Relative Clauses

Relative clauses (ilgi tümcecikleri) are clauses that modify a noun, providing more information about it, similar to "who," "which," "that," or "whose" in English. Turkish primarily uses participles to form relative clauses.

The participle acts as an adjective: the whole clause comes before the noun it describes, and there is no separate word for "who/which/that".

1. Using the -en/-an Participle:

This participle is used when the noun being modified is the subject of the action in the relative clause.

• Kitap okuyan çocuk (The child who is reading a book / The book-reading child)
• Hızlı koşan at (The horse that runs fast)
• Dün gelen misafir (The guest who came yesterday)

2. Using the -dik/-dık (and its variants) Participle:

This participle is very versatile. It is used when the noun being modified is not the subject of the relative clause — typically its object, but also a place, time, etc. A possessive suffix on the participle shows who does the action, and that subject (if stated) takes the genitive.

• Benim okuduğum kitap (The book that I read/am reading)
  (Here, kitap is the object of okumak; benim indicates 'I' did the reading)
• Senin gördüğün film (The movie that you saw)
• Onun yazdığı mektup (The letter that he/she wrote)
• Oturduğumuz ev (The house (that) we live in)
• Kapısı açık olan ev (The house whose door is open) — here olan (ol- + -an) describes the house through its door.

The noun modified by a -dik participle can also take case endings: Sevdiğim kıza bir hediye aldım. (I bought a gift for the girl I love.)

3. Using the -ecek/-acak Future Participle:

Used when the action in the relative clause is in the future.

• Yarın gelecek adam (The man who will come tomorrow)
• Okuyacağım kitap (The book that I will read) (oku + y + acak + ım, with k → ğ)

Relative clauses in Turkish precede the noun they modify, forming a single noun phrase.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ okuyan kitap (for "the book I read") → ✓ okuduğum kitap (the book is the object, so use -DIK + possessive)
• ✗ kitap okuduğu çocuk (for "the child who reads a book") → ✓ kitap okuyan çocuk (the child is the subject, so use -(y)An)
• ✗ ben okuduğum kitap → ✓ (benim) okuduğum kitap (the subject of a -DIK clause is genitive)