The simple past and the present perfect tenses in turkish, yuksel goknel signed

2014

THE SIMPLE PAST

AND

THE PRESENT

PERFECT TENSES

IN TURKISH Yüksel Göknel

THE SIMPLE PAST AND THE PRESENT PERFECT TENSES IN TURKISH

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THE SIMPLE PAST AND THE PRESENT PERFECT TENSES

(Dİ’li Geçmiş Zaman)

Both The Simple Past and The Present Perfect Tenses of the English

Language are expressed in “Di’li Geçmiş Zaman” in Turkish. In other words,

the Turkish “Di’li Geçmiş Zaman” (The Simple Past Tense) covers these two

English tenses. The time morpheme of this tense is [Dİ], which has eight

allomorphs: ♫ [di, dı, dü, du, ti, tı, tü, tu]. One of these allomorphs is used

attached to verb roots, stems or verb frames in accordance with the Turkish

vowel and consonant harmony rules. The verbs ending with vowels and

voiced consonants are followed by the allomorphs written in bold face;

and the verbs followed by unvoiced consonants are written in regular type.

The personal allomorphs are as follows: ben ♫ [im, ım, üm, um]

sen ♫ [in, ın, ün, un]

o [Ø]

biz ♫ [ik, ık, ük, uk]

siz ♫ [in.iz, ın.ız, ün.üz, un.uz]

onlar [Ø] or ♫ [ler, lar] Naturally, as all the allomorphs of the [Dİ] morpheme ♫ [di, dı, dü, du, ti, tı,

tü, tu] end with vowels, and the personal allomorphs ♫ [“im, ım, üm, um”;

“in, ın, ün, un”; “ik, ık, ük, uk”; “in.iz, ın.ız, ün.üz, un.uz”] start with vowels,

the first vowels of the personal allomorphs coincide with the allomorphs of

the morpheme [Dİ] and combine such as in “di-im (dim)”, “dı-ım" (dım), “dü-

üm" (düm), “du-um" (dum), “ti-im (tim)”, "tı-ım" (tım), "tü-üm" (tüm), "tu-um"

(tum); "di-in" (din), "ti-in" (tin), "ti-ik" (tik), "di-in.iz" (di*niz), "ti-in.iz" (ti*niz).

The Simple Past Tense Positive: (Ben) iki saat önce iş-im-i bitir-di-im.

(ben / i*ki / sa*at / ön*ce / i*şi*mi / bi*tir*dim)

I finished my work two hours ago.

(Ben) iş-im-i bitir-di-im.

(ben / i*şi*mi / bi*tir*dim)

I have finished my work. (My work is ready now.)

Onlar geçen hafta sinema-/y/a git-ti.

(on*lar / ge*çen / haf*ta / si*ne*ma*ya / git*ti)

They went to the cinema last week.


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Onlar sinema-/y/a git-ti.

(on*lar / si*ne*ma*ya / git*ti)

They have gone to the cinema.

(They are at the cinema, or on the way to the cinema.)

O kitap-ı geçen sene oku-du-um.

(o / ki*ta*bı / ge*çen / se*ne / o*ku*dum)

I read that book last year.

Kitap-ı oku.du-um.

(ki*ta*bı / o*ku*dum)

I have read the book. (I have finished reading it.)

(Siz) biz-e inan-ma-dı-ın.ız.

(siz / bi*ze / i*nan*ma*dı*nız)

You didn't believe us.

Bulaşık-lar yıka-an-dı bile.

(bu*la*şık*lar / yı*kan*dı / bi*le)

The dishes have already been washed. (The dishes are clean now.) (passive)

Negative: The negation allomorphs ♫ [me, ma] are put after verb roots, stems or verb

frames, and then they are followed by the ♫ [di, dı] time allomorphs, which

are followed by the personal allomorphs respectively. The other time allo-

morphs that are used in positive forms ♫ [dü, du, ti, tı, tü, tu] are not used

here as a result of the ♫ [me, ma] negation allomorphs:

Fatma’-/y/ı pazar-dan beri gör-me-di-im.

(fat*ma*yı / pa*zar*dan / be*ri / gör*me*dim)

I haven’t seen Fatma since Sunday.

Fatma’-/y/ı bir hafta-dır gör-me-di-im.

(fat*ma*yı / bir / haf*ta*dır / gör*me*dim)

I haven’t seen Fatma for a week.

Fatma’-/y/ı geçen hafta gör-me-di-im. (liaison)

(fat*ma*yı / ge*çe*naf*ta / gör*me*dim)

I didn’t see Fatma last week.

Daha ev ödev-im-i yap-ma-dı-ım. (liaison)

(da*ha / e*vö*de*vi*mi / yap*ma*dım)

I haven’t done my homework yet.


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Dün bu oda-/y/ı temizle-me-di-ler.

(dün / bu / o*da*yı / te*miz*le*me*di*ler)

They didn’t clean this room yesterday.

Bu oda-/y/ı üç gün-dür temizle-me-di-ler.

