By someone else’s hands: -tır, -t, -ir and the difference from -il
English repairs a phone itself or has it repaired with one verb and a helper. Turkish keeps the two apart every time: tamir ettim means with my own hands, tamir ettirdim means I handed it in. For example: “Telefonu servise verip tamir ettirdim” — I took the phone to a service center and had it repaired. A rule from the Turkish course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
English repairs a phone itself or has it repaired with one verb and a helper. Turkish keeps the two apart every time: tamir ettim means with my own hands, tamir ettirdim means I handed it in.
The tail that adds let someone do it comes in four shapes. -dır/-tır: yaptırmak, to have made. -t after a vowel, r or l: bekletmek, to keep waiting. -ir: bitirmek, to finish off. -it: korkutmak, to frighten. Which one a given verb takes is dictionary business, not a rule.
A whole layer of daily talk sits here: saçımı kestirdim, I had my hair cut. Saying saçımı kestim works too, but then you cut it yourself.
The trap is the tail -il/-in, which does the opposite and hides the doer. Ekran değiştirildi says the screen was replaced, with nobody named.
Table
| the form | who does it | example | translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| the bare verb | I myself | tamir ettim | I repaired it myself |
| -tır / -dır | someone at my request | tamir ettirdim | I had it repaired |
| -t | the same, after a vowel and r/l | beklettim | I kept him waiting |
| -ir | the same, in some verbs | bitirdim | I finished it off |
| -il / -in | the doer unnamed | tamir edildi | it has been repaired |
| bozmak / bozulmak / bozdurmak | three neighboring meanings | bozuldu | it broke down by itself |
By example
- Telefonu servise verip tamir ettirdimI took the phone to a service center and had it repaired
- Servis kaydı açtırdım, iki iş günü dedilerI had a service request opened; they said two business days
- Ekran değiştirildi ama ses hâlâ yokThe screen was replaced but there is still no sound
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
By someone else’s hands: how does it work in Turkish?
English repairs a phone itself or has it repaired with one verb and a helper. Turkish keeps the two apart every time: tamir ettim means with my own hands, tamir ettirdim means I handed it in.
What does it look like in an example sentence Turkish?
“Telefonu servise verip tamir ettirdim” — I took the phone to a service center and had it repaired. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.