Learn Hardcore Turkish: Acil çıkış kapısı kilitli.

Turkish often drops the verb to be in the present tense for third person. The predicate adjective kilitli (locked) functions as “is locked.” If you want a more formal or factual tone, you can add the copular suffix -dır/-dir/-dur/-dür: Acil çıkış kapısı kilitlidir.

Why is it kapısı, not just kapı?

This is a noun–noun compound: acil çıkış kapısı = “emergency-exit door.” In such compounds, the second noun takes the 3rd-person possessive suffix -sı/-si/-su/-sü. Here:

kapı (door) + -sı → kapısı
The -s- is a buffer because kapı ends in a vowel.

Could I say acil çıkışın kapısı instead? What’s the difference?

Yes.

Acil çıkış kapısı (indefinite compound) is like an English noun compound: “emergency-exit door,” often used generically or as a label.
Acil çıkışın kapısı (definite compound) explicitly marks the first noun with genitive -ın/-in/-un/-ün and tends to point to the door of a specific exit.
Both are grammatical; context decides which is better.

What does kilitli literally mean?

It comes from the noun kilit (lock) + the suffix -li “with,” giving “with a lock.” As a predicate adjective, kilitli usually means “locked.” Don’t confuse it with the verb kilitle- (to lock).

How is this different from kapalı?

kapalı = “closed” (not necessarily locked).
kilitli = “locked” (secured with a lock).
A door can be both: Kapı kapalı ve kilitli.

How do I ask “Is the emergency exit door locked?” in Turkish?

Use the question particle mi/mı/mu/mü after the predicate:
Acil çıkış kapısı kilitli mi?
The particle is written separately and follows vowel harmony (here mi because the last vowel in kilitli is i).

How do I negate it?

Use değil after the predicate:
Acil çıkış kapısı kilitli değil. = “The emergency exit door is not locked.”

How do I say it was locked (past tense of “to be”)?

Attach past idi to the predicate, which merges as -ydı/-ydi/-ydu/-ydü:

Acil çıkış kapısı kilitliydi. = “... was locked.”
Reported past: kilitliymiş. Formal factual: kilitlidir (present, general fact).

Why is the predicate (kilitli) at the end?

In Turkish, the predicate typically comes last. With nominal predicates (adjectives or nouns), the structure is Subject–Predicate, so kilitli naturally sits at the end.

Can I start with the adjective: Kilitli acil çıkış kapısı?

As a standalone sentence, no—that sounds like a noun phrase (“the emergency exit door that is locked”) rather than a sentence. To make an attributive clause, you’d say kilitli olan acil çıkış kapısı (“the emergency exit door that is locked ...”).

How do I talk about the action “to lock” this door?

Use the verb kilitle- and mark the door with accusative -ı/-i/-u/-ü:

Acil çıkış kapısını kilitlediler. = “They locked the emergency exit door.”
Passive: Acil çıkış kapısı kilitlendi. = “The door was locked.”

What’s the difference between kilitli and kilitlenmiş?

kilitli = state “locked.”
kilitlenmiş = resultative/experiential “has been locked/ended up locked,” sometimes with a nuance of inference or surprise (because of -miş).

How do I make it plural?

Pluralize the subject; the predicate adjective stays singular:
Acil çıkış kapıları kilitli. = “The emergency exit doors are locked.”
(Using kilitlidir is also possible/formal: ... kapıları kilitlidir.)

Where are articles like “the” or “a”?

Turkish has no articles. Compounds like acil çıkış kapısı typically feel definite in context. If you really need “a,” you can use bir, but with this compound it’s usually more natural to phrase it differently, e.g., Acil çıkış kapılarından biri kilitli (“One of the emergency exit doors is locked”).

Why is there an extra -s- in kapısı?

It’s a buffer consonant used when attaching the possessive suffix -ı/-i/-u/-ü to a noun ending in a vowel: kapı + s + ı → kapısı. Without the -s-, you’d get an awkward vowel collision.

How do I pronounce the special letters?

ç = “ch” in “church”
ş = “sh” in “shoe”
ı (dotless i) = a back, unrounded vowel like the second vowel in “sofa” (American English), not like English “ee.”
i (dotted) = “ee” in “see.”
So çıkış ≈ “chuh-KUSH,” kapısı ≈ “kah-puh-SUH.”

Does kapısı mean “his/her/its door”?

The suffix is the same as 3rd-person possessive, yes, but in noun–noun compounds it usually just forms the compound meaning (here “X door”). Acil çıkış kapısı is understood as “the emergency-exit door,” not “his/her door.”

Can I make it extra formal?

Yes, add the factual copula: Acil çıkış kapısı kilitlidir. This style fits reports, signage, or written notices.