Past Ability: -(y)abildi / -(y)ebildi
To say that someone "managed to do" or "was able to do" something in the past, add the ability suffix -(y)abil or -(y)ebil to the verb root, followed by the past tense suffix -di.
This follows 2-way vowel harmony:
- Verb roots with back vowels (a, ı, o, u) take -abildi.
- Verb roots with front vowels (e, i, ö, ü) take -ebildi.
Because the ability suffix always ends with the syllable bil, the past tense suffix that follows is always -di.
For example, with kurtarmak (to rescue), we use the back-vowel form -abildi:
| The firefighter managed to rescue the child from the room. | İtfaiyeci çocuğu odadan kurtarabildi. |
Adding Personal Endings
To specify who managed to do the action, attach standard past tense personal endings directly to -di (for example, -m for "I" or -k for "we").
For the verb çıkmak (to go out), we use -abildi and add -m to get çıkabildim (I managed to go out):
| I was trapped in the room, but I managed to get out through the window. | Odada mahsur kaldım ama pencereden çıkabildim. |
Verbs Ending in a Vowel
If the verb root ends in a vowel, you must insert the buffer letter y before adding the ability suffix. For example, atlamak (to jump) becomes atlayabildi:
| The cat managed to jump from the window to the garden. | Kedi pencereden bahçeye atlayabildi. |
Let's look at one more example using a front-vowel verb (söndürmek) with the "we" ending (-k), giving us söndürebildik:
| After the fire brigade arrived, we managed to put out the fire. | İtfaiye geldikten sonra yangını söndürebildik. |
