Subject Participles -an/-en, -yan/-yen

Participles - Adjectives (and nouns) formed from verbs. (verbal adjectives, verbal nouns)
"The most important function of participles is to form modifying phrases or adjectives equivalent to the relative clauses found in most European languages. The use of participles in Turkish is rather different than in English and at first sight is difficult to understand. This is mainly due to the fact that the Relative Pronouns - who, what, which, where - are not used in Turkish as in English. Instead, Turkish uses participles of its verbs as adjectives or nouns."

Formation of the Relative Subject Participle.

Strip the -mek or -mak ending from the infinitive of any verb.
Add -(y)en if the verb is from the -mek family or -(y)an if it's from the -mak family to he remaining verb stem. [The buffer -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

Examples:

Öğle yemeğe gelen adamı tanırım. - I know the man who is coming to lunch.
Akşam yemeğe geleni tanır mısınız? - Do you know who is coming to dinner?
Gelenlerden biri tanıyorum. - I know one of those who are coming.
Bekleyenlere her şey gelir. - Everything comes to those who wait.
Zengin olanlar çok şanslı. - Those who are rich are very lucky.

The Relative Participle can be used as an adjective as in 1 above: gelen adam or as a noun as in 2 above: Geleni tanır mısınız?

Participle Forms

1. Present Tense with the suffix -(y)en/-(y)an
2. Future Tense with the suffix-(y)ecek/-(y)acak
3. Past Direct Tense with the suffix -dik/-tik/-dık/-tık/-duk/-tuk/-dük/-tük
4. Past Indirect/Inferential Tense with the suffix mış/-miş/-muş/-müş
5. Simple Present Positive (aorist) with the suffix -r/-er/-ar/-ir/-ır/-ur/-ür.
6. Simple Present Negative (aorist) with the suffix -mez/-ma.

These forms can function as either adjectives: oynamayan çocuklar - children who do not play or as nouns: oynamayanlar - they/those who do not play. The most important function of participles is to form modifying phrases or adjectives equivalent to the relative clauses found in most European languages.

The use of participles in Turkish is rather different than in English and at first sight is difficult to understand. This is mainly due to the fact that the Relative Pronouns - who, what, which, where - are not used in Turkish as in English. Instead, Turkish uses participles of its verbs as adjectives or nouns

Present Participle Formation

The suffix -an or -en is added to the verb stem - (or -yan or -yen after vowels):
yürümek - to walk - yürüyen - who walks, who is walking
yürümemek - not to walk - yürümeyen - who doesn't walk, who is not walking
beklemek - to wait - bekleyen - who waits, who is waiting
beklememek - not to wait - beklemeyen - who doesn't wait, who is not waiting
bakmak - to look - bakan - which looks, who is looking
görmek - to see - gören - who sees, who is seeing
görmemek - not to see - görmeyen - who doesn't see, who is not seeing

Relative Subject Participle - an actual example of a shop window advertisement.
Computer(s) who knows (about) [bilen] lady worker is being sought
[Lit: Lady worker who knows (about) computers is being sought.]

The Subject Participle

Let us consider the sentence:
I know the man who is sitting in the chair - or - I know the man sitting in the chair
Here - who - is a Relative Pronoun referring to - the man - which may be omitted in English - as in the second version above. While - sitting - is a Present Participle or Verbal Adjective to describe the state of the man.
The sentence above can be broken down to:

(1) The man is sitting in the chair. - (2) I know him.
This shows that the Subject is The man who is sitting in the chair - this is the reason that Turkish calls this Participle a Subject Participles it describes the subject verbally.
One could also say:

I can see the bird that is flying in the sky
I pulled the rope which was hanging down.
In these cases which and that are Relative Pronouns whilst flying and hanging down are Present Participles used as Adjectives. However, in Turkish the Present Participle does the job of both the Relative Pronoun and the Adjective.

Here is a sign in shop window in downtown Izmir - June 2006
"Experienced lady worker who knows [bilen] English is being sought."

If we transpose the examples above to the form that Turkish exhibits, then they would convert as follows:
Sandalyede oturan adamı tanıyorum - Chair-in sitting-who-is man-the know-I.
Gökte uçan kuşu görebilirim - Sky-in flying-which-is bird-the see-can-I.
Sarkan ipi çektim. - Hanging down-which-was rope pulled-I.

This last example is in the past tense, which is taken from the final verb of the sentence.. - Then it can be seen that the Present Participle - sitting etc.. translates the Relative Pronoun by implication ie who is sitting.., which is flying.. etc.. Therefore in Turkish the Present Participle is used as a Relative Pronominal Adjective. This point is important to understand and in translation to English it is always best to add who is.., which is.., that is.., until facility in understanding the Turkish point of view has been reached.

