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Translation Turkish-English-Turkish, Part 4 Turkish Participles The essentials of participle translation in Turkish language Language-learning pages: How To Learn Basic Turkish -- A Practical Philosophy for beginners (Found in the 'Introduction to The Whole Earth Catalog of Turkish Movies'.) Why Off-color language is important too... Translating Turkish, the basics Translating Turkish, advanced Essential Turkish Vocabulary Turkish Verbs Essential Idioms, Index Essential Suffixes, Index Sentence Structure, Standard Sentence Structure Variations Turkish Pronunciation Turkish Accenting Turkish Numbers Revealed Other Turkish Language Difficulties A Turkish (or English) Participle Definition A participle is a verbal form that has the qualities of both a verb and an adjective, such as the following present participle in red… Yanıtlanması zor gelen sınav sorularını en sona bırakmalısın, Aristotle. You should leave examination questions that you find difficult to answer until last, Aristotle. [present participle used in a participle phrase modifying, questions.] Need step-by-step help translating the preceding example? The Standard way to make the 'Present' Participle in Turkish… The present participle is made in the following manner: 1. From the infinitive of any verb, strip the 'mek' or 'mak' ending. 2. To the remaining verb stem add '(y)en' if the verb is from the 'mek' family or '(y)an' if it's from the 'mak' family. [Note: the 'y' is only inserted if the verb stem ends in a vowel -- to avoid the occurrence of two consecutive vowels.] Examples of Present Participle Construction: Infinitive form of a Verb Correct Participle Suffix The Participle English Gelmek -en Gelen coming (who [whom, that, which] is coming) Sarılmak -an Sarılan hugging (who [whom, that, which] is hugging) Anlamak -yan Anlayan understanding (who is [whom, that, which] understanding) Beklemek -yen Bekleyen waiting (who [whom, that, which] is waiting) Gelmemek -yen Gelmeyen not coming (who [whom, that, which] is not coming) Sarılmamak -yan Sarılmayan not hugging (who [whom, that, which] is not hugging) Anlamamak -yan Anlamayan not understanding (who [whom, that, which] is not understanding) Beklememek -yen Beklemeyen not waiting (who [whom, that, which] is not waiting) Another Present Participle Example: Babel'den dört bin dokuz yuz yirmi üç dili akıcı bir şekilde konuşan bir adam tanıyorum. I know a man from Babel who speaks 4,923 languages fluently. [present participle used in a participle phrase modifying, man] Need step-by-step help translating the preceding example? Standard Way to Make the (Aorist) 'Wide-Tense' Participles in Turkish... The Type 'A' Participles The (Aorist) Wide-Tense -- a verbal factoid Example with the Type 'A' Wide-Tense Participle: Atlantis yöresinde pek çok akar su var. There's a lot of flowing water in the vicinity of Atlantis. (...water that flows, all the time...) [Type 'A' wide-tense participle used as pure adjective modifying, water] Need step-by-step help translating the preceding example? The Type 'A' Wide-tense participle is made in the following manner: 1. From the infinitive of any verb, strip the 'mek' or 'mak' ending. 2. Affirmative participles -- To the remaining verb stem, add the suffix '-(e)r' ['-(i)r', '-(ü)r'], if the verb is from the 'mek' family, or... '(a)r' ['-(ı)r', '-(u)r'], if it's from the 'mak' family. 3. Negative participles -- To the remaining verb stem, add '-mez' (for '-mek' family verbs) or '-maz' (for '-mak' family verbs). Keep in mind that, for each of the two verb families, there is only one possible negative suffix, but that there are three possible affirmative suffixes. And remember too that suffix choices are always subject to the Rule of Vowel Harmony... Examples of Type 'A' Wide Tense Participle Construction: Infinitive form of a Verb Correct Participle Suffix The Participle English Beklemek -er Bekler waiting (who [whom, that, which] waits) Gelmek -ir Gelir coming (who [whom, that, which] comes) Yürümek -r Yürür walking (who [whom, that, which] walks) Adamak -ar Adar dedicating(who [whom, that, which] dedicates) Sarılmak -ır Sarılır hugging (who [whom, that, which] hugs) Bulmak -ur Bulur finding (who [whom, that, which] finds) [negative] Gelmek -mez Gelmez not coming (who [whom, that, which] doesn't come) [negative] Sarılmak -maz Sarılmaz not hugging (who [whom, that, which] doesn't hug) Note: Quite a few of the wide-tense participles have now entered the Turkish language as free-standing nouns or adjectives. Such as the nouns: düşünür; thinker and yazar; writer. Such as the adjectives: çalar; çalar saat; alarm clock, and bilir; bilir kişi; a wise man, expert... Another Wide-tense