belirlerken

Belirlerken is a Turkish adverbial participle form derived from the verb belirlemek, meaning to determine or specify. The -ken suffix creates a clause that expresses simultaneous or attendant action, roughly translating to “while determining” or “when determining.” This form is commonly used to connect subordinate information to the main clause, especially in formal or descriptive writing.

Morphology and grammar

The construction involves the stem form of belirlemek with the present tense suffixes, followed by -ken to yield belirl-erken. The resulting clause typically shares the subject with the main clause, though Turkish allows expressing a different subject in some contexts with explicit marking. Belirlerken functions as an adverbial clause marker, indicating time or circumstance under which the main action occurs. It is distinct from the past or future participles and from the infinitive form used in other subordinate clauses.

Usage

Belirlerken is common in technical, academic, and formal Turkish, where processes and criteria are described step by step. It is suitable for outlining how decisions or specifications are made and for noting conditions that accompany a procedure. The form helps to foreground the background activity of determining criteria or definitions in relation to a primary action.

Examples

- Kriterleri belirlerken güvenilir kaynaklara dayanmak gerekir. (When determining the criteria, it is necessary to rely on reliable sources.)

- Prosedürü belirlarken tüm paydaşların görüşleri alınmıştır. (While determining the procedure, all stakeholders’ views were taken into account.)

Related forms

Other verbs form -ken adverbial clauses similarly, such as yazarken (while writing) or okurken (while reading). The -ken construction should not be confused with past or future participles, which convey different temporal relationships.

See also

Turkish grammar, adverbial clauses, participles, belirlemek.