Participles from causatives

Level 4

Causative participles allow you to describe a person or thing that causes an action (e.g., 'the person who makes me laugh') or the object of a caused action (e.g., 'the letter I had written'). They are essential for building complex relative clauses in Azerbaijani.

How It Works

In Azerbaijani, participles replace the English 'who,' 'which,' or 'that' clauses. When combined with the causative voice, they express complex relationships of agency.

1. The Structure:
The verb first receives a causative suffix based on its stem:

  • -dır⁴: Used for most consonant-ending stems, including monosyllabic stems ending in liquids (e.g., gül-dür-, yaz-dır-).
  • -t: Used for vowel-ending stems (e.g., oxu-t-) and polysyllabic stems ending in liquids (e.g., düzəl-t-).
  • -ır⁴: Used for specific monosyllabic stems (e.g., biş-ir-, iç-ir-).
  • Other Suffixes: Less common suffixes include -ar/-ər (e.g., çıx-ar-) and -ut⁴ (e.g., qorx-ut-).

2. Subject vs. Object Orientation:

  • Active Participle (-an/-ən): Modifies the 'causer.' Example: Güldürən adam (The man who makes [others] laugh).
  • Object Participle (-dığı + possessive): Modifies the thing being acted upon. Example: Yazdırdığım məktub (The letter I had [someone] write).
  • Future Participle (-acaq/-əcək): Modifies a future causer or object. Example: Oxutduracaq müəllim (The teacher who will have [someone] read).

3. The Causee and Double Causatives:
If the base verb was intransitive, the causee takes the accusative case. If transitive, the causee takes the dative case. In complex cases where a dative object already exists, the postposition vasitəsilə (by means of) is often used to identify the agent. You may also encounter double causatives (e.g., yaz-dır-t-maq) to indicate multiple layers of delegation.

Examples (4)

  1. Məni güldürən dostum gəldi.

    My friend who makes me laugh has arrived.

    Word by Word: Me laugh-causing friend-my came.

    Here, 'gül-dür-ən' is a subject participle modifying 'dostum' (the causer of the laughter).

  2. Uşağa oxutduğunuz kitab çox maraqlıdır.

    The book you had the child read is very interesting.

    Word by Word: To-the-child read-caused-your book very interesting-is.

    The object participle 'oxu-t-duğ-unuz' modifies 'kitab'. Note that 'child' (the causee) is in the dative case because 'read' is transitive.

  3. Dünən təmizlətdiyimiz otaq yenə çirklidir.

    The room we had cleaned yesterday is dirty again.

    Word by Word: Yesterday clean-caused-our room again dirty-is.

    This uses the causative suffix '-t' and the object participle '-diyimiz' to describe the room that underwent the caused action.

  4. Bu, hamını qorxudan bir hadisə idi.

    This was an event that made everyone afraid.

    Word by Word: This, everyone fear-causing one event was.

    The causative verb 'qorxutmaq' (to frighten/make afraid) is turned into a subject participle to describe the event.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the subject participle (-an) instead of the object participle (-dığı) for the target of the action.

    Yazdıran ərizə masanın üstündədir.
    Yazdırdığım ərizə masanın üstündədir.

    'Yazdıran ərizə' would mean 'the application that makes someone write,' which is nonsensical. You must use the possessive relative form for the object being written.

  • Incorrect case marking for the 'causee' (the person forced to do the action).

    Müəllimi yazdırdığım tapşırıq.
    Müəllimə yazdırdığım tapşırıq.

    Because 'yazmaq' (to write) is a transitive verb, the person you make write (the teacher) must be in the dative case (-ə), not the accusative case (-i).

How It Connects

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Participles from causativesLevel 4

Learn This First

To understand causative participles, you must first be familiar with how to form causative verb stems using suffixes like -dır. Additionally, you need to understand the two primary ways Azerbaijani forms participles: the active -an/-ən form (for 'the thing that causes') and the possessive -dıq/-dik form (for 'the thing that I caused').