(bu / o*da*yı / üç / gün*dür / te*miz*le*me*di*ler)

They haven’t cleaned this room for three days Geçen hafta futbol oyna-ma-dı-ık.

(ge*çen / haf*ta / fut*bol / oy*na*ma*dık)

We didn't play football last week.

Kayıp çocuk daha bul-un-ma-dı.

(ka*yıp / ço*cuk / da*ha / bu*lun*ma*dı)

The lost child hasn’t been found yet. (passive)

Positive question:

The question allomorphs ♫ [mi, mı, mü, mu], which are separately written,

are used either after the verbs, or they may be used after the stressed

words in sentences:

Ahmet mi okul-a otobüs-le git-ti?

(ah*met↝/ mi / o*ku*la / o*to*büs*le / git*ti)

Has Ahmet gone to school by bus?

Ahmet okul-a otobüs-le mi git-ti?

(ah*met / o*ku*la / o*to*büs↝le / mi / git*ti)


Ahmet otobüs-le okul-a mı git-ti?

(ah*met / o*to*büs*le∼ /o*ku*la↝ / mı / git*ti)


Ahmet okul-a git-ti mi?

(ah*met / o*ku*la / git*ti / mi)

Has Ahmet gone to school? (All of the sentences are “yes-no” questions.)

If the last syllable in a sentence is used with a rising intonation (↝), the

sentence means, “I am surprised to hear it”, or “I could not hear you well”. If

it is used with a falling intonation, the question is a “yes-no” question.

Mektuplar-ı at-tı-ın mı?

(mek*tup*la*rı / at*tın↝ / mı )

Have you posted the letters?


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Pazar günü futbol maç-ı-/n/a git-ti-in mi?

(pa*zar / gü*nü / fut*bol / ma*çı*na / git*tin↝ / mi)

Did you go to the football match on Sunday?

Pazar günü futbol maç-ı-/n/a mı git-ti-in?

(pa*zar / gü*nü / fut*bol / ma*çı*na↝ /mı / git*tin↝) (I am surprised.)

Did you go to the football match on Sunday?

Köpek-i yıka-dı-ın.ız mı?

(kö*pe*ği / yı*ka*dı*nız↝ / mı )

Have you washed the doğ?

Araba-/y/ı mı yıka-dı-ın.ız?

(a*ra*ba*yı↝/ mı / yı*ka*dı*nız↝) (I am surprised.)

Have you washed the car? (I didn’t want you to wash the car; you should

have washed the dog instead.)

Çiçek.ler-i sula-dı-ın mı?

(çi*çek*le*ri / su*la*dın↝ / mı)

Have you watered the flowers? Patates-ler-i soy-du-un mu?

(pa*ta*tes*le*ri / soy*dun↝ / mu)

Have you peeled the potatoes? In the negative question form, the ♫ [me, ma] allomorphs are attached to

the verbs first, and then the ♫ [di, dı] time allomorphs (the others are not

used as a result of the ♫ [me, ma] allomorphs) are used, and finally, the

above-mentioned personal allomorphs follow them. The ♫ [mi, mı] question

allomorphs) are separately written. They are words because they are sepa-

rately written; they are allomorphs because they follow the vowel harmony

rules:

Pazar gün-ü futbol oyna-ma-dı-ın.ız mı?

(pa*zar / gü*nü / fut*bol / oy*na↝*ma*dı*nız / mı)

Didn’t you play football on Sunday? (negative question)

Ahmet daha ev-e gel-me-di mi?

(ah*met / da*ha / e*ve / gel↝*me*di / mi)

Hasn’t Ahmet come home yet?

Aynı yanlış-lık-ı tekrar yap-ma-dı-ın mı?

(ay*nı / yan*lış*lı*ğı / tek*rar / yap↝*ma*dın / mı)

Haven’t you made the same mistake again?


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The verb “git” and the same “di’li” past tense are also used in place of

“have (has) been to”:

Ben birkaç kez Londra’/y/a git-ti-im.

(ben / bir*kaç / kez / lon*dra*ya / git*tim)

I have been to London several times. Ben hiç Tokyo’-/y/a git-me-di-im.

(ben / hiç / tok*yo*ya / git*me*dim)

I have never been to Tokyo. Sen hiç Paris’-e git-ti-in mi?

(sen / hiç / pa*ri*se / git*tin↝ / mi)

Have you ever been to Paris?

Bugün nere-/y/e git-ti-in?

(bu / gün / ne↝re*ye / git*tin↝)

Where have you been today?

In Turkish, The Simple Present is also used in place of “have (has) had”: Bu araba-/y/a ben beş yıl-dır sahip-im.

( bu / a*ra*ba*ya / ben / beş / yıl*dır / sa:*hi*bim)

I have had this car for five years. Bu araba-/y/a ne kadar zaman-dır sahip-sin?

(bu / a*ra*ba*ya / ne↝ / ka*dar / za*man*dır / sa:*hip*sin↝)

How long have you had this car?

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The simple past and the present perfect tenses in turkish, yuksel goknel signed