Use a verb to identify someone by what they do: bekleyen yolcu means “the passenger who is waiting”. This reference focuses on attaching -en/-an and extending the resulting word.
The idea
Remove -mek/-mak. After e i ö ü, choose -en; after a ı o u, choose -an. A vowel-final stem needs linking y: bekle → bekleyen, oku → okuyan. Some stems change: git → giden, et → eden, de → diyen, ye → yiyen. Negation comes first: gelme → gelmeyen, çalışma → çalışmayan. Before a noun the participle has no person ending. Context supplies the time: dün gelen refers to someone who came yesterday.
| Verb base | Suffix with linking consonant if needed | Participle |
|---|---|---|
| gel | -en | gelen |
| çalış | -an | çalışan |
| bekle | -yen | bekleyen |
| oku | -yan | okuyan |
| git | -en | giden |
| et | -en | eden |
| de | -yen | diyen |
| ye | -yen | yiyen |
| gelme | -yen | gelmeyen |
| çalışma | -yan | çalışmayan |
Examples
- Ben gelen misafiri tanıyorum.I know the guest who is coming.
- Biz çalışan komşuya yemek götürdük.We took food to the neighbour who was working.
- Çocuklar bekleyen yolculara su verdi.The children gave water to the passengers who were waiting.
- gelenlerthose who comegelenSubject participle: suffix formsler-ler / -lar: the plural suffix
- okuyanlarato those who readokuyanSubject participle: suffix formslar-ler / -lar: the plural suffixa-e / -a / -ye / -ya: to, towards
- bekleyenlerdenfrom those who waitbekleyenSubject participle: suffix formsler-ler / -lar: the plural suffixden-den / -dan / -ten / -tan: from, out of
- Dün gelen misafir bugün gidiyor.The guest who came yesterday is leaving today.
- Burada çalışmayan kişiler de toplantıya katılabilir.People who do not work here can also attend the meeting.
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Watch out
Do not make the participle agree with a plural noun: write gelen misafirler, not gelenler misafirler. When the noun is omitted, the participle can itself take plural and case endings: gelenler, okuyanlara.
Try it yourself
Complete with the participle of gelmek: the guest who is coming.
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gelen
gelen: the stem left after removing -mek is gel. It ends in a consonant and has front e, so no linking y is needed. The guest is the person coming.
Complete with the participle of okumak: the child who is reading.
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okuyan
okuyan: oku keeps its final u. Linking y separates that vowel from the back-vowel ending; the child is doing the reading.
Complete with the participle of gitmek: the passenger who is leaving.
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giden
giden: the vowel-initial participle ending triggers the change from git to gid. The result identifies the departing passenger; giten has the wrong consonant.
Omit yolcular and write one word meaning “those who are waiting”.
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bekleyenler
bekleyenler: after omitting yolcular, plural -ler moves onto the participle. The final vowel of bekleyen is e, which selects the front plural form.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Complete with the participle of gelmek: the guest who is coming.
Complete with the participle of okumak: the child who is reading.
Complete with the participle of gitmek: the passenger who is leaving.
Omit yolcular and write one word meaning “those who are waiting”.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the parts in order to build this word: those who come
Tap the parts in order to build this word: to those who read
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Describe three people using a participle before a noun. Then omit each noun, make the group plural and add a dative or ablative ending. Mark the boundary of every suffix.