Impersonal Participles — Turkish Grammar

The impersonal participle, formed with the suffix -an or -en, is a versatile tool that transforms a verb into an adjective. This new adjective describes a noun that is the doer of the verb's action. It is the equivalent of using a relative clause in English with "who," "which," or "that" when describing the subject.

For example, the verb (to run) becomes (running / who runs). You can then use this to describe a noun: (the child who runs).

Formation

To form the impersonal participle, take the verb stem and add the suffix -an or -en, following the rules of vowel harmony.

1. Suffix -an (for back vowels a, ı, o, u)

If the last vowel in the verb stem is a back vowel, use -an.

yapan
the one who does (from 'yapmak')
okuyan
the one who reads (from 'okumak')
bağıran
the one who shouts (from 'bağırmak')

2. Suffix -en (for front vowels e, i, ö, ü)

If the last vowel in the verb stem is a front vowel, use -en.

gelen
the one who comes (from 'gelmek')
içen
the one who drinks (from 'içmek')
gülen
the one who laughs (from 'gülmek')

3. Buffer Consonant 'y'

If the verb stem ends in a vowel, add the buffer consonant y before the suffix.

bekleyen
the one who waits (from 'beklemek')
uyuyan
the one who sleeps (from 'uyumak')

Usage in Sentences

The participle always comes before the noun it modifies. The key relationship to remember is that this noun is the subject of the action described by the participle.

Ağlayan bebek süt istiyor.
The baby who is crying wants milk.
Hızlı koşan at yarışı kazandı.
The horse that runs fast won the race.
Burada çalışan insanlar çok arkadaş canlısı.
The people who work here are very friendly.

Impersonal vs. Personal Participles

The impersonal participle (-an/-en) should not be confused with personal participles (like -dığı). The difference lies in whether the noun being described is the subject or the object of the action.

Impersonal Participle (-an/-en): The noun is the subject (doer) of the action.

Kitap okuyan kadın
The woman who is reading a book.

Personal Participle (-dığı): The noun is the object of the action.

Kadının okuduğu kitap
The book that the woman is reading.

Using Participles as Nouns

An impersonal participle can also stand alone without a noun following it. When used this way, it functions as a noun itself, meaning "the one who..." or "those who...".

Kazanan ödülü alır.
The winner (the one who wins) gets the prize.
Gelen gideni aratır.
The one who comes makes one miss the one who left.
Bunu yapan kim?
Who is the one who did this?

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Turkish course

3 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 337. A few of them, with the words “Impersonal Participles” is about in bold:

Bunu fark eden ilk kişi sizsiniz!
You (pol.) are the first person to notice!
Lesson 337
Bir sürü inek olan bir köyde yaşıyorum.
I live in a village with many cows.
Lesson 487

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