Past Continuous Tense in Turkish [STEP-BY-STEP]

The past continuous tense in Turkish, also known as “geçmiş zamanda süreklilik” or “sürekli geçmiş zaman” in Turkish, describes actions that were ongoing in the past.

It’s formed by adding the suffixes “-(i)yor,” + “-DI,” to the verb root based on vowel harmony rules.

This tense is used to express actions that was ongoing in the past (and maybe interrupted by another event).

Past Continuous Tense Suffix:

Verb suffix + –yor (present continuous tense) + –dI (past tense)

This tense is used to express actions that were in progress at a specific moment or over a period in the past, much like the English past continuous tense.

Another use is that you can specify what you were doing at a specific time (not necessarily interrupted by another event)

“Dün gece saat dokuzda kitap okuyordum.”

This translates to “I was reading a book at nine o’clock last night.” This sentence not only describes what the speaker was doing, but it also defines when the action occurred, telling us about the ongoing action in a specific instant.

Another use can involve the duration an action was taking place:

“Üç saat boyunca müzik dinliyordum.”

This means “I was listening to music for three hours.” The emphasis here is on the duration of the action inside the past continuous framework, which provides a feeling of the action’s length.

Past Continuous Tense Suffixes for Different Pronouns