Language/Turkish/Grammar/Past-Tense

Past Tense in Turkish

Hello everybody,

In today's lesson you will learn how to use the ¨PAST TENSE¨ in Turkish.

Feel free to edit this page by adding new words and expressions!

Happy learning! :)

Past Tense in Turkish is easy. The main 2 types of Past tense is Görülen (simple past) and Öğrenilen (not defined past). There are also many mixed types of past tense.

As you complete your study of this topic, consider these connected lessons to continue your learning: REİTERATİVE, Gender, The Nominative Case in Turkish & Adjectives.

Simple Past Tense - Görünen /Di'li Geçmiş Zaman

We use this tense for actions that happened in past. Its suffixes are -DI (-dı, -di, -du, -dü, -tı, -ti, -tu, -tü). For example: O, soğan doğradı. She sliced onions.

ENGLISH	PRONUNCIATION ENGLISH	TURKISH	PRONUNCIATION BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE	BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE
I CAME	behn gehl dihm	BEN GELDİM	ben gueLdim	EU VIM
YOU CAME	sehn gehl dihn	SEN GELDİN	sen gueLdin	VOCÊ VEIO
HE / SHE / IT CAME	oh gehl dih	O GELDİ	o gueLdí	ELE / ELA / ISSO VEIO
WE CAME	bihz gehl dihk	BİZ GELDİK	biz gueLdík	NÓS VIEMOS
YOU CAME	sihz gehl dih nihz	SİZ GELDİNİZ	siz gueLdiníz	VOCÊS VIERAM
THEY CAME	ohn lahr gehl dih lehr	ONLAR GELDİLER	onlár gueLdilér	ELES / ELAS VIERAM
****When use past tence, -Di will be changed as a -Ti,-Ta, Te,Tı,Ti
I WENT	behn gith tim	BEN GİTTİM
YOU WENT	sehn gith tin	SEN GİTTİN
HE/SHE WENT	o gith ti	O GİTTİ
WE WENT	bihz gith tik	BİZ GİTTİK
YOU WENT	sihz gith tiniz	SİZ GİTTİNİZ
THEY WENT	ohn lahr gith tiler	ONLAR GİTTİLER
I CAME HOME	behn eh veh gehl dihm	BEN EVE GELDİM	ben evé gueLdim	EU VIM PRA CASA
YOU CAME HOME	sehn eh veh gehl dihn	SEN EVE GELDİN	sen evé gueLdin	VOCÊ VEIO PRA CASA
HE CAME HOME	oh eh veh gehl dih	O EVE GELDİ	o evé gueLdí	ELE / ELA / ISSO VEIO PRA CASA
WE CAME HOME	bihz eh veh gehl dihk	BİZ EVE GELDİK	biz evé gueLdík	NÓS VIEMOS PRA CASA
YOU CAME HOME	sihz eh veh gehl dih nihz	SİZ EVE GELDİNİZ	siz evé gueLdiníz	VOCÊS VIERAM PRA CASA
THEY CAME HOME	ohn lahr eh veh gehl dih lehr	ONLAR EVE GELDİLER	onlár evé gueLdilér	ELES / ELAS VIERAM PRA CASA

Not defined in English - Öğrenilen /Miş'li Geçmiş Zaman

Not defined Past Tense or Öğrenilen Geçmiş Zaman is also used for actions that happened in past but only if we didn't witness it and heard from someone else or that we have just found out. Its suffixes are -mIş (-mış, -miş, -muş, -müş). For example: Duydum ki arkadaşın Rusya'dan dönmüş. I heard your friend came back from Russia. (we didn't see it but we heard it from someone)

ENGLISH	PRONUNCIATION ENGLISH	TURKISH	PRONUNCIATION BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE	BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE
I CAME		Ben gelmişim
YOU CAME		Sen gelmişsin
HE / SHE / IT CAME		O gelmiş
WE CAME		Biz gelmişiz
YOU CAME		Siz gelmişsiniz
THEY CAME		Onlar gelmişler

