In English, we use words like "where" and "when" to link actions to places and times (for example, "the country where I live" or "the day when I arrived"). In Turkish, you do not need any extra linking words. Instead, you use the object participle—the -dik suffix plus a possessive ending—to modify nouns of time and place directly.
Describing Places
To describe a place where an action happens or happened, attach the -dik suffix to the verb stem. Because you add a possessive ending, the k usually undergoes consonant mutation to a "soft g" (-diğ-, -dığ-, -düğ-, or -duğ-).
Place this participle directly before the noun representing the location. For example, "the country where I learned" translates literally as "my learned country."
| The country where I learned Spanish was Spain. | İspanyolca öğrendiğim ülke İspanya'ydı. |
| The city where I learned German was very expensive. | Almanca öğrendiğim şehir çok pahalıydı. |
Describing Times
Use this same structure for time words like gün (day), hafta (week), or sömestir (semester).
| I was very tired the semester I got this certificate. | Bu sertifikayı aldığım sömestir çok yorgundum. |
When stating the subject of the relative clause explicitly (like "the trainees"), put it into the genitive case, just like a noun possessor (e.g., kursiyerlerin).
| The weather was very hot the day the trainees arrived. | Kursiyerlerin geldiği gün hava çok sıcaktı. |
Saying "When" with Zaman
By modifying the word zaman (time) with an object participle, you can easily express "when" an action happens. "When I speak German" translates simply as "the time I speak German."
| Is my accent bad when I speak German? | Almanca konuştuğum zaman aksanım kötü mü? |
