B1 · Subordinate clauses: converbs and participles · about 7 minutes
The participle in “-dik”: the book I am reading
relative clause with “that, which, where” as the object
If someone other than the noun does the action, “-dik” comes with a possessive ending — it says who.
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 need1
They appear in this topic’s examples and exercises and are new at this point on the learning path.
- börekbörek (filled pastry)
Understand
Remember-en when the noun acts; -dik with a possessive when someone else acts.
- Signal words
- benim
- senin
- onun
The form
The patterns at a glance
Each row first says when or what the pattern is used for, then gives an example in Turkish.
negation
| I | okuduğum kitap |
| you | okuduğun kitap |
| he, she | okuduğu kitap |
| we | okuduğumuz kitap |
| you (plural, polite) | okuduğunuz kitap |
| they | okudukları kitap |
| future | okuyacağım kitap |
| negative | okumadığım kitap |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
If someone other than the noun acts, it is -dik with a possessive.
Okuduğum kitap çok güzel.The book I am reading is very good.
The possessive ending shows who acts.
Gördüğün film nasıldı?How was the film you saw?
A named subject goes in the genitive.
Ayşe'nin aldığı elbise çok pahalı.The dress Ayşe bought is very expensive.
For places too: “where”, “in which”.
Yaşadığım şehir çok büyük değil.The city where I live is not very big.
For the future: -ecek with a possessive.
Kalacağımız otel denize yakın.The hotel we will stay at is close to the sea.
Example sentences
Senin söylediğin restoran kapalıydı.The restaurant you mentioned was closed.
Mehmet'in çalıştığı şirket büyük.The company Mehmet works for is big.
Dün tanıştığımız kadın çok kibardı.The woman we met yesterday was very nice.
6 more example sentences
En çok sevdiğin yemek ne?What is your favourite food?
Bu, babamın bana verdiği saat.This is the watch my father gave me.
Beklediğimiz otobüs hâlâ gelmedi.The bus we are waiting for still hasn’t come.
Anlamadığın bir şey var mı?Is there anything you don’t understand?
Annemin yaptığı börek çok lezzetli.The börek my mother makes is delicious.
Gideceğimiz yer çok uzak mı?Is the place we are going to very far?
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
If you have just learnt -en, you will use it for every relative clause. But izleyen film then means “the film that is watching”. If it is not the film but you who is watching, you need -dik with your ending.
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.
Now write it yourself9 sentences on this topic, typed and checked instantly.
Well done
How well do you know this topic?
This is filled in automatically after you practise. You can change it here at any time.
Next on the path: 87 · Used to: the aorist in the pastBack to the learning path
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
In okuyan kız the girl herself is reading. In “the book (that) I am reading” it is not the book doing the action but me. Then Turkish uses -dik with a possessive ending: okuduğum kitap, literally “my-reading book”.
The possessive ending says who does the action: okuduğum (I), okuduğun (you), okuduğu (he, she), okuduğumuz (we), okuduğunuz (you, plural or polite), okudukları (they). Before the vowel of the ending the k becomes ğ; only before -ları does it stay.
A subject that is named goes in the genitive: Ayşe'nin aldığı elbise“the dress Ayşe bought”annemin yaptığı börek“the börek my mother makes” -dik follows four-way harmony and assimilation: geldiğim, yaptığım, gördüğüm, çalıştığım.
Places and times are built the same way: yaşadığım şehir “the city where I live”. For the future it is -ecek: kalacağımız otel “the hotel we will stay at”.
A closer look
“-en” or “-dik”? The test
Ask yourself about the English relative clause: is the noun the subject (“the man who waits”)? Then use -en. Is someone else the subject (“the man I know”, “the house I live in”, “the woman I talk to”)? Then use -dik. kitap okuyan kız — the girl who reads; kızın okuduğu kitap — the book the girl reads.
With case and postposition
The participle in -dik is a noun and takes cases and postpositions: geldiğim zaman“when I come”geldiğimde“when I came”geldiğim için“because I came” This is how Turkish builds its clauses with “when”, “because” and “that”.
Worth knowing2
Worth knowing
Compared with English
English chooses between “who”, “which”, “that”, “where”, “whom”, and sometimes leaves the word out (“the book I read”). Turkish has no relative pronoun at all; it needs only the one form, with an ending that says who is acting.
Oturduğum ev, çalıştığım şirket, konuştuğum kadın.The house I live in, the company I work for, the woman I am talking to.
Worth knowing
The tense stays open
-dik covers present and past: okuduğum kitap is the book I am reading or have read. Only the future has a form of its own, with -ecek.
Okuduğum kitabı sana vereceğim.I’ll give you the book I have read.
The verbs on this page, in every form: çalışmak · inmek