Reported Speech (-miş)

The -miş Past Tense

The -miş suffix expresses reported or inferred information (not personally witnessed). It follows i-type vowel harmony: -miş/-mış/-muş/-müş.

Pattern: Verb stem + -miş + personal ending

Uses:

1. Hearsay (I heard that...)

2. Inference (apparently...)

3. Reported speech

4. Storytelling

gel-miş

he/she (reportedly) came

I didn't see it, but I heard

yap-mış-sın

you (apparently) did

Inference from evidence

gör-müş-üm

I (apparently) saw

I don't remember, but was told

Reported Present

For reported present tense, use -miş with the copula or present continuous:

Pattern: Verb stem + -iyor + -muş (reported continuous)

Pattern: Adjective/noun + -miş (reported state)

geliyormuş

he/she is (apparently) coming

gel + iyor + muş

hastaymış

he/she is (reportedly) sick

hasta + y + mış

Türkmüş

he/she is (apparently) Turkish

Türk + müş

Storytelling and Folktales

-miş is essential in Turkish storytelling. Almost all folktales use -miş throughout:

'Bir varmış bir yokmuş' = Once upon a time (lit: there was, there wasn't)

Bir varmış bir yokmuş

Once upon a time

Classic story opener

Evvel zaman içinde

In olden times

Another story opener

Padişah hasta olmuş

The sultan (apparently) became sick

Storytelling -miş

Exercises

conjugation

Form reported past of 'gelmek' for 'they'

Answer: gelmişler

gel + miş + ler = gelmişler (they reportedly came)

translation

Translate: He is apparently sick

Answer: Hastaymış

hasta + y + mış = hastaymış (reported state)

fill in-blank

Complete: Ali Ankara'ya git__ (Ali apparently went to Ankara)

Answer: miş

git + miş = gitmiş (reported/inferred)