The Turkish past tense with -di tells what happened and is finished: (I came), (you went), (we did). It is the past for things you did or saw yourself, and you will use it in almost every conversation about yesterday, last week or your last vacation.
The good news: it is completely regular. There are no irregular forms like English “went” or “saw”. You take the verb stem, add -di in the right shape, and finish with a short ending that says who did it.
The pattern
verb stemplus-di / -dı / -du / -düdidplus-m / -n / -k …who
How to build the past tense
Start with the dictionary form and drop -mek or -mak to get the stem: gelmek → gel, okumak → oku. Then add -di. With nothing after it, the past form means “he”, “she” or “it”: = he came, she came or it came.
we came
Step 3 of 3kwe
Who? We. After -di and -se it is -k, and in let’s it is -lim: gidelim.
Ali geldi.
Ali came.
Film başladı.
The film started.
Çocuklar uyudu.
The children fell asleep.
Vowel harmony: -dı, -di, -du or -dü
The vowel of the ending copies the last vowel of the stem, following four-way harmony. After e or i it is -di, after a or ı it is -dı, after o or u it is -du, and after ö or ü it is -dü.
come · last vowel e
gel
geldi: the last vowel is e, a front, flat vowel, so the ending has i.
- last vowel e
- front, flat
- ending vowel i
came
The ending:Ending: d or t, here d, i or ı or u or ü, here i
| Last vowel of the stem | Ending | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| e, i | -di | geldi,bildi |
| a, ı | -dı | aldı,kaldı |
| o, u | -du | okudu,oturdu |
| ö, ü | -dü | gördü,güldü |
Last vowel of the stem
e, i
- Ending
- -di
- Examples
- geldi,bildi
Last vowel of the stem
a, ı
- Ending
- -dı
- Examples
- aldı,kaldı
Last vowel of the stem
o, u
- Ending
- -du
- Examples
- okudu,oturdu
Last vowel of the stem
ö, ü
- Ending
- -dü
- Examples
- gördü,güldü
Why?
Turkish likes the vowels in a word to sound alike, so the ending changes to fit the word. It is the same pattern as the question word . If harmony is new to you, start with our guide to Turkish vowel harmony.
Kerem’s note
After hard consonants: -tı, -ti, -tu or -tü
When the stem ends in one of the hard consonants ç, f, h, k, p, s, ş, t, the d of the ending becomes t: -ti, -tı, -tu, -tü. Turkish schoolchildren learn them as (“Şahap the pistachio seller”): the consonants of that phrase are exactly the hard ones.
Only the first letter changes; the vowel still follows harmony. So check two things about the stem: its last letter (hard or not?) and its last vowel.
Fıstıkçı Şahap
“Şahap the pistachio seller”: its consonants are the hard letters f s t k ç ş h p.
After these letters:d becomes tc becomes ç
- gitgodidid
went
- yapdodıdid
did
- konuşspeakdudid
spoke
- öpkissdüdid
kissed
No hard letter, no change
- gelcomedidid
came: l is not a hard letter
l is not a hard letter, so d stays d.
- okureaddudid
read: u is a vowel
u is not a hard letter, so d stays d.
| Last vowel | After a hard letter | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| e, i | -ti | gitti,içti |
| a, ı | -tı | yaptı,baktı |
| o, u | -tu | konuştu,koştu |
| ö, ü | -tü | öptü,düştü |
Last vowel
e, i
- After a hard letter
- -ti
- Examples
- gitti,içti
Last vowel
a, ı
- After a hard letter
- -tı
- Examples
- yaptı,baktı
Last vowel
o, u
- After a hard letter
- -tu
- Examples
- konuştu,koştu
Last vowel
ö, ü
- After a hard letter
- -tü
- Examples
- öptü,düştü
Tip: keeps its t before the past ending: , never “gidtim”. Its t only turns into d before a vowel, as in gidiyorum (I am going).
Personal endings: gittim, gittin, gitti…
After -di, the past tense uses short personal endings: -m (ben), -n (sen), nothing (o), -k (biz), -niz (siz) and -ler (onlar). The vowels of -niz and -ler follow harmony too: gittiniz but yaptı, gittiler but yaptılar.
(ben) past
Meaning:Igoin the past
It happened, and you know it first-hand.
Always in this order:roottenseperson
When?
Who?
All the forms
Tap a form to build it above. Only the endings change: the root stays the same.
