t

one of the European barbarians

who

we’ve heard [about]

.

[

Past Personal participle

used as an adjective

modifying

,

one

of the European

barbarians

.

Observe that, in this translation, the participle takes on the 'present tense feeling' of the

controlling so-called "verb" --

olmad

I

g

I

n

I

z

I

; you aren't

.]

Need step-by-step help

translating the preceding example?

Standard Way to Make the '

mis

-Past' Participle in

Turkish...

Example with the

mis-Past

Participle:

Note: Despite their appearance,

mis-Past participles

do not carry any of the uncertain,

tentative, dubitative sense of the 'pure'

mis-Past verb

. For example, with a pure

mis-

Past verb

, plan haz

I

rlanm

I

s means

I think the plan has been prepared

(

but, I don't

know for sure

). While, with a

mis-Past participle

, haz

I

rlanm

I

s plan means

the plan

that has been prepared

(

undoubtedly

).

Could I see

an example conjugation

of a

mis

-Past verb

?

Agarm

I

s

saзlar

sevgiye engel degildir, Methuselah.

Hair

that has turned white

is not a barrier to love,

Methuselah.

[

mis-Past participle

as adjective

modifying

,

Hair

]

Need step-by-step help

translating the preceding example?

The '

mis

-Past' Participle is made in the following manner

:

1. From the infinitive of any verb, strip the 'mek' or 'mak'
ending.

2. To the remaining verb stem,
add the suffix '-mis'

['-mьs']

, if the verb is from the 'mek' family,

or

...

'-m

I

s'

['-mus']

, if it's from the 'mak' family.

Keep in mind that,

for

each

of the two verb families ,

there are two possible suffixes -- that are subject to

the

Rule of Vowel Harmony

...

Examples of mis-Past Participle Construction:

Infinitive form

of a Verb

Correct
Participle
Suffix

The Participle
Usage

English

Bitmek

-mis

Bitmis is...

finished work; work
that has been
done/finished...

Gцrьlmek

-mьs

(see vowel
harmony at work)

Gцrьlmьs olay...

observed event; an
event that is
seen/observed...

Yaz

I

lmak

-m

I

s

Yaz

I

lm

I

s

mektup...

written letter; a
letter that has been
written...

Okunmak

-mus

(see vowel
harmony at work)

Okunmus
kitap...

a read book; a book
that has been read...

Bitmemek

-mis

Bitmemis is...

unfinished work;
work that has not
been
done/finished...

Gцrьlmemek

-mis

(see the vowel
harmony at work,
compare with
'Gцrьlmek' above)

Gцrьlmemis
olay...

unobserved event;
an event that has
not been
seen/observed...

Yaz

I

lmamak

-m

I

s

Yaz

I

lmam

I

s

mektup...

unwritten letter; a
letter that has not
been written...

Okunmamak

-m

I

s

(see the vowel
harmony at work,
compare with
'Okunmak' above)

Okunmam

I

s

kitap...

unread book; a
book that has not
been read...

Another mis-Past Participle Example:

Bu aksam Sodom ve Gomorrah bugьne kadar hiз

gцrьlmemis

baz

I

olaylar

a tan

I

k oldu.

This evening

[citizens of]

Sodom and Gomorrah

were witness to some events

that haven't been seen

ever, until today.

[

mis-Past participle

used in a participle phrase

modifying

,

events

]

Need step-by-step help

translating the preceding example?

Standard Way to Make the 'Future' Participle in Turkish

Example with the

Future

Participle:

Lutfen Pandora, kutuya dikkat edin -- iзinde

korkutacak

esyalar var

.

Please be careful with the box, Pandora -- there are some

frightening

things inside.

(...

things

that

will frighten

inside.)

[

future participle

as adjective

modifying

things

]

Need step-by-step help

translating the preceding example?

The 'Future' Participle is made in the following manner:

1. From the infinitive of any verb, strip the 'mek' or 'mak'
ending.

2. To the remaining verb stem,
add the suffix '-(

y

)ecek, if the verb is from the 'mek' family,

or

...

'-(

y

)acak, if it's from the 'mak' family.

Keep in mind that,

for a verb stem ending in a vowel, you need to insert '

y

' before attaching

the 'future' participle suffix, e.g. bulma

y

acak;

that will not be found

...

Examples of 'Future' Participle Construction:

Infinitive form

of a Verb

Correct
Participle
Suffix

The Participle
Usage

English

Bitmek

-cek

Bitecek is...

work that will be
done/finished...

Gцrьlmek

-ecek

Gцrьlecek olay...

event that will be
seen/observed...

Yaz

I

lmak

-acak

Yaz

I

lacak

mektup...

letter that will be
written...

Bitmemek

-yecek

Bitmeyecek is...

work that will not
be done/finished...

Gцrьlmemek

-yecek

Gцrьlmeycek
olay...

event that will not
be seen/observed...

Yaz

I

lmamak

-yacak

Yaz

I

lmayacak

mektup...

letter that will not
be written...

Note: Many of the Future participles have now entered the Turkish language as free-
standing nouns or adjectives. Such as the nouns: yiyecek;

food, something to eat

,

oyuncak;

a toy, a trifling matter, an easy job, child's play

, and aзacak;

any tool for

opening things

. Such as the adjectives: gelecek;

coming, next

, and olacak;

suitable,

so-called

...

