Bring an old routine into focus: going to the market early, sitting outside in the evening, or making soup every Sunday. This page builds the forms used for those past habits.
The idea
Start with the aorist without a person ending, then add -dı, -di, -du or -dü: yapar → yapardı, görür → görürdü. The past suffix follows the vowel of the aorist, and its d stays voiced after r. The table includes the vowel-stem forms, such as oku + rdu. Add past person endings: giderdim, giderdin, giderdi, giderdik, giderdiniz. For “they”, both giderlerdi and giderdiler occur. Negatives use -mazdı/-mezdi. In questions, write mıydı, miydi, muydu or müydü separately and put the person ending there: gider miydin? These examples express habits; the same forms can have other meanings in other contexts.
| Base | Add | Result |
|---|---|---|
| yap | -ardı | yapardı |
| iç | -erdi | içerdi |
| al | -ırdı | alırdı |
| bil | -irdi | bilirdi |
| bul | -urdu | bulurdu |
| gör | -ürdü | görürdü |
| ara | -rdı | arardı |
| bekle | -rdi | beklerdi |
| oku | -rdu | okurdu |
| yürü | -rdü | yürürdü |
| yap | -mazdı | yapmazdı |
| git | -mezdi | gitmezdi |
| ben: gider | -dim | giderdim |
| sen: gider | -din | giderdin |
| o: gider | -di | giderdi |
| biz: gider | -dik | giderdik |
| siz: gider | -diniz | giderdiniz |
| onlar: gider | -lerdi / -diler | giderlerdi / giderdiler |
| yapar | mıydı | yapar mıydı? |
| gelir | miydi | gelir miydi? |
| okur | muydu | okur muydu? |
| görür | müydü | görür müydü? |
Examples
- Eskiden pazara erken giderdim.I used to go to the market early.
- Biz akşamları balkonda otururduk.We used to sit on the balcony in the evenings.
- Dedem pazarları çorba yapardı.My grandfather used to make soup on Sundays.
- Eskiden kahve içmezdim.I did not use to drink coffee.
- Çocukken burada oynar mıydın?Did you use to play here as a child?
- giderdimI used to gogiderdi-irdi / -ardı: past habit endingsmPast person endings: -m, -n, -k, -niz, -ler
- okurdukwe used to readokurdu-irdi / -ardı: past habit endingskPast person endings: -m, -n, -k, -niz, -ler
- görmezdikwe did not use to seegörmezdi-irdi / -ardı: past habit endingskPast 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.
No Turkish device voice is available. You can still read the text.
Watch out
The present negative gitmem does not supply the base for gitmezdim: the past habit keeps z, even for “I” and “we”. Also notice git → giderdim but git → gitmezdim: the vowel-initial positive ending causes softening, whereas the negative begins with m.
Try it yourself
Write the past habit form of gitmek for “I”: I used to go.
Show answer or example answer
giderdim
giderdim: the aorist is gider, with t softened to d; -di places it in the past and final -m identifies the speaker.
Write the past habit form of okumak for “we”: we used to read.
Show answer or example answer
okurduk
okurduk: oku already ends in a vowel, so it takes only r for the aorist; the rounded u gives -du, and -k means “we”.
Use gitmek for “I did not use to go”.
Show answer or example answer
gitmezdim
gitmezdim: start from the negative base gitmez. Its last vowel is e, so the past is -di; final -m marks “I”, without deleting z.
Ask one person with oynamak: did you use to play?
Show answer or example answer
oynar mıydın
oynar mıydın: the aorist oynar has back a, giving mı. Linking y joins it to -dı, and -n addresses one person. The two words stay separate.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Write the past habit form of gitmek for “I”: I used to go.
Write the past habit form of okumak for “we”: we used to read.
Use gitmek for “I did not use to go”.
Ask one person with oynamak: did you use to play?
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the parts in order to build this word: I used to go
Tap the parts in order to build this word: we used to read
Keep your progress
Sign up for free to save your practice results in your account.
Sign up to saveI already have an accountUse it today
Write one former habit, one thing you did not usually do, and one question about a friend’s childhood. Check the person ending and the space before the question particle.