Passive Verbs

Passive verbs are formed by joining:

a) -l to verb stems ending in a vowel except bi-syllabic verbs whose first syllable ends in -l, verb stems ending in -i, -u or -la, -lə:

yasa (do, make) – yasal (be done, made)

b) -el / -ıl to verb stems ending in -i, -u or a consonant except -l:

ki (put on) – kiyel (be worn)

qu (chase) – quwıl (be chased)

tap (find) – tabıl (be found)

c) -n to verb stems ending in -la, -lə or bisyllabic verbs the first syllable of which ends in -l, and the second one in a vowel:

cırla (sing) – cırlan (be sung)

alda (lie) – aldan (be lied to)

d) -ın, -en to verb stems ending in -l.

bül (divide) – bülen (be divided)

➡️ Passive verbs are mostly formed from transitive verbs:

uqı (read) – uqıl (be read)

yu (wash) – yuwıl (be washed)

di (he/she/it) says – diyelə (it is said)

yaz (write) – yazıl (be written)

onıt (forget) – onıtıl (be forgotten)

💡 In such sentences, the speaker/writer directs the readers' attention away from the agent and more toward the action and its receiver:

anıñ xezməte qabul itelde – his work was accepted

bu kön bəyrəm itelə – this day is celebrated

💡 In Tatar, a passive verb can be formed from an intransitive verb. In this case, it would mean "one does something":

bar (go) – barıla (one goes)

qayt (return) – qaytıla (one returns)

yör (walk) – yörelə (one walks)

tor (stand up) – torıla (one stands, gets up)

👤 When the passive verb expresses an action, the agent is indicated by the possessive form of taraf (in most cases of the third person, singular) in the ablative case:

... hiçqayçan həm hiçkem tarafınnan cırlanmağan cırlarnı cırlar ide. (Ğadel Qutuy, Ilham)

– ... would sing songs which had never been sung by anybody before.

If taraf is preceded by a possessive pronoun, the possessive suffixes may be omitted:

minem taraftan bilgeləngən plan buyınça – according to the plan set up by me

🌺 If the "doer" of the passive voice is inanimate, it is indicated by the postposition belən:

qoyma belən ayırılğan – separated by a fence

çəçəklər belən qaplanğan – covered with flowers

Or not named at all:

uram yaxşı yaqtırtılğan – the street is well lit

💡 Verb stems ending in -la, -lə or in -l and, consequently, forming their passive with -n, -ın, -en, may take an additional -ıl / -el (double passive, no change in meaning):

söyləngən – söylənelgən

uylanğan – uylanılğan