Kapı kapatıldı.
English: The door was closed.
- Language
- Turkish
- Level
- B1
- Unit
- Çatı ve Fiil Yapıları
- Practice types
- 0
What this grammar point covers
The passive voice (edilgen çatılar) in Turkish is used when the subject of the sentence is acted upon, rather than doing the action.
When to use it
Use the passive voice in Turkish when you don't know who does the action, the doer is not important, or you want to focus on the action itself.
Key forms
- Verb stem + -l/-(ı)n + present/past/future tense ending
- Examples: yapılmak, görülmek, yazılmak
Examples
Çay hazırlanıyor.
English: Tea is being prepared.
Mektup yazıldı.
English: The letter was written.
Sorular soruldu.
English: Questions were asked.
Tips
- The passive suffix is usually -l or -n, depending on the verb.
- The person who does the action can be added using 'tarafından', but often is omitted.
- Not all verbs can be made passive, especially some intransitive verbs.
Exceptions and edge cases
- Some verbs use -n instead of -l for the passive (e.g. 'anlamak' → 'anlaşılmak').
- If the verb stem ends with a vowel, only -n is used (e.g. 'boyamak' → 'boyanmak').