Use familiar adjectives to describe a change in a subject’s state. This page focuses on the “become” meaning of -leş and -laş, using established verbs rather than inventing a verb for every adjective.
The idea
Choose -laş after a, ı, o, u and -leş after e, i, ö, ü in the base’s last syllable. Attach the suffix directly: zor → zorlaşmak, güzel → güzelleşmek. Here the base stays intact; even after a vowel no linking y is needed: koyu → koyulaşmak. Add -mak/-mek for the infinitive or a tense ending for a sentence. After ş, the past begins with t: sertleşti.
| Last vowel | Suffix | Base | Infinitive |
|---|---|---|---|
| a, ı, o, u | -laş | zor / koyu | zorlaşmak / koyulaşmak |
| e, i, ö, ü | -leş | güzel / sert | güzelleşmek / sertleşmek |
Examples
- Bahçe bu yıl güzelleşti.The garden became more beautiful this year.
- İşler giderek zorlaşıyor.Things are getting harder and harder.
- Deniz sonunda sakinleşti.The sea finally became calm.
- güzelleşmekto become more beautifulgüzelleşBecoming: -leş / -laşmek-mek / -mak: the infinitive
- koyulaşmakto become darker (in colour)koyulaşBecoming: -leş / -laşmak-mek / -mak: the infinitive
- sertleştiit became hardsertleşBecoming: -leş / -laşti-di, -dı, -du, -dü, -ti: the past (geldi, yaptı)
- Oda temizlikten sonra temizleşti.The room became cleaner after the cleaning.
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Watch out
Do not confuse a change of state with an action on an object. Oda temizleşti says the room became cleaner; Odayı temizledi says someone cleaned the room. The second uses temizlemek, with -le, and marks the room as the object.
Try it yourself
Use the becoming suffix and the infinitive: güzel → to become more beautiful.
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güzelleşmek
güzelleşmek: the final vowel of güzel is e. Keep its final l beside the suffix’s l, giving two consecutive letters, and finish with the front-vowel infinitive -mek.
Use the becoming suffix and the infinitive: koyu → to become darker in colour.
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koyulaşmak
koyulaşmak: the last vowel is u, so the derived stem is koyulaş-. The suffix starts with a consonant, so nothing is inserted after koyu; the infinitive ends in -mak.
Complete with the past tense: The clay became hard. Use sert + the becoming suffix.
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sertleşti
sertleşti: the clay underwent the change. The derived stem ends in voiceless ş, which makes the past ending -ti; the original t in sert also stays.
Complete with the past tense: The room became cleaner. Use temiz + the becoming suffix.
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temizleşti
temizleşti: the room is the thing that changed, so Oda is the subject. Temizledi would describe someone doing the cleaning and would change the sentence’s meaning.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Use the becoming suffix and the infinitive: güzel → to become more beautiful.
Use the becoming suffix and the infinitive: koyu → to become darker in colour.
Complete with the past tense: The clay became hard. Use sert + the becoming suffix.
Complete with the past tense: The room became cleaner. Use temiz + the becoming suffix.
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: to become more beautiful
Tap the parts in order to build this word: to become darker (in colour)
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Choose three bases from the table. Write their infinitives, then describe two changes in the past. Circle the thing that changed and check the consonant after ş.