Another 'Future' Participle Example --

a double-whammy one

...

Bu gece

bitecek

bir

masal

anlat, Sehrazad.

Bitmeyecek

masallar

la ugras

I

p vakit kaybetmeyin.

Tell me a story you

can finish

tonite, Scheherazade. Don't

struggle and waste time with stories you

can't finish

[tonite].

[...

a story that

will finish

...

stories that

will not finish

...]

[

'future' participles

, both positive and negative, used as adjectives

modifying

,

story/stories

].

Need step-by-step help

translating the preceding example?

Standard Way to Make the 'Future Personal' Participle in
Turkish...

Other writers on the Turkish language, have called this category

of participle,

"

an '-ecek' adjective

"

(The Pollards)

, "

an Object Participle

"

(Underhill)

,

"

a Relative Participle

", and "

a Personal Participle

"

(Lewis)

.

We mentioned this same kind of nomenclature problem
above, in the section about the

'Past Personal' Participle

. And,

for the same kind of reasons presented there, we've decided to
call this participle "

The Future Personal Participle

" -- based

solely on its appearance.

And happily, the 'Future Personal' Participle does actually provide a sense of the

future. (You may recall that the 'Past Personal' Participle doesn't reliably provide a

sense of the past...)

Example with the '

Future Personal

' Participle:

Sfenks seni bekliyor, Oedipus. Ve bilmeceye

verecegin

cevap

dogruysa daha iyi olur.

The Sphinx is waiting, Oedipus. And the answer

you give

his

riddle had better be right!!

(...it would be better if the

answer

that you will give

...)

[

'future personal' participle

as adjective

modifying

,

answer

]

Need step-by-step help

translating the preceding example?

The 'Future Personal' Participle is made in the following
manner:

1. From the infinitive of any verb, strip the 'mek' or 'mak'
ending.

2. To the remaining verb stem,
add the suffix '-(y)ecek', if the verb is from the 'mek' family,

or

...

'-(y)acak', if it's from the 'mak' family.

3. To

that

resulting construction, attach an appropriate

Personal

Possessive Ending (PPE)

.

Note: Before attaching the PPE, you may need to soften the final 'k' of

that

construction by substituting the Turkish 'yumasak-g' character. See

following examples...

Examples of 'Future Personal' Participle Construction:

Infinitive form

of a Verb

Correct
Participle
Suffix

The Participle Usage English

Зizmek

-ecegim

Зizecegim resim...

The picture
[that] I will
draw...

SarIlmak

-acag

I

n

SarIlacag

I

n k

I

z...

The girl [who]
you will hug...

Okumak

-yacag

I

Okuyacag

I

kitap...

The book
[that] she will
read...

Beklemek

-ycegimiz

Bekleyecegimiz
gьn...

The day [that]
we will wait
for...

Gцrmek

-eceginiz

Gцreceginiz atlar...

The horses
[that] you will
see...

Aramak

-yacaklar

I

Arayacaklar

I

sevgili...

The lover
[that] they will
search for...

Зizmemek

-yecegim

Зizmemeycegim
resim...

The picture
[that] I will
not draw...

SarIlmamak

-yacag

I

n

SarIlmayacag

I

n k

I

z...

The girl [who]
you will not
hug...

Okumamak

-yacag

I

Okumayacag

I

kitap...

The book
[that] she will
not read...

Beklememek

-yecegimiz

Beklemeyecegimiz
misafir...

The guest
[that] we will
not expect...

Gцrmemek

-yeceginiz

Gцrmeyeceginiz
atlar...

The horses
[that] you will
not see...

Gьlmemek

-yecekleri

Gьlmeyecekleri
saka...

The joke[that]
they will not
laugh at...

Another '

Future Personal

' Participle Example:

Also includes an example of a '

faux-pa

rticiple' [

in green below

]

Otur, Sir Thomas.

Konusacag

I

m

I

z

зok

konular

var ve

giyotine

gecikeceginiz

den korkuyorum.

Note: '

gecikeceginiz

' is only a Turkish participle look-a-like, and has

no adjectival qualities. Some prefer to call it a noun that functions

as the object of '-dan korkuyorum'.

In that case it means something like, '

[the likelihood of] your being late in the

future

'.

For easier translation, though, it's useful to think of it as a verb in a noun clause. If

we do that, we can tranlate it more simply as,

you'll be late

. A '

faux-pa

rticiple

' like

this one is usually easy to spot, because you most always find it sitting directly to the

left of another verb formation, as in the above case,

gecikeceginiz

den korkuyorum;

I'm afraid that

you'll be late

...

Sit down, Sir Thomas. There are many subjects to

discuss

and

I'm afraid that

you'll be late

to the guillotine.

[...many

subjects

that we will discuss

...]

Note: here the

'future personal' participle

is used as an adjective

modifying

,

subjects

.

Observe that, this category of

'personal' participle

does provide

a sense of the '

future

'.

You may recall that the 'past personal' participle

does not reliably provide a sense of the 'past'

.