Learn Turkish: Buzullar eridi ama hayvanlar daha önce göç etmişti. - The glaciers melted, but the animals had migrated earlier.

The word etmişti uses the Past Perfect (Pluperfect) tense, which is the focus of this lesson. It is formed by adding the -miş suffix to the verb root, followed by the past tense copula -ti. Just like the English "had migrated," it shows that this action was completely finished before the other past action (eridi, "melted") happened.

Why is the verb for "migrated" split into two words (göç etmişti)?

Göç etmek is a compound verb. Göç is a noun meaning "migration," and etmek is a common helper verb meaning "to do" or "to make." When conjugating these compound verbs, all the tense and person suffixes attach only to the helper verb (et + miş + ti).

Hayvanlar (animals) and buzullar (glaciers) are plural subjects. Why don't the verbs have plural endings like eridiler or etmişlerdi?

In Turkish, when a non-human plural subject (like animals, objects, or concepts) is explicitly stated in the sentence, the verb usually stays in the singular form. Adding a plural suffix to the verb here would actually sound a bit unnatural.

Could I just say önce instead of daha önce here?