You will turn an active sentence into a passive one while keeping its tense and meaning. The focus moves from who does the work to what happens to the thing affected.
The idea
With a verb that takes a direct object, that object becomes the subject of the passive: Komşum bisikleti onardı (my neighbour repaired the bicycle) becomes Bisiklet onarıldı (the bicycle was repaired). Remove the accusative ending, if present, and use a passive verb. The passive marker precedes negation and tense; keep the original time reference. Usually the doer is omitted because they are unknown or unimportant here. If their identity matters, put tarafından after a noun naming them: Metin öğretmen tarafından okundu (the text was read by the teacher). The related suffix lessons explain how to choose the passive ending.
| Active sentence | Passive sentence |
|---|---|
| Komşum bisikleti onardı. | Bisiklet onarıldı. |
| Öğretmen metni okudu. | Metin öğretmen tarafından okundu. |
| Aşçı çorbayı hazırlıyor. | Çorba hazırlanıyor. |
Examples
- Paket dün gönderildi.The parcel was sent yesterday.
- Çorba burada hazırlanıyor.The soup is being prepared here.
- Duvar yarın boyanacak.The wall will be painted tomorrow.
- Bu masa marangoz tarafından yapıldı.This table was made by the carpenter.
- Dosya henüz silinmedi.The file has not been deleted yet.
- Bütün biletler alındı.All the tickets were bought.
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Watch out
Do not keep the old object ending just because the thing is still definite. Kitabı seçildi cannot mean “the book was selected”: use Kitap seçildi. Here kitabı would instead be read as “his/her book”, changing the meaning. The bare form also restores the final p.
Try it yourself
Complete the passive sentence with the word for the book.
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Kitap
Kitap: the book is now what the sentence says something about. Removing the accusative from kitabı gives kitap, with the final p restored.
Complete the passive verb: the shelf was fitted. Keep the past tense.
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takıldı
takıldı: the shelf receives the action. Taktı would make it the doer; takıldı says it was fitted and retains the past tense.
Complete the passive verb: the wall was not painted. Keep the negative past.
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boyanmadı
boyanmadı: the wall did not receive the paint. The negative belongs after the passive marker; boyandı would wrongly say the painting happened.
Add the word that identifies the cook as the doer in the passive sentence.
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tarafından
tarafından: the cook is still the person preparing the soup, but the soup is the subject. Aşçı tarafından adds that agent without turning the sentence back into an active one.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Complete the passive sentence with the word for the book.
Complete the passive verb: the shelf was fitted. Keep the past tense.
Complete the passive verb: the wall was not painted. Keep the negative past.
Add the word that identifies the cook as the doer in the passive sentence.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
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Write three active sentences about preparing a room. Turn them into passives, keeping the tense and any negation. Name the doer in just one, and explain why that detail matters there.