Verbs: Past Tense

01

Forming the Definite Past Tense

The past tense is formed by adding a suffix to the verb stem, followed by a personal ending. The process involves two main steps:

1. Add the past tense suffix to the verb stem.

The verb stem is what remains after removing the infinitive ending -mek or -mak. The past tense suffix changes according to 4-way vowel harmony and consonant assimilation.

If the verb stem ends in a vowel or a voiced consonant (b, c, d, g, ğ, j, l, m, n, r, v, y, z):

• Use -di if the last vowel in the stem is e, i.
• Use -dı if the last vowel in the stem is a, ı.
• Use -du if the last vowel in the stem is o, u.
• Use -dü if the last vowel in the stem is ö, ü.

• gelmek → gel → geldi

  he/she/it came

• almak → al → aldı

  he/she/it took

• okumak → oku → okudu

  he/she/it read

• görmek → gör → gördü

  he/she/it saw

If the verb stem ends in a voiceless consonant (f, s, t, k, ç, ş, h, p):

• Use -ti if the last vowel in the stem is e, i.
• Use -tı if the last vowel in the stem is a, ı.
• Use -tu if the last vowel in the stem is o, u.
• Use -tü if the last vowel in the stem is ö, ü.

• gitmek → git → gitti

  he/she/it went

• yapmak → yap → yaptı

  he/she/it did

• konuşmak → konuş → konuştu

  he/she/it spoke

• düşmek → düş → düştü

  he/she/it fell

2. Add the personal suffix.

After the past tense suffix, add the appropriate personal ending.

• Ben (I): -m
• Sen (you, singular): -n
• O (he/she/it): no ending
• Biz (we): -k
• Siz (you, plural/formal): -niz/-nız/-nuz/-nüz
• Onlar (they): -ler/-lar

Here is a full conjugation for the verb almak (to take):

• Ben aldım. - I took.
• Sen aldın. - You took.
• O aldı. - He/she/it took.
• Biz aldık. - We took.
• Siz aldınız. - You took.
• Onlar aldılar. - They took.

• Dün akşam bir film izledim.

  I watched a movie last night.

• Geçen yıl Türkiye'ye gittik.

  We went to Turkey last year.

• Toplantı saat on'da başladı.

  The meeting started at ten o'clock.

02

Negative and Question Forms

Negative Form

To make the past tense negative, insert the negative suffix -me or -ma between the verb stem and the past tense suffix.

• okumak → oku-ma-dı-m → okumadım

  I didn't read.

• gelmek → gel-me-di-n → gelmedin

  You didn't come.

• O mektubu göndermediler.

  They didn't send the letter.

Question Form

To form a question, add the question particle mi/mı/mu/mü after the fully conjugated verb. The personal ending moves to the end of the question particle. The particle is written as a separate word.

• geldin → geldin mi?

  Did you come?

• yaptınız → yaptınız mı?

  Did you do it?

• Bu sabah kahve içtin mi?

  Did you drink coffee this morning?

• Onlar sınavı geçtiler mi?

  Did they pass the exam?

Negative Question Form

This combines the negative and question structures.

• görmedin → görmedin mi?

  Didn't you see?

• bitirmediniz → bitirmediniz mi?

  Didn't you finish?

• Daha ödevini yapmadın mı?

  Haven't you done your homework yet?

03

Past Progressive Tense (-iyordu)

To describe an ongoing action in the past (was/were doing something), the past progressive tense is used. It is formed by combining the present progressive suffix -iyor with the past tense.

The structure is: Verb Stem + -iyor + -du + Personal Suffix.

Because the -iyor suffix always ends with the vowel 'o', the past tense suffix that follows is always -du.

• gelmek → gel + iyor + du + m → geliyordum

  I was coming.

• okumak → oku + yor + du + k → okuyorduk

  We were reading.

• Telefon çaldığında uyuyordum.

  I was sleeping when the phone rang.

• Dün akşam televizyon izliyorlardı.

  They were watching television last night.

• Biz konuşurken o dinlemiyordu.

  He wasn't listening while we were talking.