Headless relative clauses

Headless Relative Clauses

When describing a noun with a relative participle, such as kazandığım para (the money I earned) or alacakları hisse (the share they will buy), you can drop the noun if context makes it obvious.

The participle then acts as a noun itself. In English, this translates to "what" (e.g., "what I earned", "what they will buy"). Because it acts as a noun, the participle directly takes any required case endings.

Past and Present: -DIk

To express "what I did" or "what she bought," use the -DIk participle with a possessive suffix.

When the headless clause is the direct object of a verb, add the accusative case ending to its possessive suffix.

Can I deposit what I earned for interest?
Kazandığımı faize yatırabilir miyim?

When it acts as the subject, it needs no extra case ending.

What the investor earned was apparently a huge amount.
Yatırımcının kazandığı büyük bir tutarmış.
What I earned in the market will cover the loss.
Piyasada kazandığım, zararı kapatacak.

Plurals with Headless Participles

To refer to plural objects ("the things"), insert the plural suffix (-lAr) right after the participle and before the possessive suffix.

al (to buy) + dık (participle) + lar (plural) + ım (my) + ı (accusative) = aldıklarımı (what I bought / the things I bought)

Since I entered the stock market, I sold what I bought at a loss.
Borsaya gireli aldıklarımı zararına sattım.
The investors are afraid of losing what they earned.
Yatırımcılar kazandıklarını kaybetmekten korkuyor.

The Future Form: -(y)AcAk

For "what I will do" or "what you will earn," use the future participle -(y)AcAk without a noun. Like -DIk, it takes possessive suffixes and appropriate case endings.

He managed to save what he will invest himself.
Yatıracağını kendisi biriktirebildi.
Can you see what you will earn from interest in your balance?
Faizden kazanacağını bakiyende görebilir misin?
What we will buy in the foreign exchange market is expensive.
Döviz piyasasında alacaklarımız pahalı.

Putting It Together

Headless relative clauses are extremely common in Turkish, especially when the specific object (like "money," "amount," or "currency") is already understood.

He exchanged what he bought, but the profit was apparently a small amount.
Aldığını bozdurdu ama kâr küçük bir tutarmış.
We checked what we added to the balance, the amount is correct.
Bakiyeye eklediğimizi kontrol ettik, tutar doğru.