By someone else’s hands: -tır, -t, -ir and the difference from -il
English fixes the phone in two ways and keeps one verb: 'I fixed it' and 'I had it fixed'. Turkish must tell the two cases apart obligatorily, and in the repair theme there is no way around it: tamir ettim means 'I repaired it with my own hands', tamir ettirdim — 'I had it repaired'. For example: “Telefonu servise verip tamir ettirdim” — I took the phone to a service center and had it repaired. A rule from the…
How it works
English fixes the phone in two ways and keeps one verb: 'I fixed it' and 'I had it fixed'. Turkish must tell the two cases apart obligatorily, and in the repair theme there is no way around it: tamir ettim means 'I repaired it with my own hands', tamir ettirdim — 'I had it repaired'.
The suffix that adds 'make, have someone do' is the causative. It comes in four shapes: -dır/-tır (yaptırmak — to have made; açtırmak — to have opened), -t after a vowel or r/l (beklet-mek — to make wait, kısalt-mak — to shorten), -ir (bitirmek — to finish, from bitmek; içirmek — to make drink) and -it (korkutmak — to frighten). Which one a given verb takes is a question for the dictionary, not the rule; but when you meet an extra syllable before the ending, look for exactly this job.
From here grows a whole layer of everyday phrases where English makes do with a plain verb: saçımı kestirdim — I got a haircut (literally 'had my hair cut'), dişimi çektirdim — I had a tooth pulled, ev yaptırdık — we had a house built (by builders). Saying saçımı kestim is possible, but it means you cut it yourself.
Do not confuse this with -il/-in, the passive: it does not add a doer, it removes one. Telefon tamir edildi — the phone has been repaired, by whom does not matter. Compare three neighboring forms of one stem: bozmak — to break something, bozulmak — to break down by itself, bozdurmak — to have broken / to exchange money. Three tails, three different stories.
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 fixes the phone in two ways and keeps one verb: 'I fixed it' and 'I had it fixed'. Turkish must tell the two cases apart obligatorily, and in the repair theme there is no way around it: tamir ettim means 'I repaired it with my own hands', tamir ettirdim — 'I had it repaired'.
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.