simple past and present perfect trenses

1. 2014
SIMPLE PAST
AND
PRESENT PERFECT
TENSES
IN TURKISH
Yüksel Göknel

2. SIMPLE PAST AND PRESENT PERFECT TENSES IN TURKISH
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SIMPLE PAST AND 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  ♫ [iniz, ınız, ünüz, unuz]
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”; “iniz, ınız, ünüz, unuz”] 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-iniz" (di*niz), "ti-iniz" (ti*niz).
Simple Past Tense Positive:
İki saat önce iş-im-i bitir-di-im.
(i*ki / sa*at / ön*ce / i*şi*mi / bi*tir*dim)
I finished my work two hours ago.
İş-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.

3. SIMPLE PAST AND PRESENT PERFECT TENSES IN TURKISH
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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.)
Biz-e inan-ma-dı-ınız.
(bi*ze / i*nan*ma*dı*nız)
You didn't believe us.
Bulaşıklar yıkan-dı bile.
(bu*la*şık*lar / yı*kan*dı / bi*le)
The dishes have already been washed. (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.

4. SIMPLE PAST AND PRESENT PERFECT TENSES IN TURKISH
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Dün bu oda-/y/ı temizle-me-di-ler.
(dün / u / 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 bulun-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)
Has Ahmet gone to school by bus?
Ahmet otobüs-le okul-a mı git-ti?
(ah*met / o*to*büs*le∼ /o*ku*la↝ / mı / git*ti)
Has Ahmet gone to school by bus?
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?

5. SIMPLE PAST AND PRESENT PERFECT TENSES IN TURKISH
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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-ınız mı?
(kö*pe*ği / yı*ka*dı*nız↝ / mı )
Have you washed the doğ?
Araba-/y/ı mı yıka-dı-ınız?
(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.)
Çiçekler-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-ınız 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?

6. SIMPLE PAST AND PRESENT PERFECT TENSES IN TURKISH
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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-/s/in?
(bu / a*ra*ba*ya / ne↝ / ka*dar / za*man*dır / sa:*hip*sin↝)
How long have you had this car?