Some Examples Relative Subject Participles
The suffix -an or -en is added to the verb stem, (or either -yan or -yen after vowels)
Arka bahçeye bakan pencere kırıldı. - The window facing the back garden is broken. - [Lit: Back garden-to looking-at-which-is (facing) broken-is.]
Mektup yazan adam çok yaşlıdır - The man writing the letter is very old. - [Lit: Letter-the writing-who-is man-the old-is.]

Examples in the Potential Mood:
The suffix -an or -en is added to the verb stem, (or either -yan or -yen after vowels)
yürüyebilmek - to be able to walk - produces: - yürüyebilen - who can walk
yürüyememek - not to be able to walk - produces: - yürüyemeyen - who can't walk

Thr Relative Participle

As the Participle formed is a Verbal Noun, then we can add suffixes to it to change the meaning as we do with all Nouns in Turkish

Examples of a Positive and Negative Verbs

Noun as Direct Object
oturmak - to sit (or to live at)
oturan - who is sitting / sitting (adj.)
oturanı - [oturan-ı] - who sits / sitter

Noun in Movement Toward Condition (Dative)- Singular
uçmak - to fly
uçan - which is flying / flying (adj.)
uçana - [uçan a] - to that flying / to the flier

Noun in Movement Toward Condition (Dative) - Plural
yemek - to eat
yiyen - who is eating / eater (adj.)
yiyenlere - [yiyen -ler-e] - to those eating / to those who eat

Noun in Movement Away Condition (Ablative)
sarkmak - to hang down (to dangle)
sarkan - which is hanging down / hanging down (adj.)
sarkandan - [sarkan-dan] - from that which is hanging

Example of a Causative Verb

Noun in Ownership condition - (Genitive)
güldürmek - to cause to laugh
güldüren - which makes one laugh/comic, funny (adj.)
güldürenin - [güldür - en -in] - of that which makes one laugh/comic, funny

Example of a Passive Verb

Noun in Movement Toward Condition (Dative) - Plural
kesilmek - to be cut
kesilen - which is being cut (adj.)
kesilenlerinden - [kesilen-leri-nden] - from those that are being cut

Adjectival Participle

Then we can translate adjectivally, for the singular:
Masaya oturan adamı tanırım - I know the man who is sitting at the table. - [Lit: Table-to (at) sitting man-the know-I.] In this case - oturan - is an adjective describing - the man

And in the plural:
masaya oturan adamları tanırım - I know the men who are sitting at the table - [Lit: Table-to sitting men-the know-I.] Thus using - oturan - as an adjective describing - the men

The Participle as a Noun

However we could say in Turkish - as a noun - for the singular:
Masaya oturanı tanıyorum. - I know (he) who is sitting at this table. - [Lit: Table-to sitting-he-who-is know-I.] Thus using -oturanı - as a relative pronoun - (singular direct object)

And in the plural:
masaya oturanları tanırdım - I knew those who were sitting at the table. - [Lit: Table-to sitting-they-who-were knew-I.] Thus using - oturanları - as a relative pronoun - (plural direct object.) Note that the Past tense of this sentence is taken from the final verb.

Modified Participles

The Relative Participle can be declined in both Singular and Plural Positive and Negative and in the Passive and Potential Moods of the verbs. The suffix -an or -en is added to the verb stem, (or either -yan or -yen after vowels)
The Basic Verb Form Participle - vermek - to give

The Positive Verb
vermek - to give
veren - who gives
verenler - those who are giving

The Negative Verb
vermemek - not to give
vermeyen - who doesn't give
vermeyenler - those who don't give

Oğluma, hediye veren adam onun amcasıydı. - The man who gave the present to my son was his uncle. - [Lit: Son-my-to, present gave-who man-the his uncle-was.]
Ankara'ya giden otobüslerin hepsi doludur. - All the buses which are going to Ankara are full up. - [Lit: Ankara-to going-which-are buses all full-are.]
Ankara'ya gidenlerin hepsi erkek. -- All the those who are going to Ankara are male. - [Lit: Ankara-to going-those-who-are all male-are.]

Passive Mood Examples - beklenmek - to expect, hope, wait

The resulting -an or -en Relative Adjective is used to describe nouns. Or can be used as a noun or pronoun according to sense.
The Positive Verb beklenmek - to be expected
beklenen - which is expected
beklenenler - those who are expected

The Negative Verb beklenmemek - not to be expected
beklenmeyen - which is not expected
beklenmeyenler - those which are not expected

Potential Mood - Active Examples

The resulting -an or -en relative adjective can be used as a noun in its own right.
The Positive Verb
çalışabilmek - to be able to work
çalışabilen - who is able to work
çalışabilenler - those who are able to work

The Negative Verb
çalışamamak - not able to work
çalışamayan - which is not able to work
çalışamayanlar - those who are not able to work

An actual example

Here we see a sign at Ladies Beach in Kuşadası for restricted entry into the Güneş (Sun) Site of Apartments. - This sign just shows how difficult Turkish can be to understand when you are first learning, as the grammatical construction is alien to speakers of English. So let us explain what is happening..

