-mayan/-məyən

Negative Active Participle

Level 4

The -mayan/-məyən suffix creates a negative relative clause. It acts like an adjective describing a person or thing that is not doing something or did not do something.

How It Works

In Azerbaijani, relative clauses are often formed using participles rather than relative pronouns like 'who' or 'which'. The -mayan/-məyən suffix is used when the noun being described is the subject of the negative action.

1. Formation:
The suffix follows vowel harmony:

  • -mayan: Used after back vowels (a, ı, o, u). Example: bax-ma-y-an (not looking).
  • -məyən: Used after front vowels (e, ə, i, ö, ü). Example: gəl-mə-y-ən (not coming).

2. Tense and Nuance:
Although often called a 'present' participle, it is actually 'non-future'. It can describe a general habit, a current state, or even a past event depending on the context of the main sentence.

3. Stress:
Crucially, the negative suffix -ma/-mə is unstressed. The emphasis falls on the syllable right before it (e.g., OXU-mayan).

Examples (4)

  1. Sözə baxmayan uşaq həmişə çətinliklə üzləşir.

    A child who does not listen (obey) always faces difficulties.

    Word by Word: Word-to not-looking child always difficulty-with faces.

    Here, 'baxmayan' describes the child as someone who doesn't obey.

  2. Dünən iclasa gəlməyən işçilər izahat yazmalıdırlar.

    The employees who did not come to the meeting yesterday must write an explanation.

    Word by Word: Yesterday meeting-to not-coming employees explanation must-write.

    In this context, the participle refers to a specific past event (yesterday's meeting).

  3. İşləməyən telefonu təmirə verdim.

    I gave the phone that doesn't work to be repaired.

    Word by Word: Not-working phone-acc repair-to I-gave.

    The participle 'işləməyən' describes the current state of the phone.

  4. Dərsə hazırlaşmayan tələbələr imtahandan kəsildilər.

    The students who didn't prepare for the lesson failed the exam.

    Word by Word: Lesson-to not-preparing students exam-from were-cut.

    This describes a group of people defined by their lack of action.

Common Mistakes

  • Omitting the buffer 'y' between the negative suffix and the participle.

    gəlməən adam
    gəlməyən adam

    Because both the negative suffix (-mə) and the participle suffix (-ən) start/end with vowels, the buffer 'y' is mandatory.

  • Confusing the subject participle with the object participle.

    Oxumayan kitab maraqlıdır.
    Oxunmayan kitab maraqlıdır.

    '-mayan' is for the subject (the one doing the action). A book doesn't read; it is read. For a book, you need the passive form 'oxunmayan' (not being read).

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

-mayan/-məyənLevel 4Negative Active Participle

Learn This First

To understand the negative active participle (-mayan/-məyən), learners first need to be familiar with the positive active participle (-an/-ən) which functions as an adjective. Additionally, they must understand how to negate verb stems using the -ma/-mə suffix and apply standard vowel harmony rules.

Words in This Pattern

-mə-ən-yan-yən