Participle Example: Nero, yanmaz ipektan yapılmış elbiseler giyer. Nero always wears clothing made from fire-proof silk. (...from silk that doesn't burn, ever...) [wide-tense participle used as pure adjective modifying, silk] Need step-by-step help translating the preceding example? Standard Way to Make the (Aorist) 'Wide-Tense' Participles in Turkish... The Type 'B' Participles Example with the Type 'B' Wide-Tense Participle: Paris, Helena'ya geçici hevesleri yüzünden Troy'a zarar verecek mi? Elbette! Will Paris bring harm to Troy over his passing desires for Helena? You betcha! [Type 'B' wide-tense participle used as pure adjective modifying, desires] Need step-by-step help translating the preceding example? The Type 'B' Wide-tense participle is made in the following manner: 1. From the infinitive of any verb, strip the 'mek' or 'mak' ending. 2. Affirmative participles -- To the remaining verb stem, add the suffix '-ici' ['-ücü'], if the verb is from the 'mek' family, or... 'ıcı' ['-ucu'], if it's from the 'mak' family. 3. Negative participles -- Unlike the Type 'A' Wide Tense participles, there are no negative Type 'B' participles. As is the case with the Present Participles, all negative expressions are controlled through the main verb(s) in the sentence (or noun clause) where this participle is used. For example, Size daha üzücü haberler vermek istemem, Job; I don't want to give more worrying news to you, Job. In the example, the main verb istemem; I don't want, happens to be in the negative, and so controls the negative sense in which the participle üzücü is used. And if the verb were in the affirmative, the sense of the sentence would be reversed, but there'd be no change at all in the participle. Keep in mind that, for a verb stem ending in a vowel, you need to insert 'y' before attaching the 'wide tense' participle suffix, e.g. koruyucu; protecting, who protect(s)... Examples of Type 'B' Wide Tense Participle Construction: Infinitive form of a Verb Correct Participle Suffix The Participle English Gelmek -ici Gelici coming (who [whom, that, which] comes) Beklemek -yici Bekleyici waiting (who [whom, that, which] waits) Gülmek -ücü Gülücü smiling (who [whom, that, which] smiles) Büyümek -yücü Büyüyücü growing (who [whom, that, which] grows) Almak -ıcı Alıcı taking (who [whom, that, which] takes) Tanımak -yıcı Tanıyıcı recognizing (who [whom, that, which] recognizes) Doyurmak -ucu Doyurucu filling up (who [whom, that, which] fills up) Korumak -yucu Koruyucu protecting (who [whom, that, which] protects Note: Quite a few of the Type 'B' wide-tense participles have now entered the Turkish language as free-standing nouns or adjectives. Such as the nouns: böcek öldürücü; insecticide (bug killer) and uyuşturucu; (narcotic) drugs. Such as the adjectives: güldürücü; amusing, and etkileyici; effective, influential... Another Type 'B' Wide-tense Participle Example: Emek Atlası yorarsa, o yorucu bir emektir. If the work exhausts Atlas, it's exhausting work. [Type 'B' wide-tense participle used as pure adjective modifying, work] Need step-by-step help translating the preceding example? Standard Way to Make the 'Past Personal' Participle in Turkish... Other writers on the Turkish language, have called this category of participle, "the Past Participle" (Hengirmen), "an Object Participle" (Underhill), "a '-dik' adjective" (The Pollards), "a Relative Participle", and "a Personal Participle" (Lewis). Since they can't agree, we won't either, and have decided to call it "The Past Personal Participle" -- based solely on its appearance. For example, look at the 'Past Personal' Participle, istediğin, which may mean, that you wanted, as in, The suit that you wanted cost $9,000, but the checking account was in my name! Firstly, you'll see that it's made from the verb stem of, istemek; to want. Then hopefully, you'll notice two things about its suffix/ending, diğin. What you will notice, we hope, is a) that it's based on the root suffix '-dik' (softened here to diğ) -- which makes it 'appear' (at first glance) to be in the Past Tense and, b) that it definitely does include use of one of the Personal Possessive Endings, in this case, -in, meaning, your. So, Participles in this category, look like they're in Past Tense and, also, make use of the Personal Possessive Suffixes... And, that's why we call them the 'Past Personal' Participles. Whew! In fact, as we'll see just below, looks can be deceiving. Because it turns out that the 'Past Personal' Participle's time zones are subject to the whims of other stronger passions, and so, it can be used for any tense except the future tense... Example with the 'Past Personal' Participle: [Notice how the 'Past Personal' Participle's tense can get twisted in translation -- to conform to the tense of the 'stronger' verb in the sentence.] Bilmediğiniz insanlara fikrinizi söylemeyiniz, Socrates. Senin başını belaya sokabilir. Don't tell your ideas to people you don't know, Socrates. It could get you into trouble. [Past Personal participle used as an adjective modifying, people. Observe that, in this translation, the participle takes on the 'present tense feeling' of the sentence's main verb -- which is the negative command, söylemeyiniz; don't tell.] Need step-by-step help translating the preceding example? The 'Past Personal' Participle is made in the following manner : 1. From the infinitive of any verb, strip the 'mek' or 'mak' ending. 