Belirli Geçmiş Zaman (-DI)

Definite Past Tense

Level A1Verb Conjugation

Describes past actions the speaker witnessed personally or knows for certain.

The definite past is used to describe events that happened and were completed in the past. This tense shows that the speaker saw the event, experienced it, or knows it for certain.

The definite past ending is -dı, -di, -du, -dü or -tı, -ti, -tu, -tü. Which form is used depends on vowel harmony and on the last sound of the word. If the word ends in one of the consonants «p, ç, t, k, f, h, s, ş», the past ending becomes -tı, -ti, -tu, -tü. For example geldi, okudu, gördü, baktı, açtı.

After the past ending comes the personal ending. For example geldim, geldin, geldi, geldik, geldiniz, geldiler.

This tense is often used with expressions of past time such as dün, geçen hafta, geçen yıl, az önce, sabah, dün akşam. For example: Dün sinemaya gittim. Sabah kahvaltı yaptık. Geçen yıl Türkiye'ye geldim.

In negative sentences the negative ending -ma/-me comes first and the past ending after it. For example: Gelmedim. Kitap okumadı. Dersi dinlemedik.

In questions the particle mı, mi, mu, mü is written separately. For example: Okula gittin mi? Filmi izlediniz mi? Kahve içti mi?

The definite past describes events the speaker knows for certain. That is why we use this tense very often in everyday speech when telling about things we experienced ourselves.

Examples

Biz geçen yıl Türkiye'ye gittik.We went to Turkey last year.
Siz ödevi yaptınız mı?Did you do the homework?
Onlar dün okula gelmediler.They did not come to school yesterday.
Ahmet anahtarını unuttu.Ahmet forgot his key.
Kardeşim sütü içti.My brother/sister drank the milk.

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