Turkish Passive Voice (Mood) in Present

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Watch this lesson to learn the Turkish Passive Voice in the Present Tense. Be sure to download the Course PDF and follow along with all the lessons.

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Turkish Passive Voice (Mood)

Sometimes the person or the thing that is doing the action is made clear and sometimes it’s not clear. When we don’t know who or what the action is performed by, we use the Passive Voice. In English, the Passive Voice is done with To Be + V3, in Turkish we have a suffix added to the verb root.

The suffix changes for verb roots that end in consonants, vowels, certain consonants, and of course Vowel Harmony:

After consonants “b,c,ç,d,f,g,ğ,h,j,k, l,m,n,p,r,s,ş,t,v,y,z”	“-il/-ıl/-ul/-ül”
After vowels “a,ı,o,u,e,i,ö,ü”	“-n”
After the consonant “l”	“-in/-ın/-un/-ün”

Let’s first see how Passive Voice words are made in the Present Simple tense:

İzlemek To watch	İzlenmek To be watched
Okumak To read	Okunmak To be read
Satın almak To buy	Satın alınmak To be bought
Silmek To erase	Silinmek To be erased
Açmak To open	Açılmak To be opened
Görmek To see	Görülmek* To be seen
Karıştırmak To mix	Karıştırılmak To be mixed

Don’t mistake “görülmek” meaning “to be seen” with “görünmek” meaning “to be understood” which are completely different verbs.

Now, let’s see these suffixes in example sentences:

• Ahmet eski bisikletini satar.
• Ahmet sells his old bicycle.

• Eski bisiklet satılır.
• The old bicycle is sold.

• Kapıyı yavaşça açar.
• She slowly opens the door.

• Kapı yavaşça açılır.
• The door is slowly opened.

• Abim ikinci el cep telefonu satın alır.
• My brother buys a second-hand cell phone.

• İkinci el cep telefonu satın alınır.
• Second hand cell phones are bought.

• Çizdiği resmi siler.
• He erases the picture he drew.

• Çizdiği resim silinir.
• The picture he drew is erased.

Negative – Passive Voice

In order to make passive voice for negative present simple sentences, we use the negative present tense suffix “-maz/mez” after the Passive Voice suffix and erase the Infinitive suffix:

After “-ıl/-ul/-un/-ın	“-maz”
After “-il/-ül/-in /-ün	“-mez”
After “-n”	“-maz/-mez”

First let’s see some verb conjugation examples for negative Turkish Passive Voice:

İzlenmek To be watched	İzlenmez To be not watched
Okunmak To be read	Okunmaz To be not read
Satın alınmak To be bought	Satın alınmaz To be not sold
Silinmek To be erased	Silinmez To be not erased
Açılmak To be opened	Açılmaz To be not opened
Görülmek To be seen	Görülmez To be not seen
Karıştırılmak To be mixed	Karıştırılmaz To be not mixed

Most negative passive voice phrases can be seen on prohibition or warning signs. The English translation of some sentences from Turkish may not always be in negative Passive Voice, but actually in positive Passive Voice. Sometimes it’s not even in Passive Voice but a Gerund sentence.

Here are some sentence examples:

• Burada sigara içilmez.
• Smoking is prohibited here.

• Burada sigara içilmeye izin verilmez.
• Smoking is not allowed here.

• Ders sırasında konuşulmaz.
• No talking during a lesson.

• Ders sırasında konuşulması kabul edilmez.
• Talking during a class is not accepted.

• Türkiye’de çaya süt eklenmez.
• Milk is not added to tea in Turkey.

• Havuza atlanmaz.
• Jumping into the pool is prohibited.

Questions – Passive Voice

To make question sentences in passive voice, we add the “-mi/-mı/-mu/-mü” after the passive voice suffix:

• Burada sigara içilir mi?
• Is smoking allowed here?

• Hayır, içilmez.
• No it’s not.

• Ders sırasında konuşulmaz mı?
• Isn’t talking during a lesson allowed?

• Hayır, konuşulmaz.
• No, it’s not.

• Kantinde su satılır mı?
• Is water sold at the canteen?

• Evet, satılır.
• Yes, it is.

Present Continuous in Passives

Making passive voice for the present continuous tense is similar to what we saw with the Present Simple tense. The only difference from the Present Simple tense is we add the Present Continuous suffix “-iyor” after the Passive Voice suffix.

Be sure to follow the below chart and Vowel Harmony when adding the Passive Voice suffix:

After consonants “b,c,ç,d,f,g,ğ,h,j,k, l,m,n,p,r,s,ş,t,v,y,z”	“-il/-ıl/-ul/-ül”
After vowels “a,ı,o,u,e,i,ö,ü”	“-n”
After the consonant “l”	“-in/-ın/-un/-ün”

Let’s first see how Passive Voice words are made in the Present Continuous tense:

Açıyor Opening	Açılıyor Being Opened
Anlatıyor Telling	Anlatılıyor Being Told
Veriyor Giving	Veriliyor Being Given
Söylüyor Saying	Söyleniyor Being Said
Okuyor Reading	Okunuyor Being Read
Siliyor Erasing	Siliniyor Being Erased
Alıyor Buying	Alınıyor Being Bought

Now, let’s see some example sentences:

• Türkçe, 200 milyon kişi tarafından konuşuluyor.
• Turkish is being spoken/is spoken by 200 million people.

• Karşı komşuda futbol maçı izleniyor.
• A football match is being watched at my neighbor’s.

• Dünyanın yuvarlak olduğu gerçeği herkes tarafından biliniyor.
• The truth that the world is round is known by everyone around the world.

Some Turkish Passive Voice sentences in the Present Continuous tense might be translated into the Present Simple Passive Voice as Turkish also uses Present Continuous to talk about general facts.

Negations – Present Continuous

We add the “-m” in between the passive voice suffix and the present continuous suffix to make negative passive voice sentences in Present Continuous:

• Bu içecek kimse tarafından sevilmiyor.
• This drink is not liked by anyone.

• Yağmurda futbol maçı yapılmıyor.
• The football match is not done in the rain.

• Burada Türk kahvesi bulunmuyor.
• Turkish coffee is not found here.

Questions – Present Continuous

Just like in the Present Simple tense, we use the question particle “-mi/-mı/-mu/-mü” after the passive voice suffix to make passive voice questions for the present continuous tense:

• Haftaya cuma için yağmur bekleniyor mu?
• Is rain being expected for next Friday?

• Evet, bekleniyor.
• Yes it is expected/being expected.

• Bu eleman için terfi düşünülmüyor mu?
• Isn’t a promotion being thought of for this employee?

• Hayır, düşünülmüyor.
• No, it’s not being thought of.

• Şuan üniversite sınavı yapılıyor mu?
• Is the university exam being done now?

• Evet, yapılıyor.
• Yes, it’s being done.

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