The definite past

What you will practice

• Choose di, dı, du, or dü from the last vowel.
• Use t instead of d after a voiceless consonant.
• Ask a past question with the separate particle.

Explanation

The ending

This past is for an event you present as finished and known. The ending is -di, -dı, -du, or -dü, from the last vowel of the stem. geldim means “I came,” aldım means “I took it,” okudum means “I read,” and gördüm means “I saw.” In a shop, the same aldım means “I bought it.” “I” is the final -m, and “you” is -n, so “you came” is geldin.

When d becomes t

If the stem ends in a voiceless consonant, d becomes t. Those consonants are ç, f, h, k, p, s, ş, and t. gitmek ends in t, so “I went” is gittim. Do not keep d, and do not turn the stem t into d. baktım means “I looked,” and içtim means “I drank.” This suffix begins with a consonant, so the past does not soften the stem the way a vowel-initial ending does.

Questions and negation

The question particle stays a separate word, and it follows the last vowel of the past form. Geldin mi? asks “Did you come?” Aldın mı? asks “Did you take it?” because aldın has ı. Negation puts -me or -ma before the past ending: gelmedim, “I did not come.” The negative begins with a consonant, so the t of git- stays, and the suffix keeps d: gitmedim, “I did not go.”

Examples

1. Geldim.I came.
2. Gittim.I went.
3. Aldım.I took it.
4. Geldin mi?Did you come?
5. Gelmedim.I did not come.

Common mistakes

• The past of gitmek is gittim. Softening t to d belongs to gidiyorum, not to this tense.
• gitmedim keeps the stem t and uses d in -di, because -me stands between them.