-ılmış/-ilmiş

Passive Result Participle

Level 4

The -ılmış/-ilmiş participle creates adjectives from verbs. It describes the result of an action that was done to something. It is the passive equivalent of the English past participle (like 'broken' or 'solved').

How It Works

The -ılmış/-ilmiş participle (and its variants -ulmuş/-ülmüş) is a verbal adjective used to describe a noun that has undergone a specific process and is now in a resulting state.

1. Formation:
It is built in two steps:

  • Step 1: Passive Suffix. Attach the passive marker to the verb stem. Use -ıl/-il/-ul/-ül for most stems, including those ending in 'n' (e.g., inanılmış). If the stem ends in 'l', use -ın/-in/-un/-ün (e.g., alınmış). If the stem ends in a vowel, use -n (e.g., oxunmuş) or the double passive -nıl/-nil (e.g., gözlənilmiş).
  • Step 2: Participle Suffix. Attach the -mış/-miş/-muş/-müş suffix.

2. Important Exceptions:
High-frequency verbs ending in vowels like yemək (to eat) and demək (to say) use a special -yil form: yeyilmiş (eaten) and deyilmiş (said), rather than the standard -n suffix.

3. Meaning and Usage:
This form is strictly resultative; it describes a 'passive and finished' state. Unlike the active participle (-mış), which describes someone who did something (e.g., oxumuş adam - a man who has read), the passive result participle describes something that was done (e.g., oxunmuş kitab - a read book). It is the natural way to become proficient in describing states where the agent is unknown or irrelevant, such as 'a closed door' or 'a written letter'.

Examples (5)

  1. Həll edilmiş problem hamını sevindirdi.

    The solved problem made everyone happy.

    Word by Word: Solve done-having-been problem everyone-acc happy-made.

    Here, 'həll edilmiş' describes the state of the problem after it was solved.

  2. Bağlanmış qapının arxasında kimsə var.

    There is someone behind the closed door.

    Word by Word: Closed door-gen behind-loc someone exists.

    'Bağlanmış' (closed) is the passive result of the verb 'bağlamaq' (to close).

  3. Bu, çoxdan unudulmuş bir adətdir.

    This is a long-forgotten custom.

    Word by Word: This, long-ago forgotten-been a custom-is.

    'Unudulmuş' describes the custom as being in a state of having been forgotten.

  4. Təsdiq olunmuş sənədlər masanın üstündədir.

    The approved documents are on the table.

    Word by Word: Approval been-done documents table-gen top-loc-is.

    In formal contexts, 'olunmuş' (the passive of 'olmaq') is frequently used with nouns to form passive adjectives.

  5. Yazılmış məktub hələ göndərilməyib.

    The written letter has not been sent yet.

    Word by Word: Written letter yet sent-not-been.

    'Yazılmış' describes the letter in its finished, passive state.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the active participle instead of the passive.

    Yazmış məktub masadadır.
    Yazılmış məktub masadadır.

    'Yazmış məktub' implies the letter itself wrote something. You must use the passive '-ıl-' to show the letter was written by someone else.

  • Using the wrong passive variant on stems ending in 'l'.

    Alılmış kitablar.
    Alınmış kitablar.

    If a verb stem ends in 'l' (like 'al-'), the passive suffix changes to '-ın' to avoid the double 'l' sound.

How It Connects

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

-ılmış/-ilmişLevel 4Passive Result Participle

Learn This First

To understand the passive result participle, you first need to know how to form the passive voice in Azerbaijani (using -ıl or -n). This pattern combines the passive voice with the resultative participle suffix (-mış) to create an adjective-like word that describes a noun based on an action that was performed on it.

Words in This Pattern

-il-miş