Güneş sitesine (Güneş site-si-ne) - (In)to the Güneş Site
ait olmayan - who is not concerned - [with the site anyway]
araçların park etmesi - their car's its-parking
yasaktır. - is prohibited.

Some Further Examples

Yüzebilenlere bir madalya verelim - Let us give a medal to those who can swim.
- In the above example the Relative Adjective is used as a noun with the Dative Suffix -e - to - added - [yüz-ebil-en-ler-e]

Sokağımızda çalışamayan bir engelli oturuyor. - A disabled man who is unable to work is living in our street
- In the above example the Relative Adjective - [çalış-a-ma-y an] - who is unable to work / who can not work - is used to describe the noun - engelli - invalid / cripple

Süremeyenlerden arabaları geri alınız. - - Take away the cars from those who can't drive.
- In the above example the Relative Adjective - [sür-e-me-y-en-ler-den] - from those who can not (are not able to) drive - is used as noun with the addition of the suffix -den - from

Potential Mood - Passive Examples

This is an example of Turkish turning everything into an adjectival description wherever possible.
yapılabilmek - to be able to be done / made
yapılabilen - which can be done
yapılabilenler - [yapılabil-en-ler] - those which can be done
sürülememek - not to be able to be driven
sürülemeyen - which can not be driven
sürülemeyenler - [sürül-e-me-y-en-ler] - those which can not be driven
Sürülemeyen arabaları çıkarınız - Take away the cars which can not be driven
- In the above example the Relative Adjective is used [sürül-e-me-yen]
Yapılabileneri bitirelim - Let's finish those that can be done
- In the above example the Relative Adjective - [yapılabil-en-ler-i] - those that can be done (object) - is used as a direct object noun.

Special Cases

The Verb - olmak - to be, become
It can be deduced that the present participle of the verb - olmak - is - olan - meaning - which..., is being... or if used in its Pronominal Form means - That... Who... Which... What is...
This is used with the Infinitive in the Locative Case to form a Present Continuous Participle:
Yüzmekte olanlar - those who are presently swimming...
Denizde yüzmekte olanları tanırım. - - I know those who are presently swimming in the sea.
Kalmakta olanlardan - from those who are presently staying..
Hırsızlar, otelde kalmakta olanlardan para çaldılar. - - The thieves stole money from those who are staying at the hotel.
Beklemekte olana - to he who is waiting and still is waiting...
Bu koliyi, beklemekte olana verin. - Give this parcel to the man (he who is) waiting.

"olan" - "being.."

Another use of - olan - is with normal adjectives to describe people and events as the following examples show. In these cases - olan - can sometimes be translated as - being.., as a..
Satılık olan bir ev arıyorum - I am looking for a house which is for sale - [Lit: For sale being a house look for-I ]
Çok pahalı olan bir fotoğraf makinesini aldım - I have bought a camera which was very expensive. - [Lit: Very dear being a camera bought-I]
Babası kasap olan bir arkadaşım var - I have got a friend whose father is a butcher. - [Lit: Father-his butcher being a friend-mine there-is]

Use of "olan" to mean - "the one that.."

An explanation of - olan - the which one
olanı - One [the one that..] - [lit: that which is..] as an item
olanları - Ones [the ones that..] - [lit: those which are..] as items
Hangi tişörtü istiyorsunuz? - Which tee-shirt do you want?
Mavi olanı(nı) lütfen - The blue one, please
Hangi ayakkabıları istiyorsunuz? - Which shoes do you want?
Siyah olanları(nı) lütfen. - The black ones, please.
The -ni as an accusative direct object ending is grammatically correct in the answers as the the verb - istemek - to want - is understood. But as with all languages sometimes the easy way is used and the direct object suffix is discarded though constant daily conversational usage.

"bulunmak - to be found.."

The Verb - bulunmak - to be found, to be
This verb - to be found - is the Passive Form of bulmak - to find. It is used very much as in English - one might say to a friend you are meeting later on:
When you get to to the hotel tonight, I'll be found in the bar. - [i.e. I'll be in the bar.]
Or you might say in a strange place something like:
Are there any of today's newspapers to be found at all?
This construction is used (is to be found [sic.]) - a lot in Turkish and is often translated more easily by the verb - to be
Bankada çalışan elemanlar iyi değil - The staff working at the bank are no good
Bankada çalışmakta bulunan elemanlar çok iyidir - The staff who are presently working in the bank are very good
It has been pointed out that the example above is a little awkward - but I leave it in as it shows the usage of - bulunmak. The following relative sentence sounds better however.
Bankada çalışan elemanlar çok iyidir. - The staff who are working at the bank are really good.

