Belirsiz Geçmiş Zaman
In Turkish there is an explicit past tense(belirtili geçmiş zaman) and narrated past tense(belirsiz geçmiş zaman).
You can read about explicit simple past🔗 (-dı, -di, -tı, -ti).
In this article we are looking at implicit(narrated) simple past.
It is used to express things in the past we know have happened but haven’t witnessed it. It is used for things we don’t have first hand evidence.
The suffix structure is “-mIş”, where I → i, ı, u, ü depending on the last vowel according to vowel harmony rule🔗.
1. Verbs
| Turkish Verb | English Verb | Past Tense (3rd Person Singular) | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| uyumak | to sleep | uyumuş | (he/she/it) slept |
| çalmak | to play (instrunment) | çalmış | (he/she/it) played |
| çalmak | to steal | çalmış | (he/she/it) stole |
| gitmek | to go | gitmiş | (he/she/it) went |
| unutmak | to forget | unutmuş | (he/she/it) forgot |
| sormak | to ask | sormuş | (he/she/it) asked |
| gezmek | to travel | gezmiş | (he/she/it) traveled |
| almak | to buy | almış | (he/she/it) bought |
| satmak | to sell | satmış | (he/she/it) sold |
| içmek | to drink | içmiş | (he/she/it) drank |
| sevmek | to love | sevmiş | (he/she/it) loved |
- 🟩 - root of verb
- 🟨 - indicator of verb (All verbs in Turkish end with
makormek) - 🟥 - past tense suffix
- 🟦 - last letter of root
2. Adjectives
| Turkish Adj. | English Adj. | Past tense 3rd person singular ( O ) | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| güzel | beautiful | güzelmiş | (he/she/it) was beautiful |
| büyük | big | büyükmüş | (he/she/it) was big |
| küçük | small | küçükmüş | (he/she/it) was small |
| uzun | tall | uzunmuş | (he/she/it) was tall |
| yumuşak | soft | yumuşakmış | (he/she/it) was soft |
| kirli | dirty | kirliymış | (he/she/it) was dirty |
| mutlu | happy | mutluymuş | (he/she/it) was happy |
| kolay | easy | kolaymış | (he/she/it) was easy |
| kibar | polite | kibarmış | (he/she/it) was polite |
| dürüst | honest | dürüstmüş | (he/she/it) was honest |
- 🟦 - last letter of word
- 🟧 - separator 'y' between two vowels (only in noun and adjective), not in verbs ❌.
- 🟥 - past tense suffix
3. Nouns
| Turkish Noun | English Noun | Past tense 3rd person singular ( O ) | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| uçak | airplane | uçakmış | (he/she/it) was an airplane |
| araba | car | arabaymış | (he/she/it) was a car |
| şarkı | song | şarkıymış | (he/she/it) was a song |
| kedi | cat | kediymiş | (he/she/it) was a cat |
| otel | hotel | otelmiş | (he/she/it) was a hotel |
| üniversite | university | üniversiteymiş | (he/she/it) was a university |
| orman | forest | ormanmış | (he/she/it) was a forest |
| şans | luck | şansmış | (he/she/it) was luck |
♟️ If the last letter of the word a noun or an adjective is a vowel, ‘y’ comes in between as a separator.
♟️ There is no irregular verb in Turkish. The conversion to past tense by adding -mIs suffix applies universally to all roots of a verb.
♟️ Also keep in mind that if you hear a lot -mış being used in a conversation there is a good chance that it is a gossip.
♟️ Stories are also narrated using the -mış past tense suffix. That is why they start with “Bir varmış bir yokmuş”
Thanks for reading!
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