-medi / -madı: the negative past
Gelmedim, okumadım, görmedik: attach -me or -ma, then -di or -dı and a person ending to say what did not happen, with just two shapes to learn.
Read and practise
Log inMy accountPlay now Adventure journal
Choose a topic, read the examples and try the exercises before revealing the answers. Follow a related lesson when you are ready to use the same idea in a new situation.
Adventure journal
Choose your level
The lesson search could not load. You can still browse the pages.
No matching lesson. Try a shorter search or another topic.
Gelmedim, okumadım, görmedik: attach -me or -ma, then -di or -dı and a person ending to say what did not happen, with just two shapes to learn.
Read and practiseTomorrow's plans, promises and forecasts: the future suffix -ecek/-acak, its y buffer after vowels, and the k that turns into ğ in geleceğim.
Read and practiseKalemle, arabayla, benimle: attach -le/-la for 'with' or 'by', add a y after a vowel, and see how it relates to the separate word ile.
Read and practiseWhich ordinal shape fits? Choose -inci, -ıncı, -uncu or -üncü by the last vowel, drop the i after a vowel (ikinci) and soften dört to dördüncü.
Read and practiseAlmanca, Arapça, İngilizce, Türkçe: the four shapes of the suffix that turns Alman, Arap, İngiliz and Türk into language names, and how to pick one.
Read and practiseSütlü kahve, şekerli çay: see how the suffix -li, -lı, -lu or -lü says with or having, why its l never changes, and why Ankaralı has no apostrophe.
Read and practiseŞekersiz çay is tea without sugar. See how -siz, -sız, -suz and -süz follow the last vowel, why the s never changes, and why çocuksuz keeps its k.
Read and practiseCome, look, sit down: build the Turkish command you give to several people or to someone you respect, with four vowel shapes and a y after vowels.
Read and practiseGelir, yapar, okur: the Turkish general present. See when the suffix is -r, -ir or -ar, and why git turns into gider.
Read and practiseSay who usually does something: -im, -sin, no ending, -iz, -siniz and -ler/-lar after the aorist, with the vowel harmony behind gelirim, yaparsın and görürsünüz.
Read and practiseGelmez, yapmam, içmeyiz: build the negative aorist with -mez/-maz and see why the first person drops the z, so it is gelmem and yapmam, not gelmezim.
Read and practiseSay what you can or may do in Turkish with -ebil-/-abil-: the two shapes, the buffer y after a vowel, and forms such as gelebilirim, okuyabilirsiniz and gidebilirim.
Read and practiseGelemem is not gelmem: put -eme or -ama before the tense to say you cannot do something, and see why okuyamadım and gidemem change.
Read and practiseGitmeliyim, kalkmalısın, beklemeliler: add -meli or -malı to a verb stem and then a person ending to say what you must or should do.
Read and practiseGitmemeliyim, okumamalısın, yapmamalı: put -me/-ma and -meli/-malı on a verb stem to say what must not be done, with two shapes and six person endings.
Read and practiseYazmak, görmek, uyumak: why Turkish dictionary verbs end in -mek or -mak, how the last vowel of the stem chooses, and how the infinitive follows verbs like want.
Read and practiseÖğrenciydim, evdeydik, soğuktu: how Turkish puts a noun, an adjective or a place into the past with -di, -dı, -du, -dü, their t forms and the y after a vowel.
Read and practiseGelmiş means 'he came, I hear': build the reported past with -miş, -mış, -müş or -muş, add the person endings, and see when the -di past is the better choice.
Read and practiseTell a fact or a safe guess with -dir and its eight shapes: kapalıdır, sıcaktır, tuzludur, dürüsttür. How the last vowel and sound pick the form, and when to leave it out.
Read and practiseFrom güzel to güzellik: add -lik, -lık, -luk or -lük to a word to name a quality, a state or a profession, and see why the final k softens to ğ before a vowel.
Read and practiseWho sells it, drives it or plays it? Attach -ci, -cı, -cu, -cü or -çi, -çı, -çu, -çü to a noun to name the person, and learn which of eight shapes fits.
Read and practiseEvdeki, dünkü, benimki: how the suffix -ki turns a place or a time into an adjective and an owner into a pronoun, and why bugünkü is spelled with -kü.
Read and practiseOffer help and make suggestions in Turkish: -eyim for “let me” and “shall I”, -elim for “let’s”, with the two vowels, the buffer y and the git → gid- change.
Read and practiseGelmeyeceğim, yapmayacağız: add -me/-ma before -yecek/-yacak to say what will not happen, and see why the k becomes ğ.
Read and practise