The copula links a subject to a state or identity. At B2, you need to separate when the state holds, how you learned about it, and how it relates to another clause. These four forms do not represent four tenses.
The idea
İdi places a state in the past; imiş presents it as reported, inferred or newly discovered, with its time supplied by context. İse makes it a condition; iken makes it the background to another event. Compare sessizdi, sessizmiş, sessizse and sessizken. Separate spellings are also correct: sessiz idi, sessiz imiş, sessiz ise, sessiz iken. Joined forms follow harmony, but -ken keeps its vowel; a vowel-final base needs y, as in hastayken. Personal endings follow the finite copula: hazırdım, hazırmışım, hazırsam. İken takes no personal ending of its own. Negate a nominal predicate with değil: sıcak değilmiş. In a question such as boş muydu?, the past copula follows the separate question particle. These forms also follow tense-marked verbs: çalışıyor idi → çalışıyordu. An ordinary third-person present statement can have no overt copula (oda boş); future being uses olmak (boş olacak).
| Function | Separate → joined |
|---|---|
| Past state | sessiz idi → sessizdi |
| Reported or discovered state | sessiz imiş → sessizmiş |
| Condition | sessiz ise → sessizse |
| Simultaneous background | sessiz iken → sessizken |
Examples
- Dün koridor oldukça sessizdi.Yesterday the corridor was quite quiet.
- Bugün atölye kapalıymış.Apparently the workshop is closed today.
- Gençken her hafta yüzerdik.When we were young, we used to swim every week.
- Bu raf sağlamsa kutuları buraya koyalım.If this shelf is sturdy, let’s put the boxes here.
- Çorba henüz sıcak değilmiş.Apparently the soup is not hot yet.
- Dün bu oda boş muydu?Was this room empty yesterday?
- Biz geldiğimizde jeneratör çalışıyordu.The generator was running when we arrived.
- Yarın bütün sandalyeler temiz olacak.All the chairs will be clean tomorrow.
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Watch out
Do not automatically translate imiş as “was”: Bugün atölye kapalıymış can report today’s closure. Also, sağlamsa leaves the shelf’s strength conditional, whereas sağlamken treats it as the state during which something happens. Choose the relation before choosing the spelling.
Try it yourself
Complete Dün depo ___ . with boş: state that the warehouse was empty yesterday. Write only the missing predicate.
Show answer or example answer
boştu / boş idi
boştu / boş idi: the warehouse is described as empty yesterday. The joined spelling has t after voiceless ş and u after o.
Complete Şimdi salon ___ . with sessiz: a colleague has just told you the hall is quiet now. Mark the information as reported; write only the missing predicate.
Show answer or example answer
sessizmiş / sessiz imiş
sessizmiş / sessiz imiş: the colleague supplies the information, and şimdi places the quiet state now; no past time is implied by the copula alone.
Complete Oda ___ pencereyi açalım. with sıcak: suggest opening the window only if the room is hot. Write the missing conditional phrase.
Show answer or example answer
sıcaksa / sıcak ise
sıcaksa / sıcak ise: opening the window depends on the room being hot. Sıcakken would instead locate an event during that state.
Complete Çocuklar ___ televizyonu açmadık. with hasta: we did not turn on the television while the children were ill. Write only the missing phrase.
Show answer or example answer
hastayken / hasta iken
hastayken / hasta iken: the children’s illness provides the background to our not turning on the television. The joined form needs y after a, and -ken stays unchanged.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Complete Dün depo ___ . with boş: state that the warehouse was empty yesterday. Write only the missing predicate.
boştu / boş idi
Complete Şimdi salon ___ . with sessiz: a colleague has just told you the hall is quiet now. Mark the information as reported; write only the missing predicate.
sessizmiş / sessiz imiş
Complete Oda ___ pencereyi açalım. with sıcak: suggest opening the window only if the room is hot. Write the missing conditional phrase.
sıcaksa / sıcak ise
Complete Çocuklar ___ televizyonu açmadık. with hasta: we did not turn on the television while the children were ill. Write only the missing phrase.
hastayken / hasta iken
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 room in four ways: how it was yesterday, what you have just heard about it, a condition for using it, and what happened while it was empty. Add a time cue and explain each choice.