The Passive Voice (-il)
In Turkish, the passive voice is used when the focus of a sentence is on the action itself or the object receiving the action, rather than who performed it. Think of the difference between "He wrote the book" (active) and "The book was written" (passive).
For most verbs whose roots end in a consonant, you form the passive by adding the suffix -Il to the verb stem, followed by your tense and personal endings. This suffix follows 4-way vowel harmony, giving us -ıl, -il, -ul, or -ül.
Verb Stem (consonant-ending) + Passive Suffix (-ıl / -il / -ul / -ül) + Tense + Personal Ending
| Verb Root | Vowel Harmony | Passive Stem | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| yaz (write) | a, ı -> ıl | yazıl | to be written |
| geliştir (develop) | e, i -> il | geliştiril | to be developed |
| gör (see) | ö, ü -> ül | görül | to be seen |
The Helper Verb "etmek"
Many verbs related to scientific and historical discoveries are compound verbs formed with the helper verb etmek (to do/make), such as icat etmek (to invent) or keşfetmek (to discover).
When you add the passive suffix -il to etmek, consonant mutation occurs: the final t softens to a d.
icat etmek->icat edilmek(to be invented)keşfetmek->keşfedilmek(to be discovered)
Let's see these passive structures in action with some historical milestones:
| Where was the first wheel invented? | İlk tekerlek nerede icat edildi? |
| In which century was the first printing press used? | İlk matbaa hangi yüzyılda kullanıldı? |
| The cell was seen with a small microscope. | Hücre, küçük bir mikroskop ile görüldü. |
| A book about the light bulb was written. | Ampul hakkında bir kitap yazıldı. |
Active vs. Passive
To clearly see how the passive transforms a sentence, contrast it with the active voice. When the subject performing the action is known and important (like the doctors), we use the standard active verb. When the actor isn't the main focus, we use the passive -il suffix.
Notice how in the active sentence below, the helper verb etmek keeps its t (keşfetti), but in the passive sentence, the t softens to a d (keşfedildi).
Active:
| The doctors discovered a new cell. | Doktorlar yeni bir hücre keşfetti. |
Passive:
| A new bacterium was discovered in the water. | Suda yeni bir bakteri keşfedildi. |