One Turkish verb root can become three different sentences. Take aç- (to open). On its own, Ali kapıyı açtı means “Ali opened the door.” Add one passive suffix, and Kapı açıldı means “The door was opened.” Swap in a causative suffix, and Kapıyı açtırdım means “I had the door opened.” That single root, reshaped by a suffix, changes who acts and who receives the action.
In this article, you will learn how to form the Turkish passive voice with the suffixes -il, -in, and -n, how to build the causative with -dir, -t, -ir, and -er, and how to tell the two apart when they share the same root. You will also see conjugation tables across the main tenses, the impersonal passive, and the common mistakes learners make. Haydi başlayalım!
Here is a quick overview before the details:
| Voice | Suffix | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passive (edilgen çatı) | -il / -in / -n | The action happens to the subject | Kapı açıldı. (The door was opened.) |
| Causative (ettirgen çatı) | -dir / -t / -ir / -er | You make or have someone do the action | Kapıyı açtırdım. (I had the door opened.) |
Table of Contents
The Passive Voice (Edilgen Çatı)
The passive voice (edilgen çatı) shifts the focus from the person who acts to the thing acted upon. Instead of naming who does something, you highlight what happens. For example, Mektubu yazdım means “I wrote the letter,” while the passive Mektup yazıldı means “The letter was written.” The doer disappears, and the object becomes the subject.
Turkish builds the passive with three suffixes: -il, -in, and -n. Which one you use depends entirely on the last sound of the verb stem. The rules are consistent, so once you learn them, you can predict almost every passive form.
The Three Passive Suffixes
The choice follows a simple order. First, check whether the stem ends in a vowel, in the consonant l, or in any other consonant.
| Verb stem ends in | Suffix | Example | Passive meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| A consonant (not l) | -il | yaz- to write | yazıl- to be written |
| The consonant l | -in | bul- to find | bulun- to be found |
| A vowel | -n | oku- to read | okun- to be read |
The vowel inside -il and -in follows vowel harmony. It can appear as i, ı, u, or ü, depending on the last vowel of the stem. Therefore sev- becomes sevil- (to be loved), sor- becomes sorul- (to be asked), and gör- becomes görül- (to be seen).
Notice why the l rule exists. If you added -il to a stem ending in l, you would get an awkward double l. So Turkish uses -in instead: bul- becomes bulun-, not bulul-. Similarly, al- becomes alın- (to be taken) and bil- becomes bilin- (to be known).
Passive Examples in Context
Here are the three types in real sentences. The passive verb sits at the end, and the former object now works as the subject.
- Kapı açıldı. (The door was opened.) from aç-
- Cam kırıldı. (The glass was broken.) from kır-
- Anahtar bulundu. (The key was found.) from bul-
- Bu kitap çok okunuyor. (This book is read a lot.) from oku-
One small sound change is worth noting. When a stem ends in t and the passive suffix brings a vowel next to it, the t often softens to d. For example, git- (to go) becomes gidil-, and et- (to do) becomes edil-. As a result, tekrar etmek (to repeat) turns into tekrar edildi (it was repeated).
The Impersonal Passive
Turkish also uses the passive to say “one does” or “people do” something, with no subject at all. This impersonal passive is very common on signs and in general statements. You simply put the verb in the passive and leave the doer unnamed.
- Burada sigara içilmez. (Smoking is not allowed here.)
- İçeri girilmez. (No entry. Literally: one does not enter.)
- Sinemaya nasıl gidilir? (How does one get to the cinema?)
The negative forms above, içilmez and girilmez, combine the passive with negation. This pattern gives you the standard way to write prohibitions in Turkish.
Saying “By” with Tarafından
Sometimes you still want to mention who performed the action. In that case, Turkish uses the postposition tarafından (by), placed after the doer.
- Bu resim Picasso tarafından yapıldı. (This painting was made by Picasso.)
- Cam çocuklar tarafından kırıldı. (The glass was broken by the children.)
However, Turkish uses tarafından far less than English uses “by.” Most of the time, the doer stays hidden, because the whole point of the passive is to leave them out.
Conjugating the Passive Across Tenses
Once you form the passive stem, you conjugate it like any other verb. You add the tense and person endings to the passive stem. The table below shows yapmak (to do, to make), passive stem yapıl-, in the third person singular across the main tenses.
| Tense | Turkish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Present continuous | yapılıyor | it is being done |
| Aorist (present simple) | yapılır | it is done |
| Definite past | yapıldı | it was done |
| Reported past | yapılmış | it was done (apparently) |
| Future | yapılacak | it will be done |
For a full refresher on how these endings attach to a stem, see the guide on Turkish verb conjugation. The passive adds one layer, but the tense system underneath stays exactly the same.
Order that çay in Turkish
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The Causative (Ettirgen Çatı)
The causative (ettirgen çatı) does the opposite of the passive. Instead of removing the doer, it adds one. It expresses that you make someone do an action, or that you have something done by someone else. English needs extra words for this, such as “make,” “have,” or “get.” Turkish does it with a single suffix.
This structure covers two closely related ideas. First, you make a person perform an action: Onu güldürdü (He made her laugh). Second, you have a service done for you: Saçımı kestirdim (I had my hair cut). In both cases, you are not the one doing the physical action. You cause it.
