-di

Simple Past -di

Level 2

Verb stem + -di + a short person ending gives the simple past: keldim (I came), keldingiz (you came), keldi (he or she came).

How It Works

Use -di for a finished event at a known time in the past: yesterday, last week, an hour ago. It is the everyday past tense for telling what happened.

1. Building the form
Take the verb's dictionary form, drop -moq, add -di, then the person ending:

  • kel- + -di + -m → keldim (I came)
  • kel- + -di + -ng → kelding (you came, familiar)
  • kel- + -di → keldi (he, she or it came)
  • kel- + -di + -k → keldik (we came)
  • kel- + -di + -ngiz → keldingiz (you came, polite or plural)
  • kel- + -di + -lar → keldilar (they came)

These person endings are short, like the possessive endings -m and -ng. They are not the -man, -san set of the present tense: say keldim, never keldiman.

2. Always written with d
After a voiceless sound such as t, ch or sh, the ending can sound like -ti, but the spelling rules keep it as -di: ketdi (he left), tushdi (it fell), aytdi (she said). After a vowel nothing changes: oʻqi- → oʻqidi. Standard Uzbek has no vowel harmony, so the vowel is always i.

3. They
For ular, both keldi and keldilar are correct. Plain keldi is common in speech, and -lar makes the plural clear or shows respect.

4. Negative and question

  • Negative: put -ma- right after the stem: kel- + -ma- + -di + -m → kelmadim (I didn't come).
  • Question: add -mi at the very end: Keldingizmi? (Did you come?), Tushundingizmi? (Did you understand?).

5. -di or -gan?
-di tells an event as it happened. For "have ever done" or a past fact whose result still matters, Uzbek often uses -gan instead. See the difference between -di and -gan.

Examples (6)

  1. Kecha doʻstim keldi.

    My friend came yesterday.

    Word by Word: Yesterday friend-my came.

    Third person: kel- + -di, with no person ending.

  2. Men bozordan non oldim.

    I bought bread at the market.

    Word by Word: I market-from bread took-I.

    ol- + -di + -m → oldim. The -m says I.

  3. Biz kinoga bordik.

    We went to the cinema.

    Word by Word: We cinema-to went-we.

    bor- + -di + -k → bordik. The -k says we.

  4. Darsni tushundingizmi?

    Did you understand the lesson?

    Word by Word: Lesson-the understood-you-?

    tushun- + -di + -ngiz + -mi. The question particle comes last.

  5. Kecha men ishlamadim.

    I didn't work yesterday.

    Word by Word: Yesterday I work-not-did-I.

    The negative -ma- goes between the stem and -di: ishla- + -ma- + -di + -m.

  6. U uyga ketdi.

    She went home.

    Word by Word: She house-to left.

    After t the ending may sound like -ti, but it is written ketdi.

Common Mistakes

  • Adding the present-tense person endings -man or -san to -di.

    Kecha keldiman.
    Kecha keldim.

    The simple past takes the short endings -m, -ng, -k and -ngiz. The -man, -san, -miz, -siz set belongs to the present-future tense and to noun sentences.

  • Using emas to make a past verb negative.

    Men keldim emas.
    Men kelmadim.

    Emas negates noun and adjective sentences. A verb is made negative inside the word, with -ma- right after the stem.

  • Writing the ending as -ti after a voiceless consonant.

    U uyga ketti.
    U uyga ketdi.

    In speech the d may sound like t after t, ch, sh or s, but the official spelling rules always write -di: ketdi, tushdi.

How It Connects

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

-diLevel 2Simple Past -di

Learn This First

Builds on Negative Verbs With -ma- and Today, Tomorrow, Yesterday.

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Patterns that build on this one.