Edilgen çatı (passive)
Turkish forms the passive by inserting a small suffix between the verb stem and the tense ending. The suffix has three shapes that depend on the last sound of the stem: -il after most consonants (yapılmak to be done), -in after vowels (okunmak to be read), and -n after stems already ending in -l or a vowel (bilinmek to be known, söylenmek to be said). The agent — the 'doer' — is usually dropped or marked with tarafından ('by').
Why a passive at all?
Same reason as in English: when the action matters more than who did it. Kapı açıldı = 'the door was opened'. Mektup yazıldı = 'the letter was written'. Turkish leans on the passive heavily in news, signs, and instructions — far more than English speech does.
The three allomorphs
The vowel inside the suffix follows vowel harmony (ı / i / u / ü), so each allomorph has four flavors. -il / -ıl / -ul / -ül after most consonants: yap- + -ıl- → yapılmak (to be done), sev- + -il- → sevilmek (to be loved). -in / -ın / -un / -ün after a vowel-final stem: oku- + -n- → okunmak (to be read), de- + -n- → denmek (to be said). After -l: use -in to avoid ll: bil- → bilinmek (to be known), bul- → bulunmak (to be found).
Adding a tense
The passive suffix sits between the stem and the tense. Past: aç-ıl-dı = açıldı (was opened). Present continuous: yap-ıl-ıyor = yapılıyor (is being done). Aorist/general: bilin-ir = bilinir (is known). Negative drops in as usual: yapılmadı (wasn't done), bilinmiyor (isn't known).
Saying who did it
Most of the time you just don't. When you must, use tarafından ('by') after the agent in genitive: mektup Ali tarafından yazıldı = 'the letter was written by Ali'. Note tarafından literally means 'from the side of'. Newspapers love this construction; everyday speech avoids it.
Common signs and templates
Burada Türkçe konuşulur. = 'Turkish is spoken here.' Sigara içilmez. = 'No smoking' (literally 'cigarette is-not-smoked'). Kiralık / satılık are adjectives, but the verb forms kiralanır (is rented) and satılır (is sold) appear in legal text. The aorist passive (-ır / -ir) is the go-to form for general rules.
