Build a verb for something already completed at a past moment. In the soup example, the cooling happened before our arrival. Here the focus is on constructing the forms; the ending does not by itself mean “apparently”.
The idea
Attach -mişti after e/i, -mıştı after a/ı, -muştu after o/u and -müştü after ö/ü. These combine -miş and its harmonic variants with the past copula; immediately after ş, its consonant is t. The person forms are ben gelmiştim, sen gelmiştin, o gelmişti, biz gelmiştik, siz gelmiştiniz, onlar gelmişlerdi; gelmiştiler is also possible. Negation comes before -miş: gelmemişti, okumamıştı. A neutral verb question separates the question particle and attaches the past and person to it: gelmiş miydin? The four third-person question endings are miydi, mıydı, muydu, müydü.
| Last stem vowel | Affirmative suffix | Affirmative (third person singular) | Negative (third person singular) | Question (third person singular) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| e, i | -mişti | gelmişti | gelmemişti | gelmiş miydi? |
| a, ı | -mıştı | yazmıştı | yazmamıştı | yazmış mıydı? |
| o, u | -muştu | bulmuştu | bulmamıştı | bulmuş muydu? |
| ö, ü | -müştü | görmüştü | görmemişti | görmüş müydü? |
Examples
- Biz gelince çorba çoktan soğumuştu.The soup had already cooled by the time we arrived.
- Babam anahtarı daha önce bulmuştu.My father had found the key earlier.
- Ben arayınca ablam henüz çıkmamıştı.My older sister had not left yet when I called.
- yazmıştımI had writtenyazmıştı-mişti: pluperfect formsmPast person endings: -m, -n, -k, -niz, -ler
- bitirmiştikwe had finishedbitirmişti-mişti: pluperfect formskPast person endings: -m, -n, -k, -niz, -ler
- görmüştünüzyou had seen (plural or polite)görmüştü-mişti: pluperfect formsnüzPast person endings: -m, -n, -k, -niz, -ler
- bulmuştunyou had found (singular)bulmuştu-mişti: pluperfect formsnPast person endings: -m, -n, -k, -niz, -ler
- Sen bu kitabı okumuş muydun?Had you read this book?
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Watch out
Do not copy the statement’s t into the question: gelmiş miydi? has y between two vowels and d after that voiced sound. Also, the negative suffix changes the last vowel: okumamıştı, not okumamuştu.
Try it yourself
Use yazmak in the pluperfect for ben: I had written.
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yazmıştım
yazmıştım: the stem yaz has a, so both high vowels are dotless ı; final -m identifies the speaker who had written.
Use görmek in the pluperfect for siz: you had seen (plural or polite).
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görmüştünüz
görmüştünüz: ö in gör selects rounded front ü. The ending -nüz makes the form plural or polite “you”, rather than “we”.
Use okumak in the negative pluperfect for o: he or she had not read.
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okumamıştı
okumamıştı: add negative -ma to oku first. Its a now determines -mıştı, so the original rounded u no longer controls that suffix.
Ask a neutral pluperfect question with bitirmek and sen: had you finished?
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bitirmiş miydin
bitirmiş miydin: the final vowel of bitirmiş selects mi. The past and second-person ending belong to the separate question word: mi-y-di-n.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Use yazmak in the pluperfect for ben: I had written.
Use görmek in the pluperfect for siz: you had seen (plural or polite).
Use okumak in the negative pluperfect for o: he or she had not read.
Ask a neutral pluperfect question with bitirmek and sen: had you finished?
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 had written
Tap the parts in order to build this word: we had finished
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Choose three things completed before a visit. Write one affirmative sentence, one negative sentence and one question; circle the person endings and mark the space before the question particle.