-mış/-miş (şəxs sonluqları)

Personal Reported Past

Level 3

The Nəqli keçmiş zaman (Narrative Past) is used when you didn't see something happen but heard about it or see the results now. It also functions as the standard 'Present Perfect' (e.g., 'I have done').

How It Works

The Narrative Past is one of the most versatile tenses in Azerbaijani. It covers two main areas:

1. Evidentiality (Reported/Inferred): Use this when you are reporting information you didn't witness. For example, if you see wet ground, you say 'It has rained' using this tense because you didn't see the rain falling, only the result.
2. Resultative (Present Perfect): Unlike some other Turkic languages, Azerbaijani uses this tense for personal actions where the result is relevant to the present. 'I have eaten' or 'I have seen that movie' naturally use this pattern.

Morphology and Vowel Harmony:
The suffix follows 4-way vowel harmony:

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

The 'ş' Drop Rule:
In the 2nd person, the 'ş' disappears because the personal ending starts with 's'.

  • 1st Sing: -mışam / -mişəm
  • 2nd Sing: -mısan / -misən (NOT -mışsan)
  • 3rd Sing: -mış / -miş (or -mışdır in formal contexts)
  • 1st Plur: -mışıq / -mişik
  • 2nd Plur: -mısınız / -misiniz
  • 3rd Plur: -mışlar / -mişlər

Examples (5)

  1. Mən bu kitabı oxumuşam.

    I have read this book.

    Word by Word: I this book read-have.

    Here, the speaker uses the tense to show a completed action with a result (knowledge of the book) in the present.

  2. Eşitmişəm ki, sən yeni ev almısan.

    I heard that you have bought a new house.

    Word by Word: Heard-have-I that, you new house bought-have.

    This demonstrates hearsay. Note the 'ş' drop in 'almısan' (2nd person singular).

  3. Deyəsən, qonaqlar gəlmişlər.

    It seems the guests have arrived.

    Word by Word: Apparently, guests come-have-they.

    This is an inference based on evidence (e.g., hearing voices or seeing coats) rather than witnessing the arrival.

  4. Biz Bakıda olmuşuq.

    We have been to Baku.

    Word by Word: We Baku-in been-have-we.

    Standard resultative use for a past experience.

  5. O, açarları evdə unutmuşdur.

    He has forgotten the keys at home.

    Word by Word: He keys-acc home-at forgotten-has.

    The use of '-dur' at the end makes this sentence sound more formal or literary.

Common Mistakes

  • Using Turkish personal endings for the 1st and 2nd person.

    Mən gəlmişim. Sən gəlmişsin.
    Mən gəlmişəm. Sən gəlmisən.

    Azerbaijani uses -am/-əm for the 1st person and drops the 'ş' for the 2nd person (-san/-sən).

  • Violating vowel harmony between the tense suffix and the personal ending.

    Biz yazmışik.
    Biz yazmışıq.

    The personal ending must match the 4-way harmony of the -mış suffix. Since 'yazmış' ends in 'ı', the ending must be '-ıq'.

How It Connects

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

-mış/-miş (şəxs sonluqları)Level 3Personal Reported Past

Learn This First

To learn the personal reported past, learners must understand four-way vowel harmony to correctly attach the -mış suffix. Additionally, since this tense uses the nominal personal endings (rather than the specific past-tense endings used with -dı), familiarity with nominal predicates is required. Finally, learners should already be familiar with the basic witnessed past to understand when to use the reported past instead.

Words in This Pattern

-miş