- After -di (past) and -se (if), the person endings are short: -m, -n, -k, -niz.
| gelmek (come) | yapmak (do) | okumak (read) | görmek (see) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ben | geldididmI | yaptıdidmI | okududidmI | gördüdidmI |
| sen | geldididnyou | yaptıdidnyou | okududidnyou | gördüdidnyou |
| o | geldidid | yaptıdid | okududid | gördüdid |
| biz | geldididkwe | yaptıdidkwe | okududidkwe | gördüdidkwe |
| siz | geldididnizyou (siz) | yaptıdidnızyou (siz) | okududidnuzyou (siz) | gördüdidnüzyou (siz) |
| onlar | geldididlerthey | yaptıdidlarthey | okududidlarthey | gördüdidlerthey |
ben
- gelmek (come)
- geldididmI
- yapmak (do)
- yaptıdidmI
- okumak (read)
- okududidmI
- görmek (see)
- gördüdidmI
sen
- gelmek (come)
- geldididnyou
- yapmak (do)
- yaptıdidnyou
- okumak (read)
- okududidnyou
- görmek (see)
- gördüdidnyou
o
- gelmek (come)
- geldidid
- yapmak (do)
- yaptıdid
- okumak (read)
- okududid
- görmek (see)
- gördüdid
biz
- gelmek (come)
- geldididkwe
- yapmak (do)
- yaptıdidkwe
- okumak (read)
- okududidkwe
- görmek (see)
- gördüdidkwe
siz
- gelmek (come)
- geldididnizyou (siz)
- yapmak (do)
- yaptıdidnızyou (siz)
- okumak (read)
- okududidnuzyou (siz)
- görmek (see)
- gördüdidnüzyou (siz)
onlar
- gelmek (come)
- geldididlerthey
- yapmak (do)
- yaptıdidlarthey
- okumak (read)
- okududidlarthey
- görmek (see)
- gördüdidlerthey
Because the ending already says who, you can leave out , and the others: = I went yesterday. Use the pronoun only for emphasis or contrast: Ben gittim, o gitmedi. = I went, he didn’t.
Tip: With onlar, the -ler is often left out when the subject is already plural: = The children came.
Negative: gitmedim (I didn’t go)
To say you didn’t do something, put -me or -ma between the stem and the past ending: -me after e, i, ö, ü and -ma after a, ı, o, u. The past ending then follows an e or an a, so it is always -di or -dı.
Verbs: -me or -ma, right after the root.root-me / -matenseperson
- gitgotididmI
I went
- yapdotıdidnyou
You did it
- okureaddudidkwe
We read
- görseedüdidlerthey
They saw
| gitmek (go) | yapmak (do) | |
|---|---|---|
| ben | gitmenotdididmI | yapmanotdıdidmI |
| sen | gitmenotdididnyou | yapmanotdıdidnyou |
| o | gitmenotdidid | yapmanotdıdid |
| biz | gitmenotdididkwe | yapmanotdıdidkwe |
| siz | gitmenotdididnizyou (siz) | yapmanotdıdidnızyou (siz) |
| onlar | gitmenotdididlerthey | yapmanotdıdidlarthey |
ben
- gitmek (go)
- gitmenotdididmI
- yapmak (do)
- yapmanotdıdidmI
sen
- gitmek (go)
- gitmenotdididnyou
- yapmak (do)
- yapmanotdıdidnyou
o
- gitmek (go)
- gitmenotdidid
- yapmak (do)
- yapmanotdıdid
biz
- gitmek (go)
- gitmenotdididkwe
- yapmak (do)
- yapmanotdıdidkwe
siz
- gitmek (go)
- gitmenotdididnizyou (siz)
- yapmak (do)
- yapmanotdıdidnızyou (siz)
onlar
- gitmek (go)
- gitmenotdididlerthey
- yapmak (do)
- yapmanotdıdidlarthey
Dün işe gitmedim.
I didn’t go to work yesterday.
Hiç uyumadık.
We didn’t sleep at all.
Mesajını görmedim.
I didn’t see your message.
Questions: gittin mi? (Did you go?)
For a yes/no question, keep the whole past form, personal ending included, and add the question word after it as a separate word. Its vowel follows the last vowel of the verb: or .
It follows vowel harmony, but is written apart
The last vowel of the word before mi picks its vowel.
The last vowel of Gittin is i, so the question word is mi.
Where the person ending goes
Most endings that say who (-um, -sun…) move onto mi. After -di (past) and -se (if), they stay on the verb.
- GitgotididmImi? (yes/no)?
Did I go?stays on the verb after -ti
- Gitgotididnyoumi? (yes/no)?
Did you go?stays on the verb after -ti
- Gitgotididmi? (yes/no)?
Did he / she go?
- Gitgotididkwemi? (yes/no)?
