A notice without a subject: -il/-in and the -mez ban
In wave 2 the passive was named and set aside. The road and the hotel force a return: half of what is written there stands in it — girilmez, park edilmez, sigara içilmez — the whole grammar of 'No entry', 'No parking'. For example: “Bu sokağa girilmez, tek yön” — Do not enter this street — one way. A rule from the Turkish course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
In wave 2 the passive was named and set aside. The road and the hotel force a return: half of what is written there stands in it — girilmez, park edilmez, sigara içilmez — the whole grammar of 'No entry', 'No parking'.
It is assembled with one suffix, and the choice inside it depends only on the last sound of the stem. After a consonant — -il/-ıl/-ul/-ül: yaz-ıl-dı (was written), sat-ıl-dı (was sold). After a vowel — -n: oku-n-du (was read), ye-n-di (was eaten). After l comes -in, so two l's do not collide: al-ın-dı (was taken), bil-in-iyor (is known). Verbs in etmek swap it for edilmek: iptal etmek → iptal edildi — the flight has been cancelled.
Its second job is impersonality, and here English has no matching move. From an intransitive verb no true passive is possible, yet the form is built all the same and means 'people in general': Nasıl gidilir? — how does one get there? Burada oturulur — seating here; one sits here. There is no subject and none is expected, and only an impersonal English sentence can render it.
Hence the language of signs. The broad present in the passive gives the rules: -ilir — allowed, -ilmez — not allowed. Girilir / girilmez, park edilir / park edilmez. This is not an order to a particular person but a description of how things are, and it sounds politer than a bare 'do not enter!'. If the doer still must be named, the postposition tarafından introduces him: Bu karar mahkeme tarafından verildi — the decision was made by the court. In live speech it is simpler to say it with the third person plural: Kararı mahkeme verdi.
Table
| the stem ends in | the suffix | example | translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| a consonant | -il / -ıl / -ul / -ül | yazıldı | it was written |
| a vowel | -n | okundu | it was read |
| l | -in / -ın / -un / -ün | alındı | it was taken |
| etmek | edilmek | iptal edildi | cancelled |
| an intransitive verb | impersonal “in general” | gidilir | one can get there |
| a sign ban | -ilmez / -ilmaz | park edilmez | no parking |
| naming the doer | tarafından | polis tarafından | by the police |
By example
- Bu sokağa girilmez, tek yönDo not enter this street — one way
- Kahvaltı fiyata dahil edilmişBreakfast, it turns out, is included in the price
- Müzeye nasıl gidilir?How does one get to the museum?
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
A notice without a subject: how does it work in Turkish?
In wave 2 the passive was named and set aside. The road and the hotel force a return: half of what is written there stands in it — girilmez, park edilmez, sigara içilmez — the whole grammar of 'No entry', 'No parking'.
What does it look like in an example sentence Turkish?
“Bu sokağa girilmez, tek yön” — Do not enter this street — one way. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.