Who does it, and what is done

What you will practice

• Use en or an when the noun is the one who does the action.
• Use dik plus a possessive when the noun is the object.
• Soften k to ğ before a possessive that starts with a vowel.

Explanation

The person who acts

When the noun is the subject of the clause, use -en or -an. The vowel follows the last vowel of the verb. Front vowels take -en: gelen adam, “the man who comes.” Back vowels take -an: bakan çocuk, “the child who looks.” The k in bak- stays. If the stem ends in a vowel, add the buffer y: okuyan öğrenci, “the student who reads.” This participle takes no personal ending. The noun itself is the one who does the action.

The thing that is done

When the noun is the object, start from -dik and add a possessive. oku- has u, so the suffix is -duk, and “I” is -um. That possessive begins with a vowel, so the k of -duk softens to ğ. The spelling is okuduğum kitap, “the book that I read.” The same change gives okuduğun for “you” and okuduğu for “he” or “she.” gör- has ö, so “the film that I saw” is gördüğüm film.

When k stays

If the possessive begins with a consonant, k stays. “The book that they read” is okudukları kitap. A voiceless stem also changes d to t, while k still becomes ğ before a vowel: içtiğim su, “the water that I drank,” because iç- ends in ç. okuyan kitap would mean “the book that reads.” If the child is the reader, keep okuyan: kitabı okuyan çocuk.

Examples

1. Gelen adam.The man who comes.
2. Okuduğum kitap.The book that I read.
3. Kitabı okuyan çocuk.The child who reads the book.
4. Okudukları kitap.The book that they read.
5. Gördüğüm film.The film that I saw.

Common mistakes

• okuduğum softens k to ğ. okudukları keeps k, because -ları begins with a consonant.
• In kitabı okuyan çocuk, the child does the reading. The book is the object, so the participle stays okuyan.