Duyulan Geçmiş Zaman (-mış) — Explained

The Duyulan Geçmiş Zaman, often called the evidential past or reported past, expresses actions or events that the speaker did not witness directly. The speaker reports information they heard, read, or inferred from evidence. This tense is one of the most characteristic features of Turkish and shows the speaker's attitude toward the information.

When to Use the -mış Form

• Use -mış when you did not see something happen yourself, but heard about it from someone else: Dün bir kaza olmuş. (There was an accident yesterday.)
• Use it to express surprise or sudden realization about something: Oğlan doktor olmuş! (The boy has become a doctor!)
• Use it for information you learned indirectly or after the fact: Toplantı saat üçte başlamış. (The meeting started at three.)
• Use it when you infer something from visual evidence: Yağmur yağmış. (It rained.)
• Use it in storytelling when recounting what others told you: Kral bir gece düşünde biraz para harcamış. (In his dream one night, the king spent some money.)