Turkish Passive Voice (-il / -in): Rules, Agent Phrases & News Turkish

How the Passive Voice Works in Turkish (Edilgen Çatı)

The passive voice focuses on the action or the object rather than who performed it.

Suffix:

• -il / -ıl / -ul / -ül: Standard for stems ending in consonants (except l).
  • yapmak (to do) → yapılmak (to be done): İş yapıldı. (The work was done.)
  • yazmak (to write) → yazılmak (to be written): Mektup yazıldı. (The letter was written.)
• -in / -ın / -un / -ün: Used for stems ending in a vowel or the letter l.
  • temizlemek (to clean) → temizlenmek (to be cleaned)
  • bulmak (to find) → bulunmak (to be found / located)

Expressing “By” in Passive Sentences

In Turkish, the agent is expressed using tarafından (“by”) or the suffix -ce / -ca:

• Yasa meclis tarafından onaylandı. = The law was approved by parliament.

Official TurkLogic Curriculum Reference Note

The Passive Voice (Edilgen Çatı) is used when the subject of the sentence receives the action, rather than performing it. The agent (doer of the action) is often omitted or can be introduced with tarafından (by).

Suffix Formation:

The passive suffix is added to the verb stem:

• If the verb stem ends in a vowel or -l: add -n / -ın / -in / -un / -ün (I-Type vowel harmony). Example: ara- (call/search) → aranmak (to be called/searched) Example: bekle- (wait) → beklenmek (to be waited for) Example: bil- (know) → bilinmek (to be known)
• If the verb stem ends in any other consonant: add -il / -ıl / -ul / -ül (I-Type vowel harmony). Example: yap- (do) → yapılmak (to be done) Example: sev- (love) → sevilmek (to be loved) Example: gör- (see) → görülmek (to be seen)

The new verb formed with the passive suffix is then conjugated like any other verb.

Examples:

• Kapı açıldı. (The door was opened.) (from açmak - to open)
• Bu kitap çok okundu. (This book was read a lot.) (from okumak - to read)
• Mektup yazıldı. (The letter was written.) (from yazmak - to write)
• Ev temizlendi. (The house was cleaned.) (from temizlemek - to clean)
• Yemekler bizim tarafımızdan yapıldı. (The food was made by us.)