You will turn an action into a description of a person or thing. Start by asking who or what performs the action inside that description, then use the whole noun phrase in a sentence.
The idea
In these active clauses, -en identifies the subject of the describing action: mektubu yazan çocuk means the child who wrote the letter. Put the action’s object and other details before the participle, and the noun after it. Do not add a separate word for “who” or a person ending to the participle. Negation stays inside the description: binmeyen yolcular are passengers who are not boarding. The suffix alone does not fix the time: dün düşen bardak refers to a glass that fell yesterday. The whole phrase can be an object: oynayan çocukları görüyorum. Here the children play, but I see them.
| Starting sentence | Description before the noun |
|---|---|
| Kadın kapıda bekliyor. | kapıda bekleyen kadın |
| Çocuk mektubu yazdı. | mektubu yazan çocuk |
| Yolcular bu otobüse binmiyor. | bu otobüse binmeyen yolcular |
Examples
- Ben kapıda bekleyen kadını tanıyorum.I know the woman waiting at the door.
- Mektubu yazan çocuk bugün geliyor.The child who wrote the letter is coming today.
- Biz bahçede oynayan çocukları görüyoruz.We see the children playing in the garden.
- Dün düşen bardak kırılmadı.The glass that fell yesterday did not break.
- Bu otobüse binmeyen yolcular durakta bekliyor.The passengers who are not boarding this bus are waiting at the stop.
- Bana yardım eden kişiye teşekkür ettim.I thanked the person who helped me.
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Watch out
Do not choose the participle from the noun’s role in the main sentence. In mektubu yazan çocuğu görüyorum, the child writes the letter, although the child is also the person I see. To describe the letter that I wrote, use yazdığım mektup, covered in the next lesson.
Try it yourself
Complete the description: the woman who is waiting at the door.
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bekleyen
bekleyen: the woman herself waits at the door; kapıda stays in her description, before the participle.
Complete the description: the child who wrote the letter.
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yazan
yazan: the child wrote the letter, so the child is the subject being described. The original past tense does not require a past-tense ending on this participle.
Complete the description: the passengers who are not boarding this bus.
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binmeyen
binmeyen: these passengers do not board this bus. The negative belongs to boarding, not to their waiting at the stop.
Put çocuklar in the right case: I see the children playing in the garden.
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çocukları
çocukları: the children are the specific people seen, so the plural noun takes the accusative. Oynayan still describes what those children do.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Complete the description: the woman who is waiting at the door.
Complete the description: the child who wrote the letter.
Complete the description: the passengers who are not boarding this bus.
Put çocuklar in the right case: I see the children playing in the garden.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Keep your progress
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Describe two people by what they do. Use one phrase as the subject of a sentence and the other after an implied “I see”. Add a negative description and underline the noun that receives the case ending.