Turkish/Seen Past Tense

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There are two past tenses in Turkish. One of them is görülen geçmiş zaman (seen or direct past tense) and the other one is duyulan geçmiş zaman (heard, indirect, reported or inferential past tense). Their names may vary according to different sources. But the main point is that the first one is used for events that you have witnesssed, you have seen when the action was taking place, and the other one is used for actions that you haven't witnessed, you have heard from somebody else. Görülen means seen and duyulan means heard.

Seen Past Tense

Seen past tense is used for actions that the subject has witnessed, it is used for actions when the subject have seen the action taking place. For example, let's say you saw a car accident while walking in the street. When you tell people this event, you should use seen past tense, and when people whom you told this event tell this event to other people, they should use learnt past tense as they didn't witness the action taking place but they heard from you.

Affirmative - Olumlu

Appropriate form of the suffix –di (it changes according to the vowel and consonant harmonies) and the personal ending are added to the verb stem

Verb stem + appropriate form of di + personal ending

verb inflection • past tense gelmek
ben geldim	I came	biz geldik	we came
sen geldin	you came	siz geldiniz	you came
o geldi	he/she/it came	onlar geldiler	they came

verb inflection • past tense almak
ben aldım	I took	biz aldık	we took
sen aldın	you took	siz aldınız	you took
o aldı	he/she/it took	onlar aldılar	they took

verb inflection • past tense görmek
ben gördüm	I saw	biz gördük	we saw
sen gördün	you saw	siz gördünüz	you saw
o gördü	he/she/it saw	onlar gördüler	they saw

verb inflection • past tense gitmek
ben gittim	I went	biz gittik	we went
sen gittin	you went	siz gittiniz	you went
o gitti	he/she/it went	onlar gittiler	they went

Negative - Olumsuz

The suffixes -dı,-di,-du,-dü (it changes according to the vowel harmony) and the personal ending are added to the negative verb stem.

Verb stem + appropriate form of me– + appropriate form of di + personal ending

verb inflection • past tense gelmek
gelmemek
ben gelmedim	I didn't come	biz gelmedik	we didn't come
sen gelmedin	you didn't come	siz gelmediniz	you didn't come
o gelmedi	he/she/it didn't come	onlar gelmediler	they didn't come

verb inflection • past tense almak
almamak
ben almadım	I didn't take	biz almadık	we didn't take
sen almadın	you didn't take	siz almadınız	you didn't take
o almadı	he/she/it didn't take	onlar almadılar	they didn't take

Interrogative - Soru

Verb stem (+ appropriate form of me–) + appropriate form of di + personal ending question particle –mi

Affirmative

verb inflection • past tense gelmek
ben geldim mi	did I come	biz geldik mi	did we come
sen geldin mi	did you come	siz geldiniz mi	did you come
o geldi mi	did he/she/it come	onlar geldiler mi	did they come

verb inflection • past tense almak
ben aldım mı	did I take	biz aldık mı	did we take
sen aldın mı	did you take	siz aldınız mı	did you take
o aldı mı	did he/she/it take	onlar aldılar mı	did they take

verb inflection • past tense görmek
ben gördüm mü	did I see	biz gördük mü	did we see
sen gördün mü	did you see	siz gördünüz mü	did you see
o gördü mü	did he/she/it see	onlar gördüler mü	did they see

verb inflection • past tense koşmak
ben koştum mu	did I run	biz koştuk mu	did we run
sen koştun mu	did you run	siz koştunuz mu	did you run
o koştu mu	did he/she/it run	onlar koştular mu	did they run

Negative

verb inflection • past tense gelmek
gelmemek
ben gelmedim mi	didn't I come	biz gelmedik mi	didn't we come
sen gelmedin mi	didn't you come	siz gelmediniz mi	didn't you come
o gelmedi mi	didn't he/she/it come	onlar gelmediler mi	didn't they come

verb inflection • past tense almak
almamak
ben almadım mı	didn't I take	biz almadık mı	didn't we take
sen almadın mı	didn't you take	siz almadınız mı	didn't you take
o almadı mı	didn't he/she/it take	onlar almadılar mı	didn't they take

Irregular Verbs?

The same rule is used for all of the Turkish verbs. There are no irregular verbs as in English.

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