Simple Past Perfect - Öğrenilen Geçmiş Zamanın Hikayesi

ENGLISH	PRONUNCIATION ENGLISH	TURKISH	PRONUNCIATION BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE	BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE
I HAD CAME		Ben gelmiştim
YOU HAD CAME		Sen gelmiştin
HE / SHE / IT HAD CAME		O gelmişti
WE HAD CAME		Biz gelmiştik
YOU HAD CAME		Siz gelmiştiniz
THEY HAD CAME		Onlar gelmiştiler

Not defined in English - Öğrenilen Geçmiş Zamanın Şartı

This tense is used to describe the result of an action that happened in the past (like the action is the reason) but we didn't witness that action. Its suffixes are: -mIş+sA. For example: Burhan Tuğçeyi sevmişse, neden bunu ona itiraf etmedi? If Burhan loved Tugce (we have just found out that he loved her) why didn't he admit it to her?

ENGLISH	PRONUNCIATION ENGLISH	TURKISH	PRONUNCIATION BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE	BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE
I CAME		Ben gelmişsem
YOU CAME		Sen gelmişsen
HE / SHE / IT CAME		O gelmişse
WE CAME		Biz gelmişsek
YOU CAME		Siz gelmişseniz
THEY CAME		Onlar gelmişseler

Not defined in English - Görülen Geçmiş Zamanın Şartı

This tense is used to describe the result of an action that happened in the past (like the action is the reason). Its suffixes are: -DI+y+sE. (we add "Y" because two vowels can't be next to each other). For example: Ödevini bitirdiysen gidip dinlen. If you finished your homework, go and take a rest.

ENGLISH	PRONUNCIATION ENGLISH	TURKISH	PRONUNCIATION BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE	BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE
I CAME		Ben geldiysem
YOU CAME		Sen geldiysen
HE / SHE / IT CAME		O geldiyse
WE CAME		Biz geldiysek
YOU CAME		Siz geldiyseniz
THEY CAME		Onlar geldiyseler

PRONOUN + OBJECT + VERB STEM + -DI, -Dİ, -DU, -DÜ / PRONOME + OBJETO + RAIZ DO VERBO + -DI, -Dİ, -DU, -DÜ

CONJUGATION (EK-FİİL)

Turkish grammer and sentence structure is little bit different from other european language. Turks are using the verb at the end of the sentence. but the Turkish grammer is the same about the pronouns and conjugation. Past Tense (Geçmiş Zaman) consists of two parts : -Di'li Geçmiz zaman (görülen) and -Miş'li Geçmiş Zaman (duyulan). we see the action and the action is exactly finish (completed) in -Di'li Geçmiş Zaman . On the other hand the action is not seen or heard by the subject ( pronoun) and the action learned or known afterward in the Miş'li geçmiş zaman. but the basic past tense in Turkish is -Di'li Geçmiş zaman. we make the simple past tense in Turkish language with adding the addition -dı, - di, -du, -dü (-tı, -ti, -tu, -tü ) to the verb stem. now I am present you to table about the past tenses conjugation.

pronouns	conjugation	pronouns	conjugation
ben	gel - dim	I	came
sen	gel - din	you	came
o	gel - di	he/she/it	came
biz	gel - dik	we	came
siz	gel - diniz	you	came
onlar	gel - diler	they	came

Ben eve geldim. ( I came home). Pronoun + object + Verb stem + -dı, -di, -du, -dü .

Sen eve geldin. (You came home).

O eve geldi. (He came home).

Biz eve geldik. (We came home).

Siz eve geldiniz. (You came home).

Onlar eve geldiler. (They came home).

Other Lessons

• Count from 1 to 10
• Personal Pronouns
• The Inclusive Case in Turkish
• Prepositions
• Definite Articles in Turkish
• The Genitive Case in Turkish
• Comaratives and Superlatives
• REİTERATİVE
• Be Polite
• Questions