The use of - bulunan - with adjectives:
Similarly another use of - bulunan - is with normal adjectives to describe people and events as the following examples show. In these cases - bulunan - can sometimes be translated as - having a.., containing a..
İçinde beş kitap bulunan kutuyu getirin. - Bring along the box containing the five books. - [Lit: Inside five books-the found-which-are-to-be (containing) bring along.]
Bahçemizde bulunan güzel çiçekleri sana göstereyim. - Let me show you the beautiful flowers (which are) in our garden. - [Lit: Garden-ours-in found-which-are-to-be beautiful flowers you-to show-let-me.]

Past Tense Participles

There are two types of Past Participle in Turkish: The first type is formed by suffixing -miş to the verb stem and is used when the participle is subject of the sentence. The second type is formed by the addition of -dik to the basic verb stem which is used as an Objective Participle for both the Present and Past Tenses.

The Object participle is discussed elsewhere. See Object Participles

The -miş Subject Past Participle
The Subject Participle in -miş is discussed below. This Past Subject Participle is used when the action is definitely completed. It should be noted that the -miş suffix does not take on a dubative or reportative sense when used as a participle. As with the present Continuous Participle the relation is completed by using the relative participle - olan - that... who... which... is..
Examples of Indicative and Passive Verbs
vermiş olan - given , which is given
verilmiş olan - given, which has been given
vermemiş olan - not given , which has not given
verilmemiş olan - not been given, which has not been given
boyamış olan - painted, which is painted
boyanmış olan - painted, that has been painted
seçmiş olan - chosen, which is chosen
seçilmiş olan - chosen , that has been chosen
Seçilmiş olan şapkayı beğenirim - I like the hat that has been chosen
Seçmiş olanı beğenirim - I like the one who has chosen
Henüz gelmiş olan adamı tanırım - I know the man who has just come

Official/Public Use

The -miştir Past Participle is a happening which is definite in the past - kırılmıştır - which has been broken - although we usually say in English - which is broken
Mavı kapı kırılmıştır - The blue door is broken - [Lit. - has been broken]

The -miş Past Participle is also used with suffix -dir to make an official definite statement.
Türkiye'de yapılmıştır - Made in Turkey - [Lit: Turkey-in made-which-has-been-is.]
Paslanmaz çelikten yapılmıştır - Made from stainless steel - [Lit: Stainless steel-from made-which-has-been-is.]
İzmir' de üretilmiştir - Produced in Izmir - [Lit: Izmir-in produced-which-has-been-is.]

General Examples

Turkish to English

1. Batan gemiden ayrılan son adam kaptandı
The captain was the last man who left the sinking ship.

2. Bisikleti olan çocuk geç kalmadı.
The boy who had a bicycle was not late.

3. Fabrikanın etrafında hızlı bir şekilde yayılan yangın altı saat sürdü
The fire which (that) spread quickly round the factory lasted for six hours.

4. Dün bitirilen iş çok zor idi
The work which (that) was finished yesterday was very hard.

5. İnsan kalabalığı tarafından sarılmış olan polis çok kızdı
The policeman who was surrounded by a crowd of people became very angry.

6. Kaçakçılık limanlarda sık sık görülen bir suçtur
Smuggling is a crime which (that) often takes place in seaports.

7. Memleketin bu kısmında kullanılan tarım metotları çok eskidir
The methods of agriculture (which/that) are used In this part of the country are very old.

8. Beni çok dikkatle gözetleyen kimseyi gördüm
I have seen the person who was watching me very carefully.

9. Aşağı yukarı 418 km. uzunluğunda olan Yeşil Irmak türkiye'nin nehirden önemli biridir
Yeşil Irmak, which is about 418 km. long, is an important river in Turkey.

10. Evi çocuklarla dolu olan Ayten Alpman profesyonel şarkıcıdır
Ayten Alpman, whose house is full of children, is a professional singer.

11. İki yıldır İngiltere'de bulunan karım geçen hafta Türkiye'ye geldi
My wife, who has been in England for two years, came to Turkey last week.

English to Turkish

1. My friends, who had invited me to dinner, were waiting for me In front of the house.
Beni akşam yemeğine davet etmiş olan arkadaşlarım beni evin önünde bekliyorlardı.

2. The chair whose legs are broken must be thrown away.
Ayakları kırılmış olan sandalye atılmalıdır.

3. Yaşar Kemal, whose novels are still very popular, was born in Hemite village in 1922.
Romanları hâlâ çok popüler olan Yaşar Kemal 1922 yılında, Hemite köyünde doğudu.

4. The girl who is sitting outside is looking for a job.
Dışarıda oturan kız iş arıyor.

5. I wrote a letter to the man who asked for information yesterday.
Danışma isteyen adama dün bir mektup yazdım.