Telling the story of a past trip

The idea

Give a past time anchor such as geçen yaz (last summer), then lead the listener through events with önce (first), sonra (then) and ertesi gün (the next day). In a past-trip story, ertesi gün refers to the day after the one just mentioned; it does not mean tomorrow. Connect a change of plan to its cause with bu yüzden (so), and close with an evaluation such as Gezi çok keyifliydi. These are ways to organise familiar past-tense sentences; the tense forms themselves belong to the grammar lessons.

Examples

• Geçen yaz arkadaşlarımla İzmir'e gittim.Last summer I went to İzmir with my friends.
• Önce çantalarımızı otele bıraktık.First we dropped our bags off at the hotel.
• Sonra birlikte sahilde yürüdük.Then we walked along the shore together.
• Ertesi gün yağmur yağdı, bu yüzden müzeyi gezdik.The next day it rained, so we visited the museum.
• Orada iki gün kaldık.We stayed there for two days.
• İki gün sonra eve döndük.Two days later we returned home.
• Yolculuk uzundu ama gezi çok keyifliydi.The journey was long, but the trip was very enjoyable.
• — Tatilin nasıldı? — Çok güzeldi. Arkadaşlarımla İzmir'e gittim. — Orada neler yaptınız? — Önce sahilde yürüdük, sonra bir kafede oturduk. Ertesi gün müzeyi gezdik.— How was your holiday? — It was lovely. I went to İzmir with my friends. — What did you do there? — First we walked along the shore, then we spent some time at a café. The next day we visited the museum.

Watch out

Do not use iki gün sonra to answer how long you stayed. İki gün kaldık gives the duration; iki gün sonra döndük places the return two days after a point in the story. Adding sonra changes the time relationship, not the length of the stay.

Try it yourself

1. Add an expression meaning “first”: we dropped off our bags, then went to the shore.

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   Önce / İlk önce / İlk olarak

   Önce, İlk önce or İlk olarak: leaving the bags happens before going to the shore. The second clause already has sonra, so the blank introduces the first step.

2. Replace Tuesday with an expression relative to Monday: the next day, or one day later.

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   Ertesi gün / Bir gün sonra

   Ertesi gün or Bir gün sonra: Tuesday is one day after the Monday arrival. The reference point is Monday in the story, not the day you are speaking.

3. Answer how long you stayed. Choose iki gün or iki gün sonra.

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   iki gün

   iki gün: the question asks for the length of the stay. Two days fills that duration; iki gün sonra would locate a later event and leave the question unanswered.

4. The rain made you choose the museum. Express the result with bu yüzden or ama.

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   bu yüzden

   bu yüzden: the rain explains the choice of the museum, so the visit is a consequence. Ama would signal a contrast rather than this reason-and-result link.

Use it today

With a partner, act out a six-turn conversation about a real or invented trip. Ask how it went and what happened next. Include a past time, two events, the length of the stay, a change of plan and a final opinion. Swap roles.