What Is -yordu In Turkish?
The “-yor” structure is used for verbs that started in the past and do not continue in the present.
You learned what is the “present continuous tense” (şimdiki zaman) and “past tense” (geçmiş zaman) in Turkish before in the A1 course. In this lesson, you will learn how to use these two tenses together. Again, this is a very important tense that is frequently used in Turkish. If you do not have any knowledge about this subject, it may take time to understand whether a Turkish-speaking person is talking about the past or the present. This can make it difficult to speak fluently and establish a dialogue, as you can imagine. Now take your notebook and pen with you, learn what is -yordu in Turkish? and take notes.
What Is the Difference Between “-yordu” and Simple Past Tense (Geçmiş Zaman -di, -di, -du, -dü)?
When using the Simple Past Tense (Geçmiş Zaman “-di, -di, -du, -dü”), you can use it for many situations that occur in the past tense. This is a more general structure.
“-yordu” is used in more special cases. “-yordu” is used in situations that have continued for some time in the past but do not continue now. Briefly; If you use “-“yordu”, it means that if you emphasize that the verb continued for a while. It may have taken a long or short time, it doesn’t matter.
Example situations;
- constantly in the past
- for a while in the past
- over and over in the past
- as a habit in the past
- for a long time in the past
Rules
- If the last letter of the verb is a vowel, the suffix is “–yordu“
- If the last letter of the verb is a consonant, the suffix is “-ıyordu, iyordu, uyordu or üyordu” (The suffix changes according to 4 way vowel harmony.)
REMEMBER!
If the last letter of the verb is “a or e” and if “-yor” comes right after these letters, you have to delete “a, e“ and write a new vowel according to 4 way vowel harmony.
- hatırla– (remember)
- hatırlıyordu. (was remembering)
Sample Sentences with “-yordu” in Turkish
- Ali çocukken top oynuyordu. (Ali was playing ball when he was a kid.)
- Ben eskiden düzenli uyuyordum. (I was sleeping regularly before.)
- Kızım bebekken çok ağlıyordu ama şimdi çok uslu. (My daughter used to cry a lot when she was a baby, but now she’s very good.)
- Üniversite yıllarımızda çok eğleniyorduk. (We had so much fun in our college years.)
- Bulaşık makinesi almadan önce bulaşıkları elde yıkıyorduk. (Before we bought a dishwasher, we used to wash dishes by hand.)
- Önceki fırınım yemeği daha iyi pişiriyordu. (My previous oven was cooking food better.)
- Yemek yiyordum, bu yüzden telefona cevap veremedim. (I was eating, so I couldn’t answer the phone.)
- Yaşlanmadan önce çok yürüyüş yapıyordum, şimdi dışarı bile çıkamıyorum. (Before I got old, I used to do a lot of walking, now I can’t even go outside.)
- Sınava 5 ay kala çok çalışıyordu ama zaman yetmedi ve sınavı kazanamadı. (S/he was studying hard 5 months before the exam, but the time was not enough and s/he could not pass the exam.)
- Dün gece arkadaşımın evinde onun doğum gününü kutluyorduk. (We were celebrating her birthday at my friend’s house last night.)
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