Past Continuous / Imperfect (-iyordu)

The Past Continuous (Şimdiki Zamanın Hikâyesi) describes an action that was in progress at a certain moment in the past. It is the Turkish equivalent of "was/were ...-ing". It can also describe repeated or habitual actions in the past ("used to ...").

Formation

Take the present continuous form (stem + -(I)yor) and add the past suffix -du (the suffixed form of idi, "was"), then a personal ending of the simple-past type: -m, -n, —, -k, -nuz, -lar.

Because the last vowel of -yor is always o, the past part is always -du, and the endings are always -dum, -dun, -du, -duk, -dunuz. Only the vowel before -yor follows the verb's harmony.

• gel- → geliyordu (he/she was coming)
• yap- → yapıyordu (he/she was doing)
• oku- → okuyordu (he/she was reading)
• bekle- → bekliyordu (he/she was waiting) — a final -e/-a changes to i/ı/u/ü before -yor
• git- → gidiyordu (he/she was going) — t → d softening

Conjugation (gelmek - to come)

For "they", geliyorlardı is the usual form; geliyordular also exists but is less common.

Negative: the negative -mI goes before -yor: gel-mi-yor-du-m → gelmiyordum (I wasn't coming), yapmıyordum, okumuyordum.

Question: the question particle comes right after -yor and carries the past part and the person: geliyor mu-y-du-n? → geliyor muydun? (were you coming?)

Interrupted Actions

A very typical use is the "background" action that was going on when something else happened. The background action takes -Iyordu; the interrupting event takes the simple past -DI, often with -DIğI zaman / -DIğIndA ("when") or -ken ("while").

• Yemek yapıyordum, telefon çaldı. (I was cooking, and the phone rang.)
• Eve geldiğim zaman annem uyuyordu. (When I came home, my mother was sleeping.)
• Otobüsü beklerken yağmur başladı. (While I was waiting for the bus, it started to rain.)
• Dün akşam saat sekizde ne yapıyordun? — Kitap okuyordum. (What were you doing at eight last night? — I was reading a book.)
• Çocukken her yaz köye gidiyorduk. (When we were kids, we used to go to the village every summer.)

Contrast: Habitual Past -ArdI

The aorist + past form (gelirdi, yapardı) also describes past habits: Çocukken her yaz köye giderdik. (We used to go to the village every summer.) For habits both forms are possible, but only -Iyordu describes an action in progress at a specific moment. See the Present Simple / Aorist lesson for -ArdI.

Common Mistakes

• Using the simple past for the background action. Telefon çaldığında yemek yaptım means "When the phone rang, I cooked." For "I was cooking", say yemek yapıyordum.
• Harmonising -du with the verb. Wrong: geliyordim, yapıyordım. Correct: geliyordum, yapıyordum.
• Keeping a final -e/-a. Wrong: bekleyordum, arayordum. Correct: bekliyordum, arıyordum.
• Putting the question particle at the end. Wrong: geliyordun mu? Correct: geliyor muydun?