You will say what did not happen with -me and -di, and ask whether it did, with the question word after the person ending.

The idea

In the negative past, -me or -ma goes between the stem and -di: -me when the last vowel of the stem is e i ö ü, -ma after a ı o u. So git + me + di + m gives gitmedim. After e and a the past suffix is always -di or -dı and the d never becomes t: gelmedi, almadı. A person ending closes the word: -m, -n, nothing, -k, -niz, -ler. To ask, write mi apart after the whole verb; its vowel follows the last vowel of the verb: Gittin mi?, Almadınız mı?. The person ending stays on the verb.

Patterns to compare
PersonPositiveNegativeQuestionNegative question
bengittimgitmedimGittim mi?Gitmedim mi?
sengittingitmedinGittin mi?Gitmedin mi?
ogittigitmediGitti mi?Gitmedi mi?
bizgittikgitmedikGittik mi?Gitmedik mi?
sizgittinizgitmedinizGittiniz mi?Gitmediniz mi?
onlargittilergitmedilerGittiler mi?Gitmediler mi?

Examples

  • Elif bu sabah ekmek almadı.Elif did not buy bread this morning.
  • Babam pazartesi işe gitmedi.My father did not go to work on Monday.
  • Konserde Ali'yi gördünüz mü?Did you see Ali at the concert?
  • Biz kapıyı kapatmadık.We did not close the door.In the positive the t doubles: kapattık. The negative -ma comes between, so the stem stays kapat and the word is kapatmadık.
  • Ali eve gelmedi mi?Didn't Ali come home?The question word mi stays apart after the whole verb. In the third person nothing sits between: gelmedi mi. With other persons the ending stays on the verb: gelmedin mi?
  • Otobüste kimse konuşmadı.Nobody spoke on the bus.Kimse takes a negative verb: the -ma in konuşmadı is the only negative in the sentence.
  • Çocuklar öğleden sonra uyumadı.The children did not sleep in the afternoon.The verb often stays singular with a plural subject: uyumadı. Uyumadılar is also correct.
  • yemedikwe did not eatyemedi-medi / -madı: the negative pastkPast person endings: -m, -n, -k, -niz, -ler
  • bakmadılarthey did not lookbakmadı-medi / -madı: the negative pastlarPast person endings: -m, -n, -k, -niz, -ler

Read-aloud uses a synthetic Turkish voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.

Watch out

Do not move the person ending onto mi as in the present (Geliyor musun?): in the past it is Geldin mi?, never Geldi misin?. The negative also sits before -di, not after it: gitmedim, not gittimedim.

Try it yourself

  1. We did not drink coffee today. Write içmek in the negative past.

    Show answer or example answer

    içmedik

    içmedik: the last vowel of iç is i, so -me; after e comes -di, and -k is the ending for biz.

  2. You did not buy a ticket. Write almak in the negative past.

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    almadınız

    almadınız: a is a back vowel, so -ma, then -dı and the ending -nız, which follows vowel harmony too.

  3. The children did not eat bread in the evening. Write yemek in the negative past.

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    yemedi / yemediler

    yemedi / yemediler: ye ends in a vowel, so -me attaches directly and -di follows; with a plural subject the verb often stays singular (yemedi), but yemediler is also correct.

  4. Did Ali go to work yesterday? Fill in the question word.

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    mi

    mi: in the third person gitti has no person ending, so mi stands alone; its vowel is i because the last vowel of gitti is i.

Use it today

Write three sentences about what you and your family did not do yesterday. Turn one of them into a question and check the vowel of mi.