Did we go?stays on the verb after -ti
- Gitgotididnizyou (siz)mi? (yes/no)?
Did you go? (siz)stays on the verb after -ti
- Gitgotididlertheymi? (yes/no)?
Did they go?stays on the verb after -ti
Ask about one word
mi goes right after the word you are asking about. Tap a word of the sentence.
Ayşe left yesterday.
Ayşedüngittimi?
Did Ayşe leave yesterday?
A negative question works the same way: = Didn’t you go? With a question word such as (what), (where to) or ne zaman (when), there is no mi: the question word already makes it a question.
Kahvaltı yaptın mı?
Did you have breakfast?
Gitmedin mi?
Didn’t you go?
Dün ne yaptın?
What did you do yesterday?
Tatilde nereye gittiniz?
Where did you go on vacation?
Tip: Answer by repeating the verb, not just with yes or no: (Did you see it? – Yes, I did.) (No, I didn’t.)
When to use the -di past
Use -di for anything that happened and is finished, often with a time word: (yesterday), (last night), (last week), (last year) or a time plus (ago): (two days ago).
Dünakşamarkadaşlarımlayemekyedim.
Word by word: yesterday, evening, with my friends, meal, I-ate.I had dinner with my friends last night.
Geçenyılİstanbul'ataşındık.
Word by word: last, year, to Istanbul, we-moved.We moved to Istanbul last year.
İkisaatöncearadımamaaçmadın.
Word by word: two, hour, ago, I-called, but, you-didn’t-open.I called two hours ago, but you didn’t answer.
Turkish has no separate present perfect, so -di also covers many English sentences with “have”: Yemek yedin mi? = Have you eaten? = I’ve lost my keys.
There is a second past tense, -miş, for things you didn’t see yourself: you heard about them, or you only see the result. With -di, you were there or you know it first-hand.
- Aligelmişapparently.
You heard it
Ali has come, I hear.
Someone told you, or you read it somewhere.
Saw it yourself?Ali geldi. - Dünkaryağmışapparently.
You see the result
It snowed yesterday. (Everything is white now)
You didn’t see it happen, only what it left behind.
Saw it yourself?Dün kar yağdı.
Common mistakes
Watch out
Not:yapdım
Say:yaptım
p is a hard letter, so the d of the ending becomes t. Say it aloud: yap-tım is easier to say than yap-dım. The same goes for , and .
Watch out
Not:okudim
Say:okudum
The ending follows the last vowel of the stem, not your memory of the dictionary form. The last vowel of oku is u, so it is -du, and the ending -m follows: .
Watch out
Not:Ben gitti.
Say:Ben gittim.
on its own means “he went” or “she went”. For “I”, the verb needs its own ending -m, even when ben is there.
Watch out
Not:okumudum
Say:okumadım
The negative has only two shapes, -me and -ma. After oku it is -ma, and the past ending after it is then -dı: oku + ma + dı + m.
Watch out
Not:Gitti misin?
Say:Gittin mi?
That pattern belongs to the present tense (Gidiyor musun?). In the past, the ending -n stays on the verb and mi comes last.
Watch out
Not:iki günler önce
Say:iki gün önce
After a number the noun stays singular, so “two days ago” is .
A short dialogue
Read or listen, then answer
What did Can do on the weekend?
Can
Selam Elif! Hafta sonu ne yaptın?
Elif
Cumartesi günü Kapadokya'ya gittim.
Can
Gerçekten mi? Balona bindin mi?
Elif
Evet, bindim! Çok erken kalktık ama değdi. Sen ne yaptın?
Can
Ben hiçbir yere gitmedim. Evde kaldım ve dizi izledim.
Elif
Hangi diziyi izledin?
Can
Yeni bir polisiye. Hepsini bir günde bitirdim!
Elif
Bir günde mi? Hiç uyumadın mı?
Can
Çok az uyudum!
Spot the past forms: , , (k is hard, so -tı), , , , , , and .
Summary
| How | Example | |
|---|---|---|
| Positive | stem + -di / -dı / -du / -dü + ending | |
| After ç, f, h, k, p, s, ş, t | -ti / -tı / -tu / -tü | |
| Negative | stem + -me / -ma + -di / -dı + ending | |
| Question | past form + mi / mı / mu / mü |
Positive
- How
- stem + -di / -dı / -du / -dü + ending
- Example
After ç, f, h, k, p, s, ş, t
- How
- -ti / -tı / -tu / -tü
- Example
Negative
- How
- stem + -me / -ma + -di / -dı + ending
- Example
Question
- How
- past form + mi / mı / mu / mü
- Example