imiş

Evidential Copula Imiş

Level 5

Use imiş (or the suffix -(y)mış) when you want to say 'apparently,' 'it turns out,' or 'I am told.' It signals that you didn't see the event yourself or that you just discovered a new fact.

How It Works

The copula imiş is a tool for framing reality through perception rather than absolute fact. It has two primary uses:

1. Evidentiality (Hearsay/Inference): Reporting news or facts learned from others or deduced from evidence.
2. Mirativity (Sudden Discovery): Realizing something that contradicts previous assumptions, often preceded by sən demə.

Morphology & Person Endings:

  • It can stand alone as imiş or attach as a suffix -mış, -miş, -muş, -müş following vowel harmony.
  • If the word ends in a vowel, a buffer -y- is added (e.g., təzəymiş).
  • Person Endings: Crucially, personal endings (like -am/-əm) are placed after the imiş suffix: tələbəymişəm (I was apparently a student).

Negation:
For nouns and adjectives, the copula is negated using deyil + miş, resulting in deyilmiş (e.g., hazır deyilmiş - apparently it wasn't ready).

Stress & Tense Distinction:
The copula suffix is enclitic (unstressed). This distinguishes it from the reported past tense suffix, which is stressed and attaches directly to verb stems. The copula suffix attaches to nouns, adjectives, or verbs that are already conjugated (e.g., oxuyurmuş - he was apparently reading).

Examples (6)

  1. Eşitdiyimə görə, o, çox ağıllı bir tələbə imiş.

    According to what I heard, he was (apparently) a very smart student.

    Word by Word: To-my-hearing according-to, he, very smart one student was-apparently.

    Here, 'imiş' is used because the speaker is reporting information based on hearsay ('according to what I heard').

  2. Sən demə, bu açar qapını açmırmış!

    It turns out this key doesn't open the door!

    Word by Word: You not-say, this key door-acc open-not-present-apparently!

    This demonstrates mirativity; the speaker just discovered the fact that the key doesn't work.

  3. Hava çox soyuqmuş, gərək qalın geyinərdim.

    The weather was (apparently) very cold; I should have dressed warmly.

    Word by Word: Weather very cold-apparently, necessary thick I-would-wear.

    The speaker realizes the coldness of the weather after experiencing the result (feeling cold), rather than knowing it beforehand.

  4. Deyilənə görə, konsert təxirə salınıbmış.

    According to what is said, the concert had been postponed.

    Word by Word: To-the-said according-to, concert postponement was-put-apparently.

    This uses the suffixed form '-mış' after a verb to report a past event learned through others.

  5. Mən o vaxt çox gəncmişəm.

    Apparently, I was very young at that time.

    Word by Word: I that time very young-apparently-am.

    This shows how person endings follow the 'imiş' suffix. The speaker is reflecting on a past state they now view with a new perspective.

  6. Sən demə, o, heç də həkim deyilmiş.

    It turns out he wasn't a doctor at all.

    Word by Word: You not-say, he, at-all doctor not-apparently.

    This demonstrates the negative form of the copula using 'deyilmiş' for a noun predicate.

Common Mistakes

  • Thinking the definite past -dı cannot be used for something you heard.

    Different MeaningEşitdim ki, o gəldi.
    Eşitdim ki, o gəlibmiş.

    'Eşitdim ki, o gəldi' is correct: 'I heard that he came.' The -dı past states the news as a fact. Add 'imiş' (gəlibmiş) when you want to mark that you only know it from what others said and cannot vouch for it.

  • Stressing the suffix -mış.

    həkimMİŞ
    həKİMmiş

    The suffix -(y)mış is unstressed. The emphasis should remain on the root of the word.

  • Both are correct, but they differ in tense: -mış alone reports a past event, while imiş added to the present reports something happening now.

    Different MeaningO gəlmiş.
    O gəlirmiş.

    The reported past -mış attaches to the verb stem and says 'he came, so it seems or so I hear.' The copula imiş attaches to an already conjugated form such as the present (gəlirmiş) or to a noun, and says 'he is coming, so I hear.' Choose by the tense you want to report.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

imişLevel 5Evidential Copula Imiş

Learn This First

To understand 'imiş', learners need to be familiar with the concept of copulas in Azerbaijani (like 'idi') and the semantic distinction between witnessed and reported information (evidentiality), which is first introduced via the '-mış' reported past tense.

Words in This Pattern

imək-miş