You expect a parcel, but have not checked the door. You can infer that it has arrived. Here you will build third-person singular forms for that kind of confident assumption about a completed event.
The idea
Join the verb stem, -miş and -tir: gel + miş + tir → gelmiştir. The four combined shapes are in the table; the final ş makes the next consonant t. For a negative, insert -ma or -me before the past suffix, and let the following vowels match that new vowel. In formal writing the same construction can state a completed fact: the last sentence example is a publication statement, not a guess.
| Last stem vowel | Combined ending | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|
| a, ı | -mıştır | kalmıştır | kalmamıştır |
| e, i | -miştir | gelmiştir | gelmemiştir |
| o, u | -muştur | okumuştur | okumamıştır |
| ö, ü | -müştür | görmüştür | görmemiştir |
Examples
- Kargo çoktan gelmiştir.The parcel must have arrived already.
- Çorba artık soğumuştur.The soup must have cooled down by now.
- Annem mesajı görmüştür.My mother must have seen the message.
- gelmiştirmust have comegelmiş-miş / -mış / -müş / -muş: the reported pasttir-dir / -dır / -tir / -tür: is, must be
- kalmıştırmust have stayedkalmış-miş / -mış / -müş / -muş: the reported pasttır-dir / -dır / -tir / -tür: is, must be
- okumuşturmust have readokumuş-miş / -mış / -müş / -muş: the reported pasttur-dir / -dır / -tir / -tür: is, must be
- görmüştürmust have seengörmüş-miş / -mış / -müş / -muş: the reported pasttür-dir / -dır / -tir / -tür: is, must be
- Babam anahtarı almamıştır.My father probably did not take the key.
- Bu öykü ilk kez burada yayımlanmıştır.This story was first published here.
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Watch out
Do not confuse gelmiştir (must have come, in an assumption) with gelmişti (had come, before a past reference point). The final r matters. Nor does -miştir automatically mean that somebody told you: context determines whether it is an assumption or a formal assertion.
Try it yourself
Use the third-person singular form for a confident past assumption: must have stayed.
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kalmıştır
kalmıştır: the a in kal selects unrounded back ı in both suffixes; this says that staying is likely to have happened.
Use the same construction in the third-person singular: must have found.
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bulmuştur
bulmuştur: the last vowel of bul is rounded back u, so both added vowels remain u. The result concerns finding, not searching.
Make a negative past assumption in the third-person singular: probably did not see.
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görmemiştir
görmemiştir: the negative -me puts e before the past suffix, so the following vowels are i, even though the root has ö. The seeing is what probably did not happen.
Use the affirmative construction in the third-person singular: must have gone.
Show answer or example answer
gitmiştir
gitmiştir: the suffix starts with m, so the stem keeps its t. The spelling gidiyor does not justify changing this form to gidmiştir.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Use the third-person singular form for a confident past assumption: must have stayed.
Use the same construction in the third-person singular: must have found.
Make a negative past assumption in the third-person singular: probably did not see.
Use the affirmative construction in the third-person singular: must have gone.
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: must have come
Tap the parts in order to build this word: must have stayed
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Choose three completed events you expect but have not checked. Write an affirmative assumption, a negative one, and a third example with a rounded vowel. Split each verb into its parts.