2. To the remaining verb stem, add the suffix '-dik' ['-dük'], if the verb is from the 'mek' family, or... '-dık' ['-duk'], if it's from the 'mak' family. 3. To that resulting construction, attach an appropriate Personal Possessive Ending (PPE). Note: Before attaching the PPE, you may need to soften the final 'k' of that construction by substituting the Turkish 'yumaşak-g' character. See following examples... Keep in mind that, for each of the two verb families, there are two possible suffixes -- that are subject to the Rule of Vowel Harmony... Examples of 'Past Personal' Participle Construction: Infinitive form of a Verb Correct Participle Suffix The Participle Usage English Çizmek -diğim Çizdiğim resim... The picture [that] I drew... Sarılmak -dığın Sarıldığın kız... The girl [who] you hugged... Okumak -duğu (see the vowel harmony at work) Okuduğu kitap... The book [that] she read... Beklemek -diğimiz Beklediğimiz gün... The day [that] we were waiting for... Görmek -düğünüz (see the vowel harmony at work) Gördüğünüz atlar... The horses [that] you saw... Aramak -dıkları Aradıkları sevgili... The lover [that] they were searching for... Çizmemek -diğim Çizmediğim resim... The picture [that] I didn't draw... Sarılmamak -dığın Sarılmadığın kız... The girl [who] you didn't hug... Okumamak -dığı (see the vowel harmony at work, compare with 'Okumak' above) Okumadığı kitap... The book [that] she didn't read... Beklememek -diğimiz Beklemediğimiz misafir... The guest [that] we weren't expecting... Görmemek -diğiniz (see the vowel harmony at work, compare with 'Görmek' above) Görmediğiniz atlar... The horses [that] you didn't see... Gülmemek -dikleri Gülmedikleri şaka... The joke [that] they didn't laugh at... Another 'Past Personal' Participle Example: Also includes an example of a 'faux-participle' [in green below] Osmanlı Sarayına, hoş geldiniz, Bayan Borgia. Duyduğumuz Avrupalı barbarlardan biri olmadığınızı bilmek bizi çok memnun etti. Note: 'olmadığınızı' is only a Turkish participle look-a-like, and has no adjectival qualities. Some prefer to call it a noun that functions as the direct object of 'bilmek'. In that case it translates something like, '[the likelihood of] your not being'. For easier translation, though, it's useful to think of it as a verb in a noun clause. If we do that, we can translate it more simply as, you aren't. A 'faux-participle' like this one is usually easy to spot, because you most always find it sitting directly to the left of another verb formation, as in the above case, olmadığınızı bilmek; to know [that] you aren't. Welcome to the Ottoman Court, Miss Borgia. We're glad to know [that] you aren't one of the European barbarians who we've heard [about]. [Past Personal participle used as an adjective modifying, one of the European barbarians. Observe that, in this translation, the participle takes on the 'present tense feeling' of the controlling so-called "verb" -- olmadığınızı; you aren't.] Need step-by-step help translating the preceding example? Standard Way to Make the 'miş-Past' Participle in Turkish... Example with the miş-Past Participle: Note: despite their appearance, miş-Past participles do not carry any of the uncertain, tentative, dubitative sense of the 'pure' miş-Past verb. For example, with a pure miş-Past verb, plan hazırlanmış means I think the plan has been prepared (but, I don't know for sure). While, with a miş-Past participle, hazırlanmış plan means the plan that has been prepared (undoubtedly). Could I see an example conjugation of a mis-Past verb? Ağarmış saçlar sevgiye engel değildir, Methuselah. Hair that has turned white is not a barrier to love, Methuselah. [miş-Past participle as adjective modifying, Hair] Need step-by-step help translating the preceding example? The 'miş-Past' Participle is made in the following manner : 1. From the infinitive of any verb, strip the 'mek' or 'mak' ending. 