Combined Voice Suffixes in Turkish

Overview

Turkish is an agglutinative language, which means you can stack multiple suffixes onto a single verb to express layered meanings. When it comes to voice suffixes — causative, passive, reflexive, and reciprocal — you can combine them to create nuanced constructions that would require entire clauses in English. This is one of the features that gives Turkish its expressive power and economy.

At the B2 level, you are ready to tackle these combined voice constructions. You have already learned individual voice suffixes, and now you will see how they interact when stacked together. The most common combination is causative-passive ("to have something done"), but you will also encounter reciprocal-causative and other pairings. The key challenge is understanding the correct order of suffixes and how vowel harmony and consonant changes apply at each boundary.

Mastering combined voice suffixes will significantly improve both your comprehension of formal and written Turkish and your ability to express complex actions efficiently.

How It Works

Suffix Order Rules

When combining voice suffixes, the order is strictly fixed. The verb stem comes first, followed by voice suffixes in this order:

Position	Suffix Type	Example Suffix
1 (closest to stem)	Reflexive	-In
2	Reciprocal	-Iş
3	Causative	-DIr, -t, -Ir, -Art
4 (outermost)	Passive	-Il, -In

After the voice suffixes, tense and person markers follow as usual.

Common Combinations

Causative + Passive (most frequent)

This expresses "to have something done" or "to be made to do something."

Verb	Causative	Causative-Passive	Meaning
yapmak (to do)	yaptırmak	yaptırılmak	to be had done
okumak (to read)	okutmak	okutulmak	to be made to read
temizlemek (to clean)	temizletmek	temizletilmek	to be had cleaned
boyamak (to paint)	boyatmak	boyatılmak	to be had painted

Reciprocal + Causative

This means "to make (people) do something to each other."

Verb	Reciprocal	Reciprocal-Causative	Meaning
tanımak (to know)	tanışmak	tanıştırmak	to introduce (make know each other)
görmek (to see)	görüşmek	görüştürmek	to arrange a meeting
konuşmak (to talk)	—	konuşturmak	to make talk

Causative + Causative (double causative)

Used when the subject causes someone else to cause an action — a chain of delegation.

Verb	Single Causative	Double Causative	Meaning
yapmak	yaptırmak	yaptırttırmak	to have someone have it done
okumak	okutmak	okutturtmak	to have someone make someone read

Suffix Sound Changes

When stacking suffixes, each suffix undergoes vowel and consonant harmony based on the preceding sound:

• The passive suffix -Il becomes -ıl/-il/-ul/-ül following four-way vowel harmony
• After a causative ending in a vowel, the passive takes the buffer consonant: -n- before -Il
• Consonant assimilation applies at each suffix boundary

Conjugation Example: yaptırılmak (to be had done)

Person	Past Tense	Present Continuous
Ben	yaptırıldım	yaptırılıyorum
Sen	yaptırıldın	yaptırılıyorsun
O	yaptırıldı	yaptırılıyor
Biz	yaptırıldık	yaptırılıyoruz
Siz	yaptırıldınız	yaptırılıyorsunuz
Onlar	yaptırıldılar	yaptırılıyorlar

Examples in Context

Turkish	English	Note
Ev yaptırıldı.	The house was had built.	Causative-passive: someone commissioned it
Tanıştırıldık.	We were introduced to each other.	Reciprocal-causative-passive
Kızdırılmak istemiyorum.	I don't want to be made angry.	Causative-passive infinitive
Arabayı tamir ettirildim.	I was made to have the car repaired.	Double delegation
Çocuklar okutuldu.	The children were made to study.	Causative-passive
Saçlarımı kestirdim.	I had my hair cut.	Causative (common everyday use)
Saçları kestiriliyor.	The hair is being had cut.	Causative-passive continuous
Hastalar muayene ettirildi.	The patients were made to be examined.	Formal/medical context
Öğrenciler tanıştırıldı.	The students were introduced.	Reciprocal-causative-passive
Bu iş yaptırılabilir.	This job can be had done.	With ability suffix
Toplantı ertelettirildik.	We were made to have the meeting postponed.	Complex chain
Rapor yazdırılmış.	The report was apparently had written.	With evidential

Common Mistakes

Wrong Suffix Order

• Wrong: Ev yapıldırtıldı.
• Right: Ev yaptırıldı.
• Why: The causative must come before the passive. You cannot place the passive between the stem and the causative.

Forgetting Vowel Harmony in the Chain

• Wrong: Temizletilmak
• Right: Temizletilmek
• Why: The infinitive suffix must harmonize with the last vowel (-il has "i", so the infinitive is -mek, not -mak).

Confusing Causative-Passive with Simple Passive

• Wrong: Ev yapıldı. (when meaning "someone had it built")
• Right: Ev yaptırıldı.
• Why: "Yapıldı" means "it was done/built" (passive only). "Yaptırıldı" means "it was commissioned/had built" (causative + passive).

Overusing Double Causatives

• Wrong: Anneme yemeği pişirttirdim. (unnecessarily complex)
• Right: Anneme yemek pişirttim. or Yemeği anneye pişirttirdim.
• Why: Double causatives should only be used when there is genuinely a chain of three agents. Most situations need only a single causative.

Missing Buffer Consonants

• Wrong: Yaptıralıyor
• Right: Yaptırılıyor
• Why: The passive suffix after the causative follows standard rules. Pay attention to the exact form of each suffix.

Usage Notes

Combined voice suffixes are more common in written and formal Turkish than in casual speech. In everyday conversation, speakers often restructure sentences to avoid long suffix chains. For example, instead of "yaptırıldı," a speaker might say "birisi yaptırdı" (someone had it done).

In bureaucratic and legal Turkish, causative-passive constructions are particularly frequent: "bildirilmiştir" (it has been made known), "onaylatılmıştır" (it has been had approved).

The causative-passive combination is by far the most useful in daily life — you will hear it whenever someone talks about services: having clothes cleaned, cars repaired, documents prepared, or houses built.

Practice Tips

• Start with the causative-passive combination since it is the most common. Practice with everyday service verbs: kestirmek (have cut), yaptırmak (have done), tamir ettirmek (have repaired). Then add the passive to each.
• Build suffix chains step by step: write the stem, add the first voice suffix, check harmony, add the second, check harmony again. This methodical approach prevents errors.
• Listen to news broadcasts and official announcements — they frequently use combined voice constructions. Try to identify each suffix layer in the verbs you hear.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Causative Voice — you must understand single causative suffixes before combining them with other voice markers