tutulmak

Tutulmak is a Turkish verb formed from the verb root tut- (to hold) with the passive/mediopassive suffix -ul- and the infinitive suffix -mak. It is used to express a state in which the subject experiences an action rather than performs it. The form behaves like a regular -mak verb in conjugation, with the passive meaning taking precedence in many uses.

The primary senses of tutulmak are twofold. First, it can describe being held or kept in a physical or metaphorical sense. For example, yağmura tutulmak means to be caught in the rain, i.e., to get wet because of rain. In a broader, figurative sense, it can indicate being subjected to or overwhelmed by something, such as fear or stress, in phrases like korkuya tutulmak (to be seized by fear) or stresşe tutulmak (to be subjected to stress). Second, tutulmak is commonly used to denote affliction by illness or disease, especially in fixed expressions such as gribe tutulmak (to catch a flu) or bir hastalığa tutulmak (to be affected by a disease).

In addition to these idiomatic uses, tutulmak appears in the passive voice to indicate that someone or something is the recipient of an action, rather than its agent. The related noun tutulum or tutulma refers to the act or condition of being held, afflicted, or subjected to something.

Common examples illustrate its versatility: Yağmura tutuldu means he was caught in the rain; Gribe tutuldu means he caught a flu; Sınavlar sırasında korkuya tutuldu means he was seized by fear during the exams. The word is widely understood in everyday Turkish and occurs in both formal and informal registers.