The causative voice (-t / -it)

Delegating Household Chores

Sharing the load at home means taking responsibility for chores or assigning them to others. When you have someone else perform a task, you use the causative voice.

The "-t" and "-It" Causative Suffixes

While most regular verbs use the -DIr suffix to form the causative voice, multi-syllable verb roots ending in a vowel take the -t suffix.

• uyu- (sleep) + -t = uyutmak (to put to sleep)
• temizle- (clean) + -t = temizletmek (to have cleaned)

Multi-syllable verb roots ending in certain consonants—especially r or l—also typically take the -t suffix. (Other specific consonant endings take -It, matching four-way vowel harmony as -it, -ıt, -ut, or -üt).

• otur- (sit) + -t = oturtmak (to seat / to make sit)
• süpür- (sweep/vacuum) + -t = süpürtmek (to have swept)

Assigning Tasks (The Dative Case)

When you specify who you are having perform the chore, that person takes the dative case (-a or -e). Think of it as passing the task to them.

• bahçıvan (gardener) -> bahçıvana
• temizlikçi (cleaner) -> temizlikçiye

By Force or For Pay

When managing family duties, you might have to make someone do something by force (zorla), or you might motivate them with an allowance (harçlık). Notice in these examples how verbs like toplamak (to tidy) and ödemek (to pay) end in vowels, so they naturally take the -t suffix to become toplatmak and ödetmek.