1. -yordu in Turkish (yor+du)
We use -yordu when talking about past habits, when describing an action that continued for a certain period of time in the past. Like past continious in English “was/were …ing”. Also, when we talk about something that is done occasionally, sometimes or constantly but doesn’t continue at this moment, we use “-yor”. It is also often used instead of “erdi, ardı”.
- present continuous ⇒ yor, iyor, uyor, üyor
- past tense ⇒ du
⇒Bana çok fazla yalan söylüyordu. Bu yüzden ondan ayrıldım.
(He lied to me a lot. That’s why I broke up with him.)
⇒Bunu nereden biliyorsun? Onu dinlemiyordun bile.
(How do you know this? You weren’t even listening to him.)
⇒O seninle konuşurken onu dinliyor muydun?
(Were you listening to him talking to you?)
2. -erdi -ardı -urdu in Turkish (er+di)
We use “-rdİ, -erdi, -ardı, -ırdı, -irdi, -urdu, -ürdü” when talking about habits in the past, something that was done regularly or continuously in the past but does not continue now!
- present perfect ⇒ r, er, ar, ır, ir, ur, ür
- past tense ⇒ dı, di, du, dü
⇒Sınav döneminde çok fazla kahve içerdim.
(I used to drink a lot of coffee during the exam period.)
⇒Hiçbir zaman okula otobüsle gitmezdik, her zaman yürürdük.
(We never took the bus to school, we always walked.)
⇒Çocukken dişini düzenli fırçalar mıydı?
(Did he brush his teeth regularly as a child?)
3. -mişti -mıştı -muştu -müştü in Turkish (miş+ti)
We use “-mıştı, -mişti, -muştu, -müştü” when remember or remind something happened in the past, something that is not happening now.
- reported past tense ⇒ mış, miş, muş, müş
- past tense ⇒ tı, ti, tu, tü
⇒Hatırlıyor musun? Geçen yıl çok kar yağmıştı.
(Do you remember? It snowed a lot last year.)
⇒Evet, üstelik ondan önceki senelerde hiç kar yağmamıştı.
(Yes, moreover, it had never snowed in the previous years.)
⇒Hatırlamıyorum, Almanya’da da kar yağmış mıydı?
(I don’t remember, did it snow in Germany too?)
4. ecekti acaktı in Turkish (ecek+ti)
This structure can be used in two different senses. When using one of the following two meanings, we use “-(y)ecekti, -(y)acaktı”
- We’re talking about plans in the past but “about future”. And the plans did not come true. Like “was going to …” structure in English.
- There is a plan, something to do, but we forgot or we don’t know. We ask about the plan.
- future tense ⇒ (y)ecek, (y)acak
- past tense ⇒ tı, ti, tu, tü
⇒Dün seni arayacaktım ama şarjımın bittiğini fark ettim.
(I was going to call you yesterday, but I realized that my battery is dead.)
⇒Aslında o kutlamaya gitmeyecektim ama gitmem için beni zorladın.
(I wasn’t actually going to go to that celebration, but you forced me to go.)
⇒Gitmeyecek miydin? Yalan söyleme! Bal gibi de gitmek istiyordun.
(Weren’t you going? Do not lie! You wanted to go perfectly well.)
⇒Annemi arayıp sorsana. Marketten elma da alacak mıydık?
(Call my mom and ask. Would we buy apples from the market?)
5. -ebildi -abildi in Turkish (ebil+di)
That’s Turkish equivalent of the “can, can not for past tense (could – couldn’t)” We use this construction when talking about competence, ability in the past tense. Sample; We use “-(y)ebildi, -(y)abildi” when talking about aspects such as money, power, capacity, talent in the past.
- ability ⇒ (y)ebil, (y)abil
- past tense ⇒ di
⇒Sonunda kendimize ufak da olsa bir ev alabildik.
(In the end, we were able to buy ourselves a tiny house.)
⇒Maalesef, biz henüz ufak bir ev bile alamadık.
(Unfortunately, we couldn’t even bought a small house yet.)
⇒Ne yaptınız? Ev alabildiniz mi?
(What did you do? Did (could you) you buy a house?)
6. -meliydi -malıydı in Turkish (meli+y+di)
We use “-meliydi, -malıydı” when speaking necessity in the past. We can consider this structure in three different ways.
- Something was supposed to happen, but it didn’t.
- Something has happened and was supposed to happen anyway.
- It is used in situations of regret for something in the past.
- necessity ⇒ meli, malı
- past tense ⇒ ydi, ydı
⇒Tam bir buçuk saattir duraktayız. Otobüs çoktan gelmeliydi.
(We’ve been at the station for an hour and a half. The bus should have arrived already.) -but didn’t come yet-
⇒Özür dilerim sana uğrayamadım çünkü geç kalıyordum. Toplantıya gitmeliydim.
(I’m sorry I couldn’t stop by because I was running late. I should have gone to the meeting.)
⇒Çok aptalım bunu yapmamalıydım. Çok pişmanım, lütfen beni affet.
(I’m so stupid I shouldn’t have done that. I’m so sorry, please forgive me.)
7. -eydi -aydı in Turkish (e+y+di)
Do you remember, we use the suffixes -elim, -alım, -eyim, -ayım in the sense of request to do something. We make it for past tense with the suffixes “-(y)eydi, -(y)aydı”.
- istek kipi ⇒ (y)e, (y)a
- past tense ⇒ ydi, ydı
⇒Geç kalmışız. Sabah erken geleydik ya!
(We are late. I wish we had come early in the morning!)
⇒Çocuk boşa harcıyor, fazla para vermeyeydin.
(⇒S/he’s wastes, Wish you didn’t give her/him money so much.)
8. -seydi -saydı in Turkish (se+y+di)
It’s like the past tense of “i wish … / if…”. We use the suffixes “-seydi, -saydı” for this. Let’s examine it under three headings.
- When regretting something that happened or didn’t happen in the past (i wish …)
- When speaking of a condition (requirement) in the past tense (if …)
- When we use this structure in a question sentence, we think like; “Should I not have done this? Would it be better if I didn’t?” We use it when we are in a dilemma and thinking about past!
- dilek, şart kipi ⇒ se, sa
- past tense ⇒ ydi, ydı
⇒Keşke seni dinleseydim de gitmeseydim.
(I wish I had listened to you and not gone.)
⇒Eğer beni dinleseydin bunların hiçbirini yaşamayacaktın.
(If you’d listened to me, you wouldn’t have experienced any of this.)
⇒Bilmiyorum gittim ama gitmese miydim acaba? İyi mi yaptım sence?
(I don’t know, I went but I wonder if I hadn’t gone? Do you think I did well?)
Here are some tenses and verb suffixes in Turkish that can help you! You can click on the lesson you want to learn.
- Şimdiki zaman (present continious)
- Geniş zaman (present perfect)
- Duyulan / öğrenilen geçmiş zaman (Reported past tense)
- Gelecek zaman (future tense)
- Yeterlilik (Ability)
- Gereklilik (necessity)
- Dilek Kipi se sa (wish, request)
- Şart Kipi se sa (conditional)
If you have any question about we use with past tense (dı, di, du, dü) in Turkish or any subject about Turkish language just let me know in the comment below. Btw we also share all Turkish grammar lessons, some daily usefull tips, Turkish idioms and more about Turkish language and Turkish culture on YouTube channel! You can watch all lessons for free now! Just click here and subscribe to don’t lose our videos. See you in another lesson!