Past participle adjectives (-mIş)

In English, we often use past participles to create adjectives describing a completed state: a broken window, a rusted lock, or an abandoned building. Turkish does exactly the same thing using the -mIş suffix.

The Past Participle Suffix (-mIş)

To turn a verb into an adjective describing the result of a completed action, attach -mış, -miş, -muş, or -müş (following 4-way vowel harmony) to the verb stem.

to be abandoned
terk edilmek

Once formed, it acts like any other adjective and sits directly before the noun it modifies.

We found an abandoned hospital.
Terk edilmiş bir hastane bulduk.

Describing Wear and Tear

When exploring ruins (harabe), you'll encounter things that have aged or decayed. Verbs like paslanmak (to rust), solmak (to fade), and tozlanmak (to get dusty) are frequently used with -mIş to describe these states.

The rusted doors of the ruin are locked.
Harabenin paslanmış kapıları kilitli.
I saw faded pictures and dusty books inside.
İçeride solmuş resimler ve tozlanmış kitaplar gördüm.

Stacking with Noun Endings

Because it functions as a standard adjective, the -mIş word remains unchanged even when the noun it modifies takes plural or case suffixes. All the grammatical heavy lifting stays on the noun.

You must pay attention to the moldy walls and worn-out carpets.
Küflenmiş duvarlara ve yıpranmış halılara dikkat etmelisin.
We stepped on the worn-out stairs and yellowed papers.
Aşınmış merdivenlere ve sararmış kâğıtlara bastık.

Just remember: verb stem + -mIş gives you the state of the object, ready to pair with any noun.

This destroyed building is just a ruin now.
Bu yıkılmış bina artık sadece bir harabe.