-mişti
Past Perfect
The -mişti pattern is the Turkish equivalent of 'had done'. It places an event further back in time than another past event.
How It Works
The Past Perfect (Pluperfect) is used to establish a timeline where one action happened before another in the past.
1. Formation:
The pattern follows the formula: Verb Stem + -mIş + -tI + Personal Suffix.
- Because the first suffix ends in 'ş' (a voiceless consonant), the second suffix always starts with 't' due to consonant assimilation.
- Both suffixes follow four-way vowel harmony.
2. Meaning and Nuance:
Unlike the standalone -miş tense, which often implies you heard the news from someone else, -mişti is used for facts you are certain of or are reporting as part of a narrative. It functions as a 'past in the past'.
3. Personal Endings:
This tense uses Type II endings (the same ones used for the simple past):
- Ben yapmıştım (I had done)
- Sen yapmıştın (You had done)
- O yapmıştı (He/she/it had done)
- Biz yapmıştık (We had done)
- Siz yapmıştınız (You all had done)
- Onlar yapmıştılar / yapmışlardı (They had done)
Examples (4)
- Ben geldiğimde o çoktan gitmişti.
When I arrived, he had already left.
Word by Word: I when-arrived-my he already had-gone.
The act of leaving happened before the act of arriving.
- Daha önce bu filmi görmüştüm.
I had seen this movie before.
Word by Word: More before this movie-acc I-had-seen.
Indicates a completed experience prior to a specific moment in the past.
- Ödevimi bitirmiştim ama evde unuttum.
I had finished my homework, but I forgot it at home.
Word by Word: Homework-my-acc I-had-finished but at-home I-forgot.
The finishing of the homework was completed before the forgetting occurred.
- Sınava çok çalışmıştık.
We had studied a lot for the exam.
Word by Word: To-the-exam much we-had-studied.
Shows the preparation was a completed state before the exam took place.
Common Mistakes
Forgetting consonant assimilation (using -di instead of -ti).
Gelmişdi.Gelmişti.The suffix -miş ends in 'ş', which is a voiceless consonant. Therefore, the following past tense suffix must start with 't', not 'd'.
Using -miş when you mean a plain earlier fact.
Eve geldiğimde annem yemek yapmış. (This sounds like 'apparently she cooked'.)Eve geldiğimde annem yemek yapmıştı. (She had already cooked.)With -miş alone, the sentence sounds like 'apparently Mom cooked' or 'I see she has cooked'. For a plain fact that happened before another past moment, use -mişti. It does not carry the 'apparently' nuance.
How It Connects
Learn This First
The Past Perfect (-mişti) is a compound tense in Turkish. To understand it, you must first be familiar with the -miş (evidential past) suffix, which provides the base meaning, and the -(y)di (past copula) suffix, which places that action further back in time. Additionally, knowledge of consonant assimilation is necessary to correctly conjugate the suffix as -mişti rather than -mişdi.
- -miş (öğrenilen geçmiş)The Evidential Past
The -mişti pattern is a compound tense formed by adding the past tense of the copula to the -miş evidential past suffix.
Level 3 - -(y)di (ad cümlesinde geçmiş)Past of Sentences Without a Verb
The 'ti' part of -mişti is the past tense copula, which is used to shift the -miş aspect into the past.
Level 2
Related Patterns
- -di/-dı (görülen geçmiş)Simple Past
The simple past tense, which often serves as the reference point for the past perfect.
Level 2 - Consonant Assimilation
The rule that changes the 'd' in the past suffix to 't' after the 'ş' in -miş.
Level 1 - -iyorduPast Continuous
The past continuous tense, used for ongoing actions in the past, whereas -mişti is for completed ones.
Level 4 - -miş / -di-miş or -di?
Explains the difference between the two types of past tense that combine to form -mişti.
Level 3
Words in This Pattern
Practice -mişti in Bubblegum
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