imiş (nəqli keçmiş)

Reported Copular Past

Level 3

The imiş copula marks evidentiality. It tells the listener that you didn't see the event happen yourself; you are either repeating what you heard, making a logical guess, or expressing surprise at a new discovery.

How It Works

The imiş copula is essential for natural Azerbaijani speech because it clarifies the source of your information. It is used in three main scenarios:

1. Hearsay (Reported): When you are relaying information told to you by someone else.
2. Inference (Deduction): When you see evidence and draw a conclusion.
3. Mirativity (Surprise/Discovery): When you realize something that contradicts your previous thoughts (often used with Sən demə...).

Morphology:
It can be a standalone word (imiş) or a suffix (-mış⁴).

  • After consonants: The suffix is -mış, -miş, -muş, -müş (e.g., dostmuş, gözəlmiş).
  • After vowels: A buffer -y- is required before the suffix: -ymış, -ymiş, -ymuş, -ymüş (e.g., tələbəymiş, xəstəymiş).

Negation:
Negation is formed by adding the suffix to the word deyil (e.g., tələbə deyilmiş - apparently he is/was not a student).

Personal Endings:
Unlike some other particles, imiş can take personal endings to indicate who the subject is (e.g., tələbəymişəm - I was apparently a student; tələbəymişsən - you were apparently a student).

Stress:
The suffix is unstressed. The stress falls on the syllable immediately preceding the suffix.

Examples (6)

  1. Bu kitab çox maraqlı <grammar expression="imiş reported copula">imiş</grammar>.

    This book is apparently very interesting (so I've heard/just realized).

    Word by Word: This book very interesting apparently-is.

    Here, the speaker is expressing a discovery or relaying someone else's opinion about the book.

  2. Sən demə, o, mənim qonşum <grammar expression="imiş reported copula">imiş</grammar>.

    It turns out he was my neighbor (I didn't realize it until now).

    Word by Word: You not-saying, he, my neighbor apparently-was.

    The phrase 'Sən demə' often triggers the use of imiş to show surprise at a newly discovered fact.

  3. Deyilənə görə, yol <grammar expression="imiş reported copula">bağlıymış</grammar>.

    According to what is said, the road is apparently closed.

    Word by Word: To-the-said according-to, road closed-apparently-is.

    The speaker uses imiş because the information comes from a source (hearsay) rather than direct observation.

  4. Hava çox <grammar expression="imiş reported copula">soyuqmuş</grammar>, hamı palto geyinib.

    The weather is apparently very cold; everyone is wearing a coat.

    Word by Word: Weather very cold-apparently, everyone coat has-worn.

    This is an inference. The speaker sees people in coats and deduces that the weather must be cold.

  5. Mən o vaxt <grammar expression="imiş reported copula">tələbəymişəm</grammar>.

    Apparently, I was a student at that time (according to what I'm told).

    Word by Word: I that time student-apparently-was-I.

    This shows that imiş can take personal endings (here, the 1st person singular) when reporting facts about oneself that were forgotten or learned from others.

  6. Sən demə, o, <grammar expression="deyil">deyilmiş</grammar>.

    It turns out it wasn't him/that.

    Word by Word: You not-saying, he/that, not-apparently-was.

    To negate the reported copula, the word 'deyil' is used followed by the imiş suffix.

Common Mistakes

  • Using imiş for something you simply saw yourself.

    Different MeaningMən dünən kinoya getdim, film çox maraqlıymış.
    Mən dünən kinoya getdim, film çox maraqlı idi.

    Film çox maraqlıymış is grammatical, but it sounds like surprise ('it turned out to be so interesting') or hearsay. If you saw the film and are just telling what it was like, use idi.

  • Forgetting the buffer 'y' after a vowel.

    O, tələbəmiş.
    O, tələbəymiş.

    When the stem ends in a vowel (like 'tələbə'), you must insert the buffer 'y' before adding the suffix form of imiş.

  • Stressing the imiş suffix.

    tələbəyMİŞ
    tələBƏymiş

    The imiş suffix is an enclitic, meaning it never takes the word stress. The stress remains on the syllable immediately before the suffix.

How It Connects

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

imiş (nəqli keçmiş)Level 3Reported Copular Past

Learn This First

To understand the reported copula 'imiş', learners first need to be familiar with how nouns and adjectives function as predicates in Azerbaijani. Additionally, since 'imiş' conveys information that was not personally witnessed or was recently discovered, understanding the verbal reported past tense and the contrasting witnessed past copula 'idi' provides the necessary grammatical and semantic context.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

-mişimək