Language/Kirghiz/Grammar/Past-Tense

Kirghiz → Grammar → 0 to A1 Course → Past Tense

Welcome to another lesson of our "Complete 0 to A1 Kirghiz Course"! Today, we'll be learning about how to conjugate Kirghiz verbs in the past tense and practice forming affirmative, negative, and interrogative sentences. Understanding the past tense is essential to have meaningful conversations in Kirghiz, as this tense is used to describe actions that have taken place in the past.

The Kyrgyz past tense conjugation is quite simple compared to some other languages. You'll see that it follows a pattern that is easy to learn and apply. Moreover, I'll share some cultural information and interesting facts about the Kirghiz language and culture along the way.

Let's get started!

Consider exploring these related pages after completing this lesson: Noun Cases & How to Use Have.

Regular Verbs in the Past Tense

To conjugate regular verbs in the past tense, all you have to do is add the appropriate past tense ending to the verb stem. These endings vary depending on the person (first, second, or third) and number (singular or plural). Here is the basic structure for conjugating regular verbs in the past tense:

Verb stem + Past tense ending

Past Tense Endings

Here is a table that shows the past tense endings for regular Kirghiz verbs:

Person	Singular	Plural
1st (I, we)	-дым (-дим)	-дык (-дик)
2nd (you)	-дың (-диң)	-дыңыз (-диңиз)
3rd (he, she, it, they)	-ды (-ди)	-ды (-ди)

Note that there are two different endings for each person — one for verbs with back vowels (а, о, у, ы) and one for verbs with front vowels (е, и, ө, ү).

Let's see some examples:

Kirghiz	Pronunciation	English
Мен жаздым	Men jazdım	I wrote
Сен жаздың	Sen jazdıñ	You wrote
Ал жазды	Al jazdı	He/She/It wrote
Биз жаздык	Biz jazdık	We wrote
Силер жаздыңыз	Siler jazdıñız	You all wrote
Алар жазды	Alar jazdı	They wrote

Irregular Verbs in the Past Tense

While most verbs in Kirghiz follow the pattern described above, there are some irregular verbs that conjugate a bit differently. Some common irregular verbs in the past tense include:

• баруу (to go)
• келүү (to come)
• көрүү (to see)

Here is a table that shows the past tense conjugation for these irregular verbs:

Verb	1st singular	2nd singular	3rd singular	1st plural	2nd plural	3rd plural
баруу	бардым	бардың	барды	бардык	бардыңыз	барды
келүү	келдим	келдиң	келди	келдик	келдиңиз	келди
көрүү	көрдүм	көрдүң	көрдү	көрдүк	көрдүңүз	көрдү

+ Practice forming simple past tense sentences with these irregular verbs.

Now that we know how to conjugate regular and irregular verbs in the past tense, let's practice forming affirmative, negative, and interrogative sentences.

Affirmative Sentences in the Past Tense

To form an affirmative sentence in the past tense, you simply need to conjugate the verb and place it at the end of the sentence, following the subject-object-verb order.

Example:

Мен китеп окудум. (Men kitep okudum) I read a book.

Negative Sentences in the Past Tense

To form a negative sentence in the past tense, you should add the negative particle "емес" (emes) after the past tense verb.

Example:

Мен китеп окудум емес. (Men kitep okudum emes) I didn't read a book.

Interrogative Sentences in the Past Tense

For questions in the past tense, simply add the question particle "ба?" (ba?) to the end of the sentence.

Example:

Мен китеп окудум ба? (Men kitep okudum ba?) Did I read a book?

Now you know the basics of conjugating Kirghiz verbs in the past tense! I hope this lesson was helpful and made it easier for you to talk about past events in Kirghiz. Remember, practice makes perfect, so keep practicing these conjugations and sentence structures until they become second nature. Plus, don't forget to explore more aspects of Kirghiz culture and language to make your learning experience even more enjoyable.

Good luck, and happy learning!

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Table of Contents - Kirghiz Course - 0 to A1

• Course Presentation

  ---

Greetings and Introductions

• Basic Greetings
• Introducing Yourself

  ---

Basic Sentence Structure

• Subject-Object-Verb Order
• Negation

  ---

Numbers and Time

• Cardinal Numbers
• Ordinal Numbers
• Telling Time

  ---

Nouns and Pronouns

• Noun Cases
• Personal Pronouns
• Possessive Pronouns

  ---

Family and Relationships

• Family Members
• Relationship Status

  ---

Verbs and Tenses

• Present Tense
• Past Tense
• Future Tense

  ---

Food and Dining

• Meals and Ingredients
• Ordering at a Restaurant

  ---

Kirghiz Customs and Traditions

• Holidays and Celebrations
• Traditional Clothing

  ---

Travel and Transportation

• Modes of Transportation
• Asking for Directions

  ---

Adjectives and Adverbs

• Adjective Agreement
• Comparative and Superlative

  ---

Weather and Seasons

• Seasons
• Weather Conditions

  ---

Kirghiz Literature and Music

• Famous Writers and Poets
• Traditional Music and Instruments

Other Lessons

• Present Tense
• Adjectives
• Noun Cases
• Conditional Mood
• Future Tense
• Comparative and Superlative
• Personal pronouns
• Gender
• Personal Pronouns