Turkish grammar: öğrenilen geçmiş zaman

What this grammar point covers

Öğrenilen geçmiş zaman (also called 'reported past tense') is a Turkish tense used to talk about past events that you did not witness yourself, but heard about from someone else or learned later.

When to use it

Use this tense when you want to say something happened in the past, but you did not see it yourself. You use it for things you heard, read, or found out later.

Key forms

• Verb stem + -miş/-mış/-muş/-müş + personal ending
• Examples: gelmişim, gitmişsin, yapmış, okumuşuz, çalışmışsınız, kalmışlar

Examples

Tips

• Do not use this tense for things you saw or experienced yourself.
• Choose the correct vowel (-miş, -mış, -muş, -müş) based on vowel harmony.
• This tense is often used when telling stories, gossip, or reporting news.