Turkish A2: -dı vs -mış — the past you saw and the past you heard about
Turkish has two past tenses, and the choice is not about time. One says you witnessed it; the other says you did not. Getting this wrong makes you sound like you are inventing things.
English has one simple past. Turkish has two, and they do not differ in when. They differ in how you know.
Ali geldi. → Ali came. (I saw it.) Ali gelmiş. → Ali came, apparently. (Someone told me; I inferred it.)
This is called evidentiality, and Turkish marks it on the verb whether you want to or not. There is no neutral option.
The witnessed past. You saw it, you did it, you know.
Harmonises four ways, and the d becomes t after a voiceless consonant (p, ç, t, k, s, ş, h, f):
| Verb | Past | |
|---|---|---|
| gelmek (to come) | geldi | he came |
| almak (to take) | aldı | he took |
| görmek (to see) | gördü | he saw |
| gitmek (to go) | gitti | he went |
| çalışmak (to work) | çalıştı | he worked |
Personal endings: -m, -n, —, -k, -niz, -ler
Geldim. (I came) · Geldin. (You came) · Geldik. (We came)
The reported or inferred past. Someone told you, you worked it out from evidence, or you are relaying a story.
| Verb | Past | |
|---|---|---|
| gelmek | gelmiş | he came, apparently |
| almak | almış | he took, apparently |
| görmek | görmüş | he saw, apparently |
| gitmek | gitmiş | he went, apparently |
Three situations, one ending:
1. Hearsay. Someone told you.
Ayşe evlenmiş. — Ayşe got married (I heard).
2. Inference. The evidence is in front of you.
Yağmur yağmış. — It rained. (The street is wet. I did not see it rain.)
3. Narrative. Fairy tales, jokes, anything not vouched for.
Bir varmış, bir yokmuş… — Once upon a time…
4. Realising something about yourself.
Çok yorulmuşum. — I'm exhausted, it turns out. (I only just noticed.)
That last one is not a mistake. Using -mış about yourself says you were not conscious of it at the time.
Say you did not witness something and use -dı, and you are claiming you saw it. Say you did witness it and use -mış, and you sound like you are distancing yourself from your own story.
Dün Ankara'ya gittim. — I went to Ankara yesterday. ✓ Dün Ankara'ya gitmişim. — Apparently I went to Ankara yesterday?! (You have amnesia, or you are joking.)
| Situation | Which | Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| You watched the match | -dı | Beşiktaş kazandı. |
| You read the result this morning | -mış | Beşiktaş kazanmış. |
| You broke the glass | -dı | Bardağı kırdım. |
| You find the broken glass | -mış | Bardak kırılmış. |
| Telling your own day | -dı | Sabah erken kalktım. |
| Telling a folk story | -mış | Adam ormana gitmiş. |
Do not reach for -mış because something feels distant in time. Ten years ago, if you were there, it is -dı:
On yıl önce İstanbul'da yaşadım. — I lived in Istanbul ten years ago. (I was there. Obviously.)
Time is carried by the tense; evidence is carried by the choice between them.
Keep reading
One post a day, in your inbox
Each one with a runnable playground and a quiz. No pitch, no digest, unsubscribe in one click.
0 comments
Sign in to join the discussion, like comments, and save articles for later.