Rules and usage
Görülen Geçmiş Zaman, or the witnessed past tense, is the most common past tense in Turkish. You use it to talk about actions or events that you directly witnessed or experienced. It is called "seen past" because it describes something that was observed to happen. The form uses the suffix -dı (or its vowel harmony variants) attached to the verb stem.
When to use Görülen Geçmiş Zaman
- This tense is used for completed actions in the past that were directly observed or experienced. It is the default past tense for narrating events, telling stories, or describing what happened. You use it most often in daily conversation when talking about the past.
- Dün sinemaya gittim. (I went to the cinema yesterday.)
- Kahve içtim. (I drank coffee.)
- O kitabı okudu. (He read that book.)
- Pencerenin dışına baktık. (We looked out the window.)
✅ Positive sentence examples
| Turkish | English |
|---|
| Dün sinemaya gittim. | I went to the cinema yesterday. |
| Kahvemi içtim. | I drank my coffee. |
⛔ Negative sentence examples
| Turkish | English |
|---|
| Dün sinemaya gitmedim. | I didn't go to the cinema yesterday. |
| Kahvemi içmedim. | I didn't drink my coffee. |
❓ Question sentence examples
| Turkish | English |
|---|
| Dün sinemaya gittin mi? | Did you go to the cinema yesterday? |
| Kahveni içtin mi? | Did you drink your coffee? |