The Causative Suffixes
Turkish has several causative suffixes, and the correct one depends on the shape of the verb stem. The main forms are -dir (with its harmony variants), -t, and the smaller set -ir and -er.
| Suffix | When to use it | Example | Causative meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| -t | Multi-syllable stems ending in a vowel, l, or r | oku- to read | okut- to make read |
| -dir / -tir | Most other stems, especially short ones | yaz- to write | yazdır- to have written |
| -ir / -er | A fixed, limited set of verbs | iç- to drink | içir- to make drink |
The suffix -dir harmonizes into -dir, -dır, -dur, -dür. After a voiceless consonant, it becomes -tir, -tır, -tur, -tür, in line with consonant harmony. So yaz- gives yazdır-, but yap- gives yaptır-, because p is voiceless.
The -t suffix attaches to longer stems that end in a vowel, l, or r. For instance, bekle- becomes beklet- (to make wait), temizle- becomes temizlet- (to have cleaned), and otur- becomes oturt- (to seat someone). The -ir and -er forms belong to a small group you simply memorize, such as iç- / içir-, düş- / düşür- (to drop), and çık- / çıkar- (to take out).
Causative Examples in Context
Here are the causative forms in everyday sentences. Watch how the meaning shifts to “make” or “have.”
- Onu güldürdü. (He made her laugh.) from gül-
- Saçımı kestirdim. (I had my hair cut.) from kes-
- Film beni ağlattı. (The film made me cry.) from ağla-
- Yeni bir masa yaptırdım. (I had a new table made.) from yap-
- Bebeğe süt içirdim. (I made the baby drink milk.) from iç-
Marking the Object and the Doer
When a causative sentence has two people or things, Turkish marks them with different cases. The thing acted upon takes the accusative case. The person you make do the action takes the dative case.
- Ali’ye kapıyı açtırdım. (I had Ali open the door.)
Here, kapıyı is the accusative object, and Ali’ye is the dative doer. In other words, you open the door through Ali. When there is only one object, though, it simply takes the accusative: Bebeği güldürdüm (I made the baby laugh).
Double Causatives
Turkish can even stack causatives to add a second layer of “having someone do it.” You add another causative suffix on top of the first. For example, öl- (to die) becomes öldür- (to kill, literally to make die), and then öldürt- (to have someone killed).
- Kral düşmanını öldürttü. (The king had his enemy killed.)
This double form appears less often, yet you will meet it in stories and news. It signals that the subject arranged the action through an intermediary rather than doing it directly.
Turkish can also combine the two voices you have just learned. You add the causative first, then the passive on top. For example, yaz- becomes causative yazdır-, and then passive yazdırıl-. As a result, Mektup yazdırıldı means “The letter was had written,” in other words someone arranged for it to be written. I find this stacked form easier once you build it one suffix at a time.
Passive vs Causative: Side by Side
The clearest way to feel the difference is to build both from the same root. The passive removes the doer. The causative adds one. Study the contrast below.
| Root | Passive form | Causative form |
|---|---|---|
| aç- to open | Kapı açıldı. (The door was opened.) | Kapıyı açtırdım. (I had the door opened.) |
| yaz- to write | Mektup yazıldı. (The letter was written.) | Mektubu yazdırdım. (I had the letter written.) |
| yap- to build | Ev yapıldı. (The house was built.) | Ev yaptırdım. (I had a house built.) |
| kes- to cut | Ağaç kesildi. (The tree was cut.) | Saçımı kestirdim. (I had my hair cut.) |
Read each row aloud. In the passive column, nobody acts; the event just happens to the subject. In the causative column, you stand behind the action and arrange it. The suffix alone carries this whole shift in meaning.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Learners tend to trip on the same points. Watch for these five errors, and your passive and causative forms will sound natural.
- Using -il after a stem ending in l. The correct passive of bul- is bulun-, not bulul-. After l, always switch to -in. The same goes for al- to alın- and bil- to bilin-.
- Forgetting the buffer -n after a vowel. When the stem ends in a vowel, the passive suffix is just -n: oku- becomes okun-, not okuil-. Add the single -n and stop there.
- Choosing the wrong causative suffix. Not every verb takes -dir. Short verbs like oku- use -t (okut-), and a fixed group uses -ir (içir-, düşür-). Saying okudurmak instead of okutmak sounds wrong to native ears.
- Mixing up the cases in causatives. The object stays in the accusative, while the person you make act takes the dative. Compare kapıyı (accusative object) with Ali’ye (dative doer) in Ali’ye kapıyı açtırdım.
- Confusing the passive -n with a reflexive. A form like yıkanmak can mean “to be washed” (passive) or “to wash oneself” (reflexive). Context decides. Read the whole sentence before you settle on a meaning.
Conclusion
The passive and causative voices sit at opposite ends of the same idea. The passive strips the doer away, turning Mektup yazıldı into an event with no clear author. The causative adds a doer, letting you say Mektubu yazdırdım when you arrange for someone else to act. Between these two, one verb root can describe who acts, who receives, and who arranges the action.
Mastering these suffixes is what lets you order a service, describe a rule, or narrate events like a native speaker. From the hairdresser to the workshop, causatives shape everyday Turkish life.
To keep building your verb skills, review the top 100 most used Turkish verbs in daily conversation and practice turning each one into its passive and causative forms.
