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When a sudden wave of nausea hits or a strange rash appears, you naturally try to retrace your steps to find the cause. To express uncertainty about what caused these symptoms, Turkish uses the past possibility structure.

### Forming Past Possibility

To express what *might have* happened, combine the perfective suffix with the auxiliary word **olabilir** (might be / can be).

**Verb + -mış / -miş / -muş / -müş + olabilir + [Personal Suffix]**

The main verb takes the perfective suffix, followed by the separate word **olabilir**. The personal suffix attaches only to **olabilir**. For example, add **-sin** for "you" (**olabilirsin**) or **-iz** for "we" (**olabiliriz**). For "he/she/it" (**o**), it remains **olabilir**.

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To guess what might *not* have happened, attach the negative suffix (**-ma / -me**) to the main verb before the perfective suffix.

**Verb + -ma / -me + -mış / -miş + olabilir + [Personal Suffix]**

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### Allergic Reactions

When dealing with allergies, you can use this structure to identify triggers and describe physical symptoms.

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You can even use this grammar twice in a single sentence to connect a possible cause with a possible symptom.

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Past possibility (-mIş olabilir)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

postposition

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Demonstrative pronouns (bu, şu, o)

Basic question words (kim, ne)

Plural nouns (-lar, -ler)

I am and you are (-(y)ım, -sın)

We, you, and they are (-(y)ız, -sınız)

Negative statements (değil)

Yes and no questions (mı, mi, mu, mü)

Questions with 'to be' (mısın, mıyım)

Numbers 1 to 10 (bir, iki, üç)

Numbers 11 to 20 (on bir, on iki)

Numbers by tens to 100 (otuz, kırk...)

Counting objects (tane)

The locative case (-da, -de)

Consonant assimilation (-ta, -te)

Asking where (nerede)

There is / there are (var)

There is not / there are not (yok)

Asking how many (kaç)

Infinitive verbs (-mak, -mek)

Informal commands (git, gel)

Negative commands (-ma, -me)

Polite and plural commands (-In, -InIz)

Basic word order

Present continuous for consonant roots (-iyor)

Present continuous for vowel roots (-iyor)

Present continuous personal suffixes (-iyorum)

Negative present continuous (-miyor)

Present continuous questions (-iyor mu)

Future plans with present continuous

The dative case (-(y)a, -(y)e)

Consonant mutation (k, t, p, ç to ğ, d, b, c)

From or out of (-dan / -den)

Directional question words (nereye, nereden)

First and second person possessives (-(i)m, -(i)n)

Third person possessive (-(s)i)

Plural possessives (-imiz, -iniz, -leri)

The genitive case (-(n)in)

Definite noun compounds (-nin ... -si)

Indefinite noun compounds (bare noun + -(s)i)

Possessive buffer letter (n)

Spatial postpositions (içinde, üstünde)

The definite direct object (-(y)ı, -(y)i)

Object question words (kimi, neyi)

Adjectives modifying nouns

Manner and choice questions (nasıl, hangi)

Basic degree modifiers (çok, biraz)

Comparisons (daha, en)

Days of the week

Months of the year

The time question word (ne zaman)

Telling time (saat, buçuk)

Asking the time (saat kaç, saat kaçta)

Basic conjunctions (ve, ama, veya)

Causality conjunction (çünkü)

Means and accompaniment (ile, -(y)lA)

Purpose and beneficiaries (için)

Expressing desire (-mak istemek)

The past copula (-(y)DI)

The direct past tense (-DI)

Past tense personal suffixes (-DIm, -DIn)

Past tense negative (-mAdI)

Past tense questions (-DI mI)

Ordinal numbers (-(I)ncI)

Greetings and politeness

Saying 'too' (de, da)

Conversation fillers (şey, yani, hadi)

Conversational essentials

Reflexive pronouns (kendim, kendin)

Reciprocal pronouns (birbiri)

Indefinite pronouns for people (herkes, kimse)

Indefinite pronouns for things and places (her şey, hiçbir şey)

Conjunctions of consequence (bu yüzden, bu nedenle)

Correlative conjunctions (hem... hem, ne... ne)

Verbs taking the dative case (-e / -a)

Verbs taking the ablative case (-den / -dan)

Time origin (beri)

Time duration (-DIr)

Comparisons of similarity (gibi)

Comparisons of equality (kadar)

Perspectives (göre)

Verbal nouns (-mA / -mE)

Verbal nouns as objects (-mAyI / -mEyI)

Verbal nouns with the dative (-mAyA / -mEyA)

General necessity (lazım / gerek)

Personal necessity (-mAm lazım)

Third-person commands (-sIn / -sInlAr)

First person singular optative (-(y)AyIm)

Question	Answer
stale	bayat
mayonnaise	mayonez
You might have eaten stale mayonnaise.	Bayat mayonez yemiş olabilirsin.
nausea	bulantı
to get food poisoning / to get poisoned	zehirlenmek
He wasn't feeling nausea yet, he might have gotten food poisoning from the food.	Henüz bulantı hissetmiyordu, yemekten zehirlenmiş olabilir.
We might have gotten food poisoning from the chicken with mayonnaise.	Mayonezli tavuktan zehirlenmiş olabiliriz.
to digest	sindirmek
Your stomach might not have digested that stale fish.	Miden o bayat balığı sindirmemiş olabilir.
You might not have digested the food yet.	Yemeği henüz sindirmemiş olabilirsin.
sesame	susam
face	yüz
redness / rash	kızarıklık
Sesame oil might have caused redness on your face.	Susam yağı yüzünde kızarıklık yapmış olabilir.
itching	kaşıntı
This itching might have started from a sesame allergy.	Bu kaşıntı, susam alerjisinden başlamış olabilir.
The dog's hairs might have caused a rash and itching.	Köpeğin tüyleri kızarıklık ve kaşıntı yapmış olabilir.
to swell	şişmek
to break out / to blister	kabarmak
His eye might have swollen and his body might have broken out.	Gözü şişmiş ve vücudu kabarmış olabilir.
His arm wasn't itching at all yesterday, but it might have broken out now.	Dün kolu hiç kaşınmıyordu, ama şimdi kabarmış olabilir.
He might have eaten peanuts, so his lip might have swollen.	Fıstık yemiş olabilir, bu yüzden dudağı şişmiş olabilir.
The child might not have eaten sesame, his face might have broken out from something else.	Çocuk susam yememiş olabilir, yüzü başka bir şeyden kabarmış olabilir.
Stale fish might have caused the nausea.	Bayat balık bulantıya sebep olmuş olabilir.