B1 · Verb forms · about 7 minutes
Having something done: the causative
I have it done
A piece inside the verb turns “do” into “have done” — and “end” into “finish”.
Do you know this already?
“New to me”: the explanation first, then practice. “Test myself”: 3 short questions – get at least two right and you go straight to the harder exercises.
Words you will need12
They appear in this topic’s examples and exercises and are new at this point on the learning path.
- saçhair
- bisikletbicycle
- tamir etmekto repair, to fix
- kusura bakmayınsorry, please excuse me
- ağırheavy
- ateştemperature, fever; fire
- pişirmekto cook (something)
- göstermekto show
- kuaförhairdresser (mainly for women)
- pişmekto cook, to be done
- temizlikçicleaner
- temizlemekto clean
Understand
Remember“Have done” is in the stem: yaptırmak, yıkatmak, tamir ettirmek.
- Signal words
- -dir
- -tir
- -t
- yaptırmak
The form
From the base form to the new form
Each row first says what the form expresses, then shows it in Turkish: the base form before the arrow, the result after it.
| do → have done | yapmak → yaptırmak |
| cut → have cut | kesmek → kestirmek |
| wash → have washed | yıkamak → yıkatmak |
| wait → keep waiting | beklemek → bekletmek |
| read → have read | okumak → okutmak |
| sit → sit (someone) down | oturmak → oturtmak |
| laugh → make laugh | gülmek → güldürmek |
| repair → have repaired | tamir etmek → tamir ettirmek |
| end → finish | bitmek → bitirmek |
| cook (be cooked) → cook | pişmek → pişirmek |
| see → show | görmek → göstermek |
| die → kill | ölmek → öldürmek |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
After a vowel it is -t.
Arabamı yıkattım.I had my car washed.
After a consonant it is -dir with harmony and assimilation.
Dün saçımı kestirdim.Yesterday I had my hair cut.
With etmek it becomes ettirmek.
Bisikleti tamir ettirdik.We had the bike repaired.
A verb without an object becomes one with an object.
İşi akşama kadar bitirdik.We finished the work by the evening.
The person who does the work is in the dative.
Mektubu Elif'e okuttum.I had Elif read the letter.
Example sentences
Yeni bir anahtar yaptırdım.I had a new key made.
Kusura bakmayın, sizi beklettim.I’m sorry to have kept you waiting.
Bu film beni çok güldürdü.This film made me laugh a lot.
5 more example sentences
Annem yemeği ağır ateşte pişirir.My mother cooks the food on a low heat.
Bana yeni evini gösterdi.He showed me his new flat.
Evi temizlikçiye temizlettik.We had a cleaner clean the flat.
Bebeği uyuttum, şimdi biraz dinlenebilirim.I’ve put the baby to sleep, now I can rest a bit.
Çocuğu sandalyeye oturttu.She sat the child on the chair.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English “I had my hair cut” makes it clear that someone else did the cutting. If you just say kestim in Turkish, you are claiming you did it yourself. The “having done” belongs in the verb as -tir.
Quick check
A warm-up: 2 questions, answered straight away. They do not count towards your progress.
Practise
9 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
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Next on the path: 69 · “-erek”: by, while doingBack to the learning path
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
English says “I had my car washed” with “have” or “get”. Turkish builds the causing into the stem: yıkamak “to wash” → yıkatmak “to have washed”. Arabamı yıkattım. “I had my car washed.”
Which piece comes depends on the stem. After a vowel it is -t: bekle → beklet, oku → okut. The same after longer stems ending in r or l: otur → oturt. Otherwise it is -dir with four-way harmony and assimilation: yap → yaptır, kes → kestir, gül → güldür. With etmek it becomes ettirmek: tamir ettirmek “to have repaired”.
A few short verbs have forms of their own, to be learnt one by one: bitmek “to end” → bitirmek “to finish”, pişmek “to cook (be cooked)” → pişirmek “to cook (something)”, çıkmak “to go out” → çıkarmak “to take out”, görmek → göstermek “to show”. English often uses a completely different verb here.
The person who does the work is in the dative: Arabayı tamirciye tamir ettirdim. “I had the mechanic repair the car.” Usually, though, that person is left out.
A closer look
Doubled
Sometimes two causative pieces follow each other, especially after -t: ölmek → öldürmek “to kill” → öldürtmek “to have killed”. You will rarely meet this in everyday life, but you should recognise it.
Worth knowing1
Worth knowing
Compared with English
English has pairs of verbs for this: “rise” and “raise”, “lie” and “lay”, “fall” and “fell”, or it uses “make” and “let”. Turkish does the same regularly, with a piece in the verb — and for almost every verb.
Bardak düştü. — Bardağı düşürdüm.The glass fell. — I dropped the glass.
The verbs on this page, in every form: göstermek · bitirmek · pişirmek