-miş (sıfat)

-miş as an Adjective

Level 4

The -miş suffix creates a past participle that functions as an adjective. It describes a noun by its finished state (e.g., 'broken glass', 'cooked food').

How It Works

The -miş participle is a powerful tool for describing nouns based on actions that have already occurred.

1. Resultative Meaning:
It describes a state that exists now because of a past action. For example, kırılmış (broken) describes the state of an object after the act of breaking is finished.

2. Subject Focus (Active vs. Passive):
Unlike some other participles, -miş always describes the subject of the verb it is attached to. The 'passive' sense often associated with it actually comes from the verb stem itself:

  • Active Stem: Çok kitap okumuş adam (The man who has read many books). Here, the man is the one who did the reading.
  • Passive Stem: Haşlanmış yumurta (Boiled egg). Here, the egg is the subject of the passive verb haşlanmak (to be boiled).

3. -miş vs. -dik:
It is important to distinguish this from the -dik participle. Use -miş for the person/thing doing the action (uyumuş bebek - the baby who slept) and -dik for the object of the action (okuduğum kitap - the book I read).

4. Lexicalized Nouns:
Some -miş forms have become standard nouns in their own right, such as dolmuş (shared taxi, literally 'filled') and geçmiş (the past, literally 'that which has passed').

5. Vowel Harmony:
The suffix follows four-way vowel harmony:

  • -mış: a, ı (kızarmış - fried)
  • -miş: e, i (bitmiş - finished)
  • -muş: o, u (kurumuş - dried)
  • -müş: ö, ü (dökülmüş - spilled)

6. Distinction from Tense:
In the adjective form, the 'hearsay' nuance of the evidential past tense is absent; it is purely descriptive.

Examples (5)

  1. Kırılmış camlara dikkat et.

    Watch out for the broken glass.

    Word by Word: Broken glasses-to attention do.

    Here, 'kırılmış' (broken) describes the state of the 'cam' (glass) resulting from a past action.

  2. Gelişmiş ülkeler bu sorunu çözdü.

    Developed countries solved this problem.

    Word by Word: Developed countries this problem-acc solved.

    'Gelişmiş' is a very common adjective meaning 'developed', derived from the verb 'gelişmek' (to develop).

  3. Duvarda kurumuş boya lekeleri var.

    There are dried paint stains on the wall.

    Word by Word: Wall-on dried paint stains exist.

    'Kurumuş' (dried) describes the current state of the paint stains.

  4. Uyumuş bebeği uyandırma.

    Don't wake the sleeping baby.

    Word by Word: Slept baby-acc wake-do-not.

    Even though the baby 'slept' in the past, the -miş suffix describes the baby's current state of being asleep.

  5. Tanınmış bir yazarla tanıştım.

    I met a well-known writer.

    Word by Word: Known a writer-with I-met.

    'Tanınmış' (known/recognized) is the adjectival form of the passive verb 'tanınmak'.

Common Mistakes

  • Confusing the adjective position with the verb position.

    Yemek pişmiş yedik.
    Pişmiş yemeği yedik.

    In Turkish, adjectives must come before the noun. If you place '-miş' at the end of a clause, it functions as a verb tense, not an adjective.

  • Using -miş for the thing the action was done to.

    Dün okumuş kitabı çok sevdim.
    Dün okuduğum kitabı çok sevdim.

    As an adjective, -miş describes the one who did the action, as in 'uyumuş bebek' (the baby who slept). For the thing the action was done to, use -dik, as in 'okuduğum kitap' (the book I read). The adjective -miş carries no hearsay meaning.

How It Connects

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-miş (sıfat)Level 4-miş as an Adjective

Learn This First

To understand -miş as an adjective, you first need to be familiar with the -miş past tense suffix and how it is formed using four-way vowel harmony. Additionally, you must understand the basic word order for adjectives and nouns, as this pattern transforms a verb into a descriptor that precedes a noun to indicate a completed state.

Words in This Pattern

-miş