A participle instead of a clause: -en/-an and -dik
Back in wave 2 we warned you honestly: where a European language sets a relative clause, Turkish sets a participle. Time to take it apart, because without it you cannot even say 'the student who passed the exam'. For example: “Sınavı geçen öğrenciler listede” — The students who passed the exam are on the list. A rule from the Turkish course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Back in wave 2 we warned you honestly: where a European language sets a relative clause, Turkish sets a participle. Time to take it apart, because without it you cannot even say 'the student who passed the exam'.
The first suffix is -en/-an. It fits exactly when the noun itself acts: sınavı geçen öğrenci — the student who passed the exam. The order is the reverse of English: the participle goes before the noun, and everything that belongs to it goes even earlier. Dün bize gelen adam — 'the man who came to us yesterday'. This participle has no tense of its own: when the action happened is told by the surroundings, not by the suffix.
The second suffix is -dik (after voiceless consonants -tık/-tik/-tuk/-tük). It is for when the noun does not act but undergoes: okuduğum kitap — the book I read. The possessive tail is obligatory here, because the doer must be named: oku-duğ-um — 'read by me'. Learners usually reach for okuyan kitap, but that means 'the book that reads'.
For the future, -dik has a twin — -ecek/-acak with the same tail: alacağım ev — the house I will buy. And the same kit works not only as a modifier: geldiğini biliyorum — 'I know that you came', geleceğini biliyorum — 'I know that you will come'. This is the Turkish subordinate clause — folded into a noun and put into a case.
Table
| the form | who acts | example | translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| -en / -an | the noun itself | ders anlatan öğretmen | the teacher who gives the lesson |
| -dik + tail | someone else, named by the tail | anlattığım konu | the topic I explained |
| -ecek + tail | the same, in the future | vereceğim ödev | the homework I will assign |
| -diğini | a “that” clause about the past | geldiğini duydum | I heard that you came |
| -eceğini | a “that” clause about the future | kalacağını biliyorum | I know that you will stay |
By example
- Sınavı geçen öğrenciler listedeThe students who passed the exam are on the list
- Dün okuduğum kitap çok zorduThe book I read yesterday was very hard
- Burs alacağımı öğretmenim söylediMy teacher said that I would get the scholarship
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
Okuyan vs okuduğum?
Back in wave 2 we warned you honestly: where a European language sets a relative clause, Turkish sets a participle. Time to take it apart, because without it you cannot even say 'the student who passed the exam'.
How to say the book I read in Turkish?
The first suffix is -en/-an. It fits exactly when the noun itself acts: sınavı geçen öğrenci — the student who passed the exam. The order is the reverse of English: the participle goes before the noun, and everything that belongs to it goes even earlier. Dün bize gelen adam — 'the man who came to…
Why okuyan kitap is wrong?
The second suffix is -dik (after voiceless consonants -tık/-tik/-tuk/-tük). It is for when the noun does not act but undergoes: okuduğum kitap — the book I read. The possessive tail is obligatory here, because the doer must be named: oku-duğ-um — 'read by me'. Learners usually reach for okuyan…
How to say the student who passed the exam in Turkish?
For the future, -dik has a twin — -ecek/-acak with the same tail: alacağım ev — the house I will buy. And the same kit works not only as a modifier: geldiğini biliyorum — 'I know that you came', geleceğini biliyorum — 'I know that you will come'. This is the Turkish subordinate clause — folded into…
What does it look like in an example sentence Turkish?
“Sınavı geçen öğrenciler listede” — The students who passed the exam are on the list. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.