Past Continuous Tense in Turkish

Grammer B1 Lesson 61

Teaching the Past Continuous Tense in Turkish to Foreign Students

Level: A2/B1 (Pre-Intermediate)
Topic: Past Continuous Tense (-iyordu)
Duration: 50-60 minutes
Materials Needed: Whiteboard, example sentences, visuals, practice worksheets

Lesson Plan: Past Continuous Tense in Turkish (Şimdiki Zamanın Hikâyesi – -iyordu)

1. Introduction (5-10 minutes)

Objective: Introduce the concept of the past continuous tense.

• • “Today, we will learn how to talk about actions that were happening in the past but were interrupted or ongoing at a specific time.”

  • “In English, this is called the ‘Past Continuous Tense.’ In Turkish, we call it ‘Şimdiki Zamanın Hikâyesi’ or ‘-iyordu formu.'”

• Example:

  • “I was eating when you called.” → “Sen aradığında yemek yiyordum.”

  • “They were watching TV.” → “Onlar televizyon izliyordu.”

2. Explanation of the Structure (15 minutes)

Objective: Teach how to form the past continuous tense.

A. Verb Root + -iyor + Past Suffix (-du/-dı/-tu/-tı)

1. Take the verb root (remove “-mek/-mak”).

2. Add -iyor/-ıyor/-uyor/-üyor (same as present continuous).

3. Add the past tense suffix (-du/-dı/-tu/-tı) based on vowel harmony.

B. Personal Pronouns + Past Continuous

Turkish Quiz2

3. Usage & Examples (10 minutes)

When do we use the past continuous?

1. Interrupted actions: An action that was happening when another action occurred.

   • “I was sleeping when the phone rang.” → “Telefon çaldığında uyuyordum.”

2. Parallel actions: Two actions happening at the same time.

   • “While I was cooking, my brother was watching TV.” → “Ben yemek yapıyordum, kardeşim televizyon izliyordu.”

3. Setting the scene in stories:

4. “It was raining, and the wind was blowing.” → “Yağmur yağıyordu ve rüzgar esiyordu.”

   Comparison Table: Past Simple vs. Present Continuous vs. Past Continuous in Turkish

   Tense	Turkish Example	English Translation
   Past Simple	Dün sinemaya gittim.	I went to the cinema yesterday.
   Present Continuous	Şu anda film izliyorum.	I am watching a movie now.
   Past Continuous	Dün bu saatlerde film izliyordum.	I was watching a movie at this time yesterday.
   Past Simple	O, geçen hafta İstanbul’a uçtu.	He flew to Istanbul last week.
   Present Continuous	O şimdi uçakta oturuyor.	He is sitting on the plane now.
   Past Continuous	O, dün bu saatlerde uçuyordu.	He was flying at this time yesterday.
   Past Simple	Sabah kahvaltı yaptım.	I had breakfast in the morning.
   Present Continuous	Şu anda kahve içiyorum.	I am drinking coffee now.
   Past Continuous	Sen aradığında çay içiyordum.	I was drinking tea when you called.
   Past Simple	Çocukken futbol oynardım.	I used to play football as a child.
   Present Continuous	Şimdi tenis oynuyorum.	I am playing tennis now.
   Past Continuous	Dün parkta koşuyordum.	I was running in the

Tense Comparison: Same Verbs in 3 Tenses

What Students Will Learn from These Tables

1. How Turkish Verbs Change Across Tenses

• Past Simple (-dı/-di): Recognizes completed past actions.

  • Example: “Gittim” (I went) → Understands this is a finished action.

• Present Continuous (-iyor): Identifies ongoing actions now.

  • Example: “Gidiyorum” (I am going) → Learns to describe current actions.

• Past Continuous (-iyordu): Recognizes past actions in progress (often interrupted).

  • Example: “Gidiyordum” (I was going) → Understands unfinished past actions.

2. Turkish Sentence Structure

• Sees how subject + verb + tense suffix works in Turkish (no auxiliary verbs like “am/is/are”).

  • Example: “Ben kitap okuyorum” (I am reading a book) → Learns word order and suffix-based grammar.

3. Time Markers in Context

• Associates time words with tenses:

  • Past Simple: “Dün” (yesterday), “geçen hafta” (last week).

  • Present Continuous: “Şu anda” (now), “şimdi” (currently).

  • Past Continuous: “O sırada” (at that time), “sen gelirken” (when you came).