Past perfect: "had done" (‑mıştı)

Prerequisites for this Turkish Grammar Lesson

-mış

-dı/di/du/dü or -tı/ti/tu/tü
Asking yes or no questions

Understanding the ‑mıştı (Past Perfect) ending in Turkish

The ‑mıştı ending in Turkish is similar to the English past perfect (“had done”). It is formed by combining the completive ‑mış ending with the past tense copula ‑(y)dı. Together, they normally indicate that one action or event was completed before another.

For English speakers learning Turkish, however, it is important to note that the ‑mıştı ending in Turkish can be used in a lot of contexts where we do not use the past perfect (“had done”) form in English. So rather than thinking of ‑mıştı as a one-for-one corollary to the English past perfect, you should get accustomed to each of the contexts where the ‑mıştı ending is used in Turkish and what it means in each context.

How to Form the ‑mıştı Ending

Verb stem + mış/miş/muş/müş + tı/ti/tu/tü + (personal ending)

For example, with the verb yapmak (to do):

(Ben) yapmıştım	I had done
(Sen) yapmıştın	You had done
(O) yapmıştı	He/she/it had done
(Biz) yapmıştık	We had done
(Siz) yapmıştınız	You (plural/formal) had done
(Onlar) yapmışlardı	They had done

Similarly, for the verb gelmek (to come):

(Ben) gelmiştim – I had come
(Sen) gelmiştin – You had come
(O) gelmişti – He/She/It had come
(Biz) gelmiştik – We had come
(Siz) gelmiştiniz – You (plural/formal) had come
(Onlar) gelmişlerdi – They had come

Usage of the ‑mıştı Ending

The ‑mıştı ending is primarily used to indicate that one past action (the verb marked with ‑mıştı) occurred before another past event. This other event or point in time is either stated or inferred by the context.

Examples of ‑mıştı with past perfect meaning*

Gece eve geldiğinde çok geç olmuştu.
By the time he got home at night it had gotten very late.

Fakat yol çok uzundu ve onlar oraya ulaşana kadar gece olmuştu.
But the road was very long and by the time they got there it had already become nighttime.

Trafik suçu işlemiştik. Trafik polisleri araç dokümanlarını istediler.
We had committed a traffic violation. The traffic police asked for the vehicle documents.

Yarışmaya 13 sporcuyla katılmıştık.
We had entered the competition with 13 athletes.

Daha önce buraya gelmiştim, ama bu sefer kanyonu keşfetme fırsatım oldu.
I had been here before, but this time I got to explore the canyon.
(Instagram)

Using the ‑mıştı ending with the negative ‑ma/me ending

As with most Turkish verb endings, you can add a negative meaning with the ‑ma/me negative verb ending. To do this, you add the ‑ma/me ending to the verb stem, followed by ‑mıştı and any personal endings like normal.

Example negative sentences with ‑mıştı

Herhangi bir sorun çıkmamıştı.
There had been no problem whatsoever.

Haber doğru değildi çünkü yarış o tarihte henüz yapılmamıştı.
The report [about the contest] wasn’t true because the contest had not yet taken place as of that date.

Tamam hedefler her zaman yüksekti, ilk beşe girmek, ilk üçe girmek gibi. Ama şampiyonluğu kimse düşünmemişti.
Alright, the goals were always high—like finishing in the top five or even the top three. But no one had thought [we would go to] the championship.

Using “çoktan” to emphasize that something happened a long time ago

If you want to emphasize that something already happened long before another event, you can use the word “çoktan,” which means “a long time ago.”

Examples of ‑mıştı with “çoktan”

Zaten çoktan bitmişti, sen de biliyorsun.
Anyway it was over a long time ago, as you know.

Önerdiğiniz filmleri çoktan izlemiştim zaten.
I had already watched the films you recommended a long time ago.
(DonanımHaber Forum)

Using ‑mıştı to give background information

In many cases, the ‑mıştı ending is used when giving background information to set the stage for understanding what is going to be said next¹. Sometimes, when ‑mıştı is used in this way, it can deviate from its past perfect (“had done”) meaning.

It can be used to give background information about the present situation or even background information related to expectations about the future. This is one of the ways that Turkish operates differently from English. In English, we don’t use the past perfect “had done” in this way—we simply use the past tense instead.

Examples using ‑mıştı for information related to the present or future

Geçen yıl böyle bir akım oluşturmaya çalışmıştım, ama kimse katılmamıştı. Bu sene bu akımın tutacağını düşünüyorum
Last year I tried to start a trend like this, but no one joined. I think this year the trend will catch on.
(Instagram)

Merhaba… Nerelerdesin diye merak etmiştim. Umarım e-mail yollarsın.
Hello… I was just wondering where you’ve been. I hope you’ll send me an email.