2. To the remaining verb stem, add the suffix '-miş' ['-müş'], if the verb is from the 'mek' family, or... '-mış' ['-muş'], if it's from the 'mak' family. Keep in mind that, for each of the two verb families , there are two possible suffixes -- that are subject to the Rule of Vowel Harmony... Examples of miş-Past Participle Construction: Infinitive form of a Verb Correct Participle Suffix The Participle Usage English Bitmek -miş Bitmiş iş... finished work; work that has been done/finished... Görülmek -müş (see vowel harmony at work) Görülmüş olay... observed event; an event that is seen/observed... Yazılmak -mış Yazılmış mektup... written letter; a letter that has been written... Okunmak -muş (see vowel harmony at work) Okunmuş kitap... a read book; a book that has been read... Bitmemek -miş Bitmemiş iş... unfinished work; work that has not been done/finished... Görülmemek -miş (see the vowel harmony at work, compare with 'Görülmek' above) Görülmemiş olay... unobserved event; an event that has not been seen/observed... Yazılmamak -mış Yazılmamış mektup... unwritten letter; a letter that has not been written... Okunmamak -mış (see the vowel harmony at work, compare with 'Okunmak' above) Okunmamış kitap... unread book; a book that has not been read... Another miş-Past Participle Example: Bu akşam Sodom ve Gomorrah bugüne kadar hiç görülmemiş bazı olaylara tanık oldu. This evening [citizens of] Sodom and Gomorrah were witness to some events that haven't been seen ever, until today. [miş-Past participle used in a participle phrase modifying, events] Need step-by-step help translating the preceding example? Standard Way to Make the 'Future' Participle in Turkish Example with the Future Participle: Lutfen Pandora, kutuya dikkat edin -- içinde korkutacak eşyalar var. Please be careful with the box, Pandora -- there are some frightening things inside. (...things that will frighten inside.) [future participle as adjective modifying things] Need step-by-step help translating the preceding example? The 'Future' Participle is made in the following manner: 1. From the infinitive of any verb, strip the 'mek' or 'mak' ending. 2. To the remaining verb stem, add the suffix '-(y)ecek, if the verb is from the 'mek' family, or... '-(y)acak, if it's from the 'mak' family. Keep in mind that, for a verb stem ending in a vowel, you need to insert 'y' before attaching the 'future' participle suffix, e.g. bulmayacak; that will not be found... Examples of 'Future' Participle Construction: Infinitive form of a Verb Correct Participle Suffix The Participle Usage English Bitmek -cek Bitecek iş... work that will be done/finished... Görülmek -ecek Görülecek olay... event that will be seen/observed... Yazılmak -acak Yazılacak mektup... letter that will be written... Bitmemek -yecek Bitmeyecek iş... work that will not be done/finished... Görülmemek -yecek Görülmeycek olay... event that will not be seen/observed... Yazılmamak -yacak Yazılmayacak mektup... letter that will not be written... Note: Many of the Future participles have now entered the Turkish language as free-standing nouns or adjectives. Such as the nouns: yiyecek; food, something to eat, oyuncak; a toy, a trifling matter, an easy job, child's play, and açacak; any tool for opening things. Such as the adjectives: gelecek; coming, next, and olacak; suitable, so-called... Another 'Future' Participle Example -- a double-whammy one... Bu gece bitecek bir masal anlat, Şehrazad. Bitmeyecek masallarla uğraşıp vakit kaybetmeyin. Tell me a story you can finish tonite, Scheherazade. Don't struggle and waste time with stories you can't finish [tonite]. [...a story that will finish...stories that will not finish...] ['future' participles, both positive and negative, used as adjectives modifying, story/stories]. Need step-by-step help translating the preceding example? Standard Way to Make the 'Future Personal' Participle in Turkish... Other writers on the Turkish language, have called this category of participle, "an '-ecek' adjective" (The Pollards), "an Object Participle" (Underhill), "a Relative Participle", and "a Personal Participle" (Lewis). We mentioned this same kind of nomenclature problem above, in the section about the 'Past Personal' Participle. And, for the same kind of reasons presented there, we've decided to call this participle "The Future Personal Participle" -- based solely on its appearance. And happily, the 'Future Personal' Participle does actually provide a sense of the future. (You may recall that the 'Past Personal' Participle doesn't reliably provide a sense of the past...) Example with the 'Future Personal' Participle: Sfenks seni bekliyor, Oedipus. Ve bilmeceye vereceğin cevap doğruysa daha iyi olur. The Sphinx is waiting, Oedipus. And the answer you give his riddle had better be right!! (...it would be better if the answer that you will give...) ['future personal' participle as adjective modifying, answer] Need step-by-step help translating the preceding example? The 'Future Personal' Participle is made in the following manner: 1. From the infinitive of any verb, strip the 'mek' or 'mak' ending. 