The participle -en / -an: gelen adam (the man who comes)
Relative clauses with the subject (“the man who comes”) use the participle -en / -an before the noun: gelen adam (the man who comes / came). Turkish has no word for “who / which / that”.
| English | Turkish | How |
|---|---|---|
| the man who comes | gelen adam | gel + en |
| the woman who speaks Turkish | Türkçe konuşan kadın | konuş + an |
| the child who is waiting | bekleyen çocuk | bekle + y + en |
| the people who don't come | gelmeyen insanlar | gel + me + y + en |
| those who come (alone) | gelenler | participle as a noun |
How do you build the clause?
- The participle comes before the noun, with everything else in front of it: *kapıda bekleyen adam* (the man who is waiting at the door).
- -en covers present and past; for the future use -ecek: *gelecek misafirler* (the guests who will come).
- On its own it works like a noun: *Bilen var mı?* (Does anyone know?).
Examples
- Bahçede oynayan çocuklar kimin?Whose are the children playing in the garden?
- Türkçe konuşan bir doktor arıyorum.I'm looking for a doctor who speaks Turkish.
- Partiye gelen herkes çok mutlu.Everyone who came to the party is very happy.
- Bilen var mı?Does anyone know?
- Sigara içmeyen biri arıyoruz.We're looking for someone who doesn't smoke.
Common mistakes
- ✗ Adam kim kapıda bekliyor benim babam.✓ Kapıda bekleyen adam benim babam.English “the man who is waiting” uses “who” and a full verb; Turkish puts the participle bekleyen before the noun.
- ✗ Almanca biliyor bir öğretmen arıyoruz.✓ Almanca bilen bir öğretmen arıyoruz.English “a teacher who knows German” has a full verb; Turkish uses the participle before the noun: bilen.
- ✗ Kitap okuan kız benim kardeşim.✓ Kitap okuyan kız benim kardeşim.After a vowel a buffer -y- comes before -an: okuyan.
- ✗ Et yemeen insanlar için yemek var.✓ Et yemeyen insanlar için yemek var.After the negation -me a buffer -y- comes before -en: yemeyen.
- ✗ Beni aradığı kadın kim? (= the woman who called me)✓ Beni arayan kadın kim? (= the woman who called me)When the noun is the subject (“who called me”), use -en; -dığı is for “the woman whom he called”.