-mış kimi

As-if Perfect Comparison

Level 6

Verb Stem + -mış⁴ + kimi (As if [something] had happened)

How It Works

The -mış kimi construction is a high-level grammatical tool used for hypothetical comparisons involving completed actions or states.

1. Structure and Harmony:
It is formed by attaching the -mış/-miş/-muş/-müş resultative participle suffix to a verb stem, followed by the postposition kimi. The suffix follows four-way vowel harmony:

  • -mış (after a, ı)
  • -miş (after e, ə, i)
  • -muş (after o, u)
  • -müş (after ö, ü)

2. Meaning and Nuance:
This construction focuses on the result or completion of a hypothetical action. It is often used to describe pretending or skepticism. For example, 'acting as if he won' implies the 'winning' is a finished event in this hypothetical scenario. To strongly emphasize the counterfactual comparison, the clause is very frequently introduced by the particles sanki or guya.

Note that this differs significantly from -an kimi, which means 'as soon as'. For ongoing 'as-if' actions, Azerbaijani typically uses -ırmış kimi.

3. Negation:
To say 'as if something hadn't happened,' the general verbal negation suffix -ma/-mə is placed before the participle: ol-ma-mış kimi.

4. Predicative Use:
While usually functioning as an adverbial phrase, if this construction serves as the main predicate of the sentence, it must take predicative personal endings. Because the postposition kimi ends in the front unrounded vowel 'i', these endings strictly follow front-vowel harmony: -yəm (1st person singular), -sən (2nd person singular), and -dir (3rd person singular). The plural paradigm is similarly fixed: -yik (1st person plural), -siniz (2nd person plural/formal), and -dirlər (3rd person plural). For example: Yatmış kimisən (You are like one who has fallen asleep).

5. Subject Case:
Unlike some participle clauses in Azerbaijani that require the genitive case, the subject of a -mış kimi clause remains in the nominative case (e.g., Sanki o heç nə eşitməmiş kimi... - As if he had heard nothing...).

6. Tense Independence:
The -mış kimi clause is non-finite. The actual tense of the sentence (whether past, present, or future) is determined by the main verb that follows it.

Examples (4)

  1. Heç nə olmamış kimi yoluna davam etdi.

    He continued on his way as if nothing had happened.

    Word by Word: Nothing not-having-happened like way-his-to continued.

    Here, the speaker uses the negative form 'olmamış' to show the subject is ignoring a prior event.

  2. O, qalib gəlmiş kimi sevinirdi.

    He was rejoicing as if he had won.

    Word by Word: He winner come-having like was-rejoicing.

    The verb 'gəlmiş' (having come/become) describes the completed state of winning in this hypothetical comparison.

  3. Sanki yuxudan yeni oyanmış kimi baxırdı.

    He was looking as if he had just woken up from sleep.

    Word by Word: As-if sleep-from new woken-up like was-looking.

    The use of 'sanki' emphasizes the comparison to the completed action of waking up.

  4. Hər şeyi bilmiş kimi danışma.

    Don't talk as if you knew everything.

    Word by Word: Every thing-acc known-having like talk-not.

    This uses the resultative participle to imply the person is acting as though they have already acquired all the information.

Common Mistakes

  • Choosing 'as if' where 'as soon as' is meant.

    Different MeaningEvə gəlmiş kimi çay içdim.
    Evə gələn kimi çay içdim.

    This is a good sentence, but -miş kimi means 'as if': drinking tea as if you had come home. For 'as soon as you came home', use -an kimi, as in the right sentence.

  • Applying incorrect vowel harmony to the suffix.

    O, hər şeyi görmış kimi danışır.
    O, hər şeyi görmüş kimi danışır.

    The suffix must follow four-way harmony. Since 'gör-' has a rounded front vowel (ö), the suffix must be '-müş'.

  • Writing 'kimi' as a suffix attached to the verb.

    Oyanmışkimi görsənir.
    Oyanmış kimi görsənir.

    'Kimi' is a postposition, not a suffix, and should be written as a separate word.

How It Connects

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-mış kimiLevel 6As-if Perfect Comparison

Learn This First

The '-mış kimi' pattern is a compound construction that combines the reported past participle (-mış) with the comparative postposition (kimi). To understand this, a learner must first be familiar with how the reported past suffix indicates a completed state or an inference, and how the word 'kimi' is used to draw comparisons between actions or states.

Words in This Pattern

kimi