2. To the remaining verb stem, add the suffix '-(y)ecek', if the verb is from the 'mek' family, or... '-(y)acak', if it's from the 'mak' family. 3. To that resulting construction, attach an appropriate Personal Possessive Ending (PPE). Note: Before attaching the PPE, you may need to soften the final 'k' of that construction by substituting the Turkish 'yumaşak-g' character. See following examples... Examples of 'Future Personal' Participle Construction: Infinitive form of a Verb Correct Participle Suffix The Participle Usage English Çizmek -eceğim Çizeceğim resim... The picture [that] I will draw... Sarılmak -acağın Sarılacağın kız... The girl [who] you will hug... Okumak -yacağı Okuyacağı kitap... The book [that] she will read... Beklemek -yceğimiz Bekleyeceğimiz gün... The day [that] we will wait for... Görmek -eceğiniz Göreceğiniz atlar... The horses [that] you will see... Aramak -yacakları Arayacakları sevgili... The lover [that] they will search for... Çizmemek -yeceğim Çizmemeyceğim resim... The picture [that] I will not draw... Sarılmamak -yacağın Sarılmayacağın kız... The girl [who] you will not hug... Okumamak -yacağı Okumayacağı kitap... The book [that] she will not read... Beklememek -yeceğimiz Beklemeyeceğimiz misafir... The guest [that] we will not expect... Görmemek -yeceğiniz Görmeyeceğiniz atlar... The horses [that] you will not see... Gülmemek -yecekleri Gülmeyecekleri şaka... The joke[that] they will not laugh at... Another 'Future Personal' Participle Example: Also includes an example of a 'faux-participle' [in green below] Otur, Sir Thomas. Konuşacağımız çok konular var ve giyotine gecikeceğinizden korkuyorum. Note: 'gecikeceğiniz' is only a Turkish participle look-a-like, and has no adjectival qualities. Some prefer to call it a noun that functions as the object of '-dan korkuyorum'. In that case it means something like, '[the likelihood of] your being late in the future'. For easier translation, though, it's useful to think of it as a verb in a noun clause. If we do that, we can tranlate it more simply as, you'll be late. A 'faux-participle' like this one is usually easy to spot, because you most always find it sitting directly to the left of another verb formation, as in the above case, gecikeceğinizden korkuyorum; I'm afraid that you'll be late... Sit down, Sir Thomas. There are many subjects to discuss and I'm afraid that you'll be late to the guillotine. [...many subjects that we will discuss...] Note: here the 'future personal' participle is used as an adjective modifying, subjects. Observe that, this category of 'personal' participle does provide a sense of the 'future'. You may recall that the 'past personal' participle does not reliably provide a sense of the 'past'. Need step-by-step help translating the preceding example? Language-learning pages: How To Learn Basic Turkish -- A Practical Philosophy for beginners (Found in the 'Introduction to The Whole Earth Catalog of Turkish Movies'.) Why Off-color language is important too... Translating Turkish, the basics Translating Turkish, advanced Essential Turkish Vocabulary Turkish Verbs Essential Idioms, Index Essential Suffixes, Index Sentence Structure, Standard Sentence Structure Variations Turkish Pronunciation Turkish Accenting Turkish Numbers Revealed Other Turkish Language Difficulties Unrelated fun: Maganda, The Racy Turkish Lout -- a risqué illustration of the word zipper Aysel, The Turkish Lout's daughter -- has a sexy job interview technique Ferdi Tayfur - Arabesque (Arabesk) Singing Sensation Turkish Movies - Best-Looking Bad Girl of the 1970s, Sevda Ferdağ Bad Girls of the 1970s Turkish Cinema, Aliye Rona Frequently asked questions about Turkey and the Turkish language llustrated Nargile Users Guide -- and Encyclopedia Our Honda Generator -- A Member of the Family Habibullah and The Great Cannon Caper Turkish Tongue Twisters Turkish Belly Dancers Turkish Terms Of Endearment Turkish Personal Names Politically Incorrect Turkish Humor Why Off-Color Turkish is important too Gossipy Turkish Who's Who Turkish Kinsey Report #6 - Turkish Turn-Ons Turkish Kinsey Report #1 - Turkey opens up about its seks Turkish Kinsey Report #2 - Did they hear it through the grapevine? Turkish Kinsey Report #3 - Was it good for you? Turkish Kinsey Report #4 - The first time, by age group... Turkish Kinsey Report #5 - Who's gotta have it? He? Or she? Hülya Avşar -- in a league of her own Translating Danielle Steele Post a comment...»

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