Past Inability: -(y)amadı / -(y)emedi
To say that someone "could not" or "was unable to" do something in the past, add the negative ability suffix -(y)ama or -(y)eme to the verb root, followed by the past tense suffix.
Notice that unlike positive ability (-yabil), the negative form drops bil completely. You simply attach -a- or -e- right before the standard negative past tense.
This follows 2-way vowel harmony:
- Verb roots with back vowels (a, ı, o, u) take -amadı.
- Verb roots with front vowels (e, i, ö, ü) take -emedi.
For example, with the front-vowel verb yetişmek (to catch / make it to), we use -emedi:
| I hurried a lot but I could not catch the bus. | Ben çok acele ettim ama otobüse yetişemedim. |
With the back-vowel verb çalıştırmak (to start an engine), we use -amadı:
| The man could not start the car because the tire burst. | Adam arabayı çalıştıramadı çünkü lastik patladı. |
Adding Personal Endings
To specify who couldn't perform the action, attach the standard past tense personal endings directly to -dı or -di (such as -m for "I", -k for "we", or -ler for "they").
| There was a lot of traffic on the bridge, we could not make it to the meeting. | Köprüde çok trafik vardı, toplantıya yetişemedik. |
| They were very late and they could not board the plane. | Onlar çok geç kaldılar ve uçağa binemediler. |
Verbs Ending in a Vowel
If the verb root ends in a vowel, insert the buffer letter y before adding the inability suffix, making it -yamadı or -yemedi.
For example, uyumak (to sleep) ends in a vowel, so adding the suffix and the "I" ending gives us uyuyamadım (I could not sleep):
| The journey was very bad, I could not sleep on the bus. | Yolculuk çok kötüydü, otobüste uyuyamadım. |