The same event can be told in two ways. Compare what happened with how the speaker knows about it, then choose the past form that fits that perspective.
The idea
Use -di for a past event you present as an established fact, often through direct experience. Use -miş to foreground information received from someone else, an inference from results, or a later discovery. Compare Komşum dün taşındı with Komşum dün taşınmış: the move is the same, but the second version marks indirect access to the news. The suffix does not name the source; context supplies it. Follow the related suffix pages for the forms.
Examples
- Komşum dün taşındı.My neighbour moved yesterday.You helped your neighbour carry boxes during the move.
- Komşum dün taşınmış.Apparently, my neighbour moved yesterday.Your neighbour’s sibling told you about the move; you are passing on the news.
- Gece burada yağmur yağmış.Apparently, it rained here during the night.You were asleep; the wet ground now leads you to infer rain.
- Dün burada yağmur yağdı.It rained here yesterday.You were outside and experienced the rain yourself.
- Meğer anahtarımı evde unutmuşum.It turns out I left my key at home.You only now realise that the key is still at home.
- Dün anahtarımı evde unuttum.I left my key at home yesterday.You remember leaving the key at home and state this as a fact.
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Watch out
Do not translate -miş automatically as “maybe” or reserve it for gossip. Wet ground can support yağmış without anyone telling you about the rain. Conversely, -di does not guarantee eyewitness knowledge: it also presents accepted facts. Choose the perspective requested here, rather than treating either ending as a truth test.
Try it yourself
You helped with the move. Report your own experience. Choose taşındı or taşınmış: Komşum dün ___.
Show answer or example answer
taşındı
taşındı: you helped with the move, so you report an event you experienced. No second-hand source is being foregrounded.
Your neighbour’s sibling told you about the move. Mark it as news you received. Choose taşındı or taşınmış: Komşum dün ___.
Show answer or example answer
taşınmış
taşınmış: the neighbour’s sibling told you the news. This choice preserves the requested perspective of passing on that report.
You slept all night. Now the ground is wet: express an inference. Choose yağdı or yağmış: Gece burada yağmur ___.
Show answer or example answer
yağmış
yağmış: you were asleep during the rain. The wet ground is evidence of the earlier event, not a view of the rain itself.
You look for your key and only now realise it is at home. Mark this discovery. Choose unuttum or unutmuşum: Meğer anahtarımı evde ___.
Show answer or example answer
unutmuşum
unutmuşum: the key’s absence brings a later realisation about your own action. First person can therefore occur with the indirect past.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
You helped with the move. Report your own experience. Choose taşındı or taşınmış: Komşum dün ___.
Your neighbour’s sibling told you about the move. Mark it as news you received. Choose taşındı or taşınmış: Komşum dün ___.
You slept all night. Now the ground is wet: express an inference. Choose yağdı or yağmış: Gece burada yağmur ___.
You look for your key and only now realise it is at home. Mark this discovery. Choose unuttum or unutmuşum: Meğer anahtarımı evde ___.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
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Describe one event twice: first as something you experienced, then as news from someone else. Add a sentence giving the source. Next, describe a result you notice and infer what happened.