Tavuk fırında pişiriliyor.

The chicken is being cooked in the oven.

Breakdown of Tavuk fırında pişiriliyor.

• -da: in
• fırın: the oven
• tavuk: the chicken
• pişirilmek: to be cooked

Questions & Answers about Tavuk fırında pişiriliyor.

Why is the verb pişiriliyor in the passive voice?

Turkish often uses the passive to focus on the action or the thing undergoing the action (“the chicken being cooked”) rather than on who performs it. It also lets you omit the agent when it’s unknown or unimportant.

How do you form the passive in Turkish, as seen in pişiriliyor?

You build it in steps:

1. Start with the verb root: pişir- (“to cook”)
2. Add the passive suffix -il- → pişir​il-
3. Add the tense/aspect suffix -iyor (present continuous) → pişiriliyor
4. (Optionally) add person endings; here it’s zero-marked for 3rd-person singular.

Why is tavuk not marked by any case ending here?

In a passive construction, the original object becomes the subject and appears in the nominative case (no suffix). So tavuk is the subject of pişiriliyor.

What case is fırında, and why is the locative used instead of the dative?

Fırın (“oven”) + locative suffix -da → fırında, meaning “in/at the oven.” The locative marks the place where the action happens. The dative fırına (“to the oven”) would imply motion toward it, not cooking inside.

Why doesn’t Turkish use an article like “the” or “a” before tavuk or fırın?

Turkish has no definite or indefinite articles. Definiteness or indefiniteness is inferred from context or other markers, so you simply say tavuk or fırın without adding a/the.

What’s the difference between pişiyor and pişiriliyor?

• pişiyor = intransitive “is cooking” (the thing cooks itself), formed with piş-
  • -iyor.
• pişiriliyor = passive transitive “is being cooked (by someone),” using the passive suffix -il-
  • -iyor.

If I want to say “The chef is cooking the chicken in the oven” in the active form, how would I do it?

Switch to the active verb and mark the object:
“Şef tavuku fırında pişiriyor.”
Here -u marks tavuk as the direct object and pişiriyor is active “is cooking.”

How would you include the agent (“by the chef”) in the passive version?

Use tarafından or the ablative -den/-dan:
“Tavuk fırında şef tarafından pişiriliyor.”
or
“Tavuk fırında şeften pişiriliyor.”

Does the suffix -iyor always mean the action is happening right now?

Not strictly. -iyor marks a present/progressive aspect, so it often means “is happening now,” but it can also describe general or habitual processes depending on context.