Bir zamanlar Avusturya’ya, İzlanda’ya karşı kaybetmiştik, şimdi de İngiltere’ye, Letonya’ya karşı kaybediyoruz.
At one point we lost to Austria and Iceland, and now we’re losing to England and Latvia.

Using ‑mıştı to recall emotionally-charged memories

Another way that Turkish expands the use of ‑mıştı in a way that we don’t use the past perfect in English is in recalling memories. Especially when recalling nostalgic or otherwise emotionally-charged memories, Turkish speakers will often use ‑mıştı to report past events without any clear reference to any other event in the past. In these contexts, the ‑mıştı ending is functionally interchangeable with the past tense ‑dı ending, except that it serves to amplify the emotions associated with the memory.

Examples using ‑mıştı for recalling memories

O anda herşey değişmişti. Onu görünce şaşırmıştım.
At that moment, everything changed. When I saw him, I was shocked.

Herşey bir merhaba ile başlamıştı.
Everything started with a hello.

Ne filmdi ama – bu filmi arkadaşlarımla izlemiştim.
What a movie it was – I had watched this film with my friends.
(Instagram)

Sabahın köründe inanılmaz bir merak sarmıştı beni.
An incredible curiosity had gripped me in the early morning.

Using ‑mıştı to talk about unmet expectations

In some contexts, you can use ‑mıştı to remind someone about something that they said or agreed upon in the past. This is often said as a part of a rebuke for broken promises or when confronting someone for lying.

Examples of ‑mıştı as a rebuke

Yahu ne yapıyorsunuz; hani anlaşmıştık.
Come on, what are you doing? We had an agreement!

Off off… Hani söz vermiştik arkadaşlar.
Ugh, ugh… Remember, we promised, guys.

Using ‑mıştı to remind the listener about shared knowledge or experiences

Another usage of ‑mıştı is for reminding someone about something that they did, something that both the speaker and listener experienced together, or something they both have shared knowledge about.

Examples of ‑mıştı as a reminder

Hani dün demiştin ya?
Remember yesterday when you said it?

Geçen sene kış ne kadar soğuk geçmişti! Bu yıl hazır mıyız bakalım…
How harsh the winter was last year! Let’s see if we’re prepared this year…
(Instagram)

Using ‑mıştı with yes or no questions

If you are using the ‑mıştı form in a yes or no question, you will use the mı question word. The question word, however, goes in between the ‑mış and the ‑(y)dı parts of the ‑mıştı ending:

(Ben) gelmiş miydim? – Had I come?
(Sen) gelmiş miydin? – Had you come?
(O) gelmiş miydi? – Had he/she/it come?
(Biz) gelmiş miydik? – Had we come?
(Siz) gelmiş miydiniz? – Had you (plural/formal) come
(Onlar) gelmişler miydi – Had they come?

Examples with yes or no questions

Ama o zamanda aklınızda şöyle bir hayal canlanmış mıydı acaba?
But back then, had you ever entertained such an idea, I wonder?

Organ bağışıyla ilgili Yunus’la hiç konuşma imkanınız olmuş muydu?
Did you ever get a chance to talk with Yunus about being an organ donor?

“İnsan için küçük, insanlık için büyük bir adım” dememiş miydi aydaki ilk adımı için?
Didn’t he say, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” for his first step on the Moon?

Using ‑ıp or ‑mış with ‑mıştı for past perfect on multiple verbs

If you want to use multiple action words to describe things that happened before a reference point in the past, you can accomplish this by either putting the ‑ıp/ip/up/üp sequencing ending or the ‑mış ending on the first verb and the ‑mıştı on the second verb. The effect is the same as if the ‑mıştı ending were put on both verbs in the sentence.

Examples of ‑ıp/‑mış with ‑mıştı

Saat dokuz gibi herkes kalkıp kahvaltıya oturmuştu bile.
By around 9, everyone had already gotten up and had even sat down to breakfast.

Türk milleti olarak interneti benimsemiş ve sevmiştik.
As the Turkish people, we had all embraced and loved the Internet.

Kapıdaki arabaya binmemiş, yürümeye başlamıştı.
He had not gotten in the car by the door and had begun walking instead.

Using ‑mıştı to mean what “would have” happened

In sentences discussing what would have happened in the past under different circumstances, the standard way to say “would have happened” is to combine the aorist ending with the past tense copula, as in “olurdu.” However, in some cases, this can be replaced with ‑mıştı to give a more emphatic expression. The effect is as if to say that if X happened differently, Y would have certainly happened.

Linguistically speaking, this is a peculiar usage of an ending that primarily gives a past perfect meaning. However linguists Göksel and Kerslake point out that this is because the past copula ‑(y)dı ending is the primary way that Turkish marks counterfactual (theoretical past) constructions, so in these cases the combination of ‑mış and ‑(y)dı produce a different meaning².

For language learners who are being exposed to the ‑mıştı ending for the first time, these constructions are probably very advanced, but it is still worth exposing yourself to these forms now and then you can revisit this section after learning more about the past conditional constructions.

Examples of ‑mıştı with theoretical past scenarios

Eğer söz sahibi sadece biz olsaydık, çoktan çözülmüştü.
If we were the only ones making the decisions, it would have been solved long ago.

Otursaydık o koltuklara hepimiz gitmiştik.
If we had sat in those seats, we all would have died (literally, “we would have gone”).

Bu yaptıklarımı yapmasaydım, bitmiştim şimdiye kadar.
Had I not done what I did, I would have been done for by now.

Using ‑mıştı to say whether something has ever happened before or not

Another way that ‑mıştı can be used is when talking about whether or not something has ever happened before. This can be used to talk about whether something had ever happened before a reference point in the past or if it has ever happened up until the present. When stating that something has never happened, the word “hiç” (never) is often added before the verb to make it clearer or more emphatic.

Examples of ‑mıştı

Bu yörede daha önce de depremler olmuştu.
There have also been [other] earthquakes in this region before [this one].

Bunu hiç düşünmemiştim.
I have never thought of this before.

Helikoptere bineceğim şimdi… Daha önce hiç binmemiştim.
I’m going to ride in a helicopter now… I have never ridden one before.

Colloquial Variant: ‑dıydı

In informal conversation, you might encounter the variant -dıydı used interchangeably with ‑mıştı in some rural dialects, especially in Southwestern Anatolia¹. Some speakers almost exclusively use ‑dıydı in place of ‑mıştı, while others switch freely between them, perhaps using ‑dıydı when calling attention to particularly important memories. The ‑dıydı variant is rare in formal or written Turkish and is not a part of Standard Turkish.

How to form the ‑dıydı ending

The ‑dıydı ending is formed by combining the past tense ‑dı verb ending with the past tense copula ‑(y)dı ending. The personal ending can either be on the end (as in ‑dıydım) or in the middle (as in ‑dımdı). However it is much more common to hear the personal ending on the end than in the middle of the ending, with the exception of the third person plural ‑lar/ler ending, which almost always goes in the middle.

Verb stem + d/t + ı/i/u/ü + yd + ı/i/u/ü + (personal ending)
Verb stem + d/t + ı/i/u/ü + (personal ending) + d/t + ı/i/u/ü

Examples with personal endings at the end

(Ben) geldiydim – I had come
(Sen) geldiydin – You had come
(O) geldiydi – He/She/It had come
(Biz) geldiydik – We had come
(Siz) geldiydiniz – You (plural/formal) had come
(Onlar) geldiydiler / geldiyidi – They had come

Examples with personal endings in the middle

(Ben) geldimdi – I had come
(Sen) geldindi – You had come
(O) geldiydi – He/She/It had come
(Biz) geldikti – We had come
(Siz) geldinizdi – You (plural/formal) had come
(Onlar) geldilerdi / geldiyidi – They had come

Example sentences with ‑dıydı endings

Seçimden önce yukarıda zaten yazdıydım.
I had already written it up there before the election.

İki ay önce filan bir daha sorduyduk, aşağı yukarı yüzde 12 çıkmıştı.
We asked again about two months ago, it came out to about 12 percent.

O kadar ufak cep telefonu alma dediydin…
You had told me not to buy such a small cell phone…

Hani bir şey dediydin sen?
Hey, didn’t you say something?

Bir gün önce hava raporunda kar geliyor diye uyardılardı.
They had warned in the weather report a day earlier that snow was coming.

Ölmeye karar verdimdi
I had decided to die.

References

Demir, İ. (2015). “Türkiye Türkçesinde –dıydı ve –mıştı Biçim Birimleri Üzerine.” TÜBAR
Göksel, A., & Kerslake, C. (2005). Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar. Routledge.

* Unless otherwise specified, all Turkish example sentences included in this lesson were retrieved from TS Corpus v2, a large corpus of Turkish texts compiled from various sources.

Past perfect: “had done” (‑mıştı)