The Reported Past Negative
To express that someone apparently did not do something, or to pass along a rumor about an event that didn't happen, we use the negative form of the reported past tense.
To build this, attach the negative suffix -mA to the verb stem, followed by the reported past suffix -mIş. Because the negative suffix only has two forms under 2-way vowel harmony (-ma or -me), the reported past suffix that follows it will always simplify to either -mış or -miş:
- If the verb stem's last vowel is a, ı, o, u → add -mamış (yazmak → yazmamış)
- If the verb stem's last vowel is e, i, ö, ü → add -memiş (vermek → vermemiş)
Let's look at some examples using journalism and press vocabulary, the perfect context for discussing rumors, news (haber), and claims (iddia):
| The journalist apparently didn't write that news. | Gazeteci, o haberi yazmamış. |
| Apparently no one read this news. | Kimse bu haberi okumamış. |
| The journalist's source apparently didn't accept this claim. | Gazetecinin kaynağı bu iddiayı kabul etmemiş. |
Denying Claims and Hiding Secrets
Because the reported past is used for information we learn after the fact, it often shows up when discussing scandals, what people hid (gizlemek), or what was denied (yalanlamak).
| The press apparently did not deny this claim. | Basın, bu iddiayı yalanlamamış. |
| The manager apparently didn't tell the truth in the interview. | Müdür, röportajda gerçeği anlatmamış. |
| The company apparently didn't hide the big scandal from us. | Şirket, büyük skandalı bizden gizlememiş. |
You will frequently see the positive and negative forms used together in the same sentence to contrast what apparently did happen with what didn't:
| He apparently heard the news but didn't tell me. | Haberi duymuş ama bana söylememiş. |