The Passive Voice (-in)
The passive voice shifts focus from who performs an action to the action itself. While most consonant-ending verbs use the -il suffix, Turkish has two important exceptions: verbs ending in a vowel, and verbs ending in l.
Verbs Ending in a Vowel (-n)
For verb roots ending in a vowel, simply add -n to form the passive stem.
Verb Stem (vowel-ending) + Passive Suffix (-n) + Tense + Personal Ending
| Verb Root | Passive Stem | Meaning |
|---|
| yıka (wash) | yıkan | to be washed |
| temizle (clean) | temizlen | to be cleaned |
| katla (fold) | katlan | to be folded |
| sakla (hide/keep) | saklan | to be kept/hidden |
Let's see these vowel-ending passive verbs in action:
Verbs Ending in "l" (-in)
If a verb root ends in l, adding the standard -il passive suffix sounds awkward (like sililmek). Instead, l-ending verbs take the suffix -In (-ın, -in, -un, or -ün according to 4-way vowel harmony).
Verb Stem ("l"-ending) + Passive Suffix (-In) + Tense + Personal Ending
| Verb Root | Vowel Harmony | Passive Stem | Meaning |
|---|
| sil (wipe) | e, i -> in | silin | to be wiped |
| bul (find) | o, u -> un | bulun | to be found |
Here are some examples of l-ending verbs taking the -in passive suffix:
Putting It Together
When describing household chores, you will frequently use both of these passive rules side by side. Notice how silinmek (from sil-) takes -in, while temizlenmek (from temizle-) takes just -n: