Turkish Grammar › Participles
Sıfat-Fiil (-(y)An)
Subject-Oriented Participle
Level B2Participles
The participle showing that the noun it modifies does the action: koşan çocuk, gelen misafir.
A participle is a suffix that turns a verb into an adjective, so that an action can modify a noun: «koşan çocuk», «gelen misafir», «masada duran kitap».
This structure is really a small sentence. «Koşan çocuk» means «çocuk koşuyor»; the sentence has turned into an adjective modifying the noun.
The most important thing about «-(y)An» is that the noun it modifies is the SUBJECT of the action. «Gelen misafir» — the one who comes is the guest. «Kitabı okuyan öğrenci» — the one who reads is the student.
The suffix has two forms and obeys vowel harmony: verbs with back vowels take «-an» (bakan, koşan, çalışan), verbs with front vowels take «-en» (gelen, bilen, gülen).
If the verb ends in a vowel, the buffer letter «y» comes in: bekle - bekleyen, oku - okuyan, başla - başlayan.
The negative is regular: gelmeyen, bilmeyen, çalışmayan, anlamayan.
This suffix HAS NO TENSE. «Gelen adam» may have come yesterday or may be coming now. The tense is set by the verb of the sentence: «Dün gelen adam gitti.», «Şimdi gelen adam bekliyor.»
In Turkish the participle clause comes BEFORE the noun it modifies. This differs from many languages and takes some getting used to: «masada duran kitap», «dün akşam gördüğüm film», «bana yardım eden arkadaşım».
Since a participle works like an adjective, it can also stand in for the noun; then it takes possessive, plural and case endings: «Gelenler oturdu.», «Bilmeyenlere anlattım.», «Çalışanların hakkı korunmalı.»
Many words built with this suffix have become permanent nouns or adjectives: geçen hafta, kalan para, akan su, çalışan kesim. Paired phrases like «gelen geçen» belong to this family as well.
In long sentences the participle part may consist of several words: «Dün akşam bize gelen ve saatlerce oturan misafirler bugün tekrar aradı.» When reading such a sentence, first find the modifying part, then the noun it modifies.
Its difference from the participle «-DIk / -(y)AcAk» you will learn in the next topic is the most important point of this unit: with «-(y)An» the modified noun DOES the action, with the other it DOES NOT.
Examples
- Bahçede koşan çocuklar çok neşeliydi.The children running in the garden were very cheerful.
- Masada duran kitabı bana verir misin?Could you pass me the book on the table?
- Bana yardım eden arkadaşıma teşekkür ettim.I thanked the friend who helped me.
- Sınava girmeyen öğrenciler listeye yazıldı.The students who did not sit the exam were put on a list.
- Gelenler salona, bekleyenler koridora alındı.Those who arrived were shown into the